WNBA training camps open on Sunday, April 27, marking the official start of the league’s 29th season.
An active offseason full of league-shifting transactions, the impending expiration of the current CBA, a first-ever 44-game season and a new playoff format, plus another high-wattage rookie class, have increased the anticipation for the 2025 season. It also will be the first WNBA season featuring 13 teams since 2009, with the Golden State Valkyries opening their inaugural season in San Francisco.
While there will be plenty of opportunities to delve into all the developments and drama, let’s launch training camps with one pressing question for every team. What’s the question each organization must answer if they want to achieve on-court success this season?
It’s also worth reminding that every team can bring 20 players into training camp before cutting down the final roster to 12 (or, for teams facing tighter salary cap situations, 11) players before the start of the regular season. Below, all teams’ training camp rosters are listed with players’ contract statuses designation in parentheses: protected veteran (v), rookie scale protected (r), unprotected (u), training camp (tc) and draftee (d).*
Atlanta Dream: How often will BG and Breezy play together?
Training camp roster: Brittney Griner (V), Brionna Jones (v), Jordin Canada (v), Allisha Gray (v), Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (v), Nia Coffey (v), Rhyne Howard (r), Naz Hillmon (r), Haley Jones (u), Maya Caldwell (tc), Maria Gakdeng (tc), Emani Jefferson (tc), Ashley Jones (tc), Te-Hina Paopao (d), Taylor Thierry (d)
How the Dream’s rotation shakes out likely will be a season-long process, as this team has enough talent for new head coach Karl Smesko to tinker with a number of different lineups.
But the most interesting rotational puzzle piece involves the team’s two starry offseason additions. How often will Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones play together? Will the two big alignment be a core part of the Dream’s identity? Or, will it be an alternative, situational look? Will the two start together before staggering their time on the court throughout the remainder of the game? Will Jones, the 2022 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year, come off the bench? How much stock is the team putting into Griner’s low-volume-yet-high-percentage 3-point shooting?
Atlanta’s two-big question is question that causes a cascade of additional questions, and how Smesko and company answer them will determine if this will be a dream season in Atlanta—or another nightmare.
Chicago Sky: Does Sloot still have it?
Training camp roster: Ariel Atkins (v), Courtney Vandersloot (u), Rebecca Allen (v), Moriah Jefferson (v), Kia Nurse (u), Michaela Onyenwere (u), Elizabeth Williams (u), Rachel Banham (v), Kamilla Cardoso (u), Angel Reese (u), Alex Wilson (tc), Sammie Puisis (tc), Tilly Boler (tc), Morgan Bertsch (tc), Jessika Carter (tc), Arella Guirantes (tc)
After hitting eject on the Teresa Weatherspoon era, installing Tyler Marsh as head coach and acquiring veteran talent through free agent signings and trades, the Sky enter the 2025 season with plenty of questions.
However, if one thing doesn’t work, it’s unlikely the progress the organization hopes to see will materialize. Courtney Vandersloot has to be Courtney Vandersloot.
While the return of the legendary Sky point guard is a great story, the team needs her to be a great player, and it’s questionable if she can reach that gear of greatness on a consistent basis. Last season, she tallied numbers considerably below her All-Star peaks, and while her scaled-back production could be explained by the overall talent of the title-winning New York Liberty, her reduced scoring, in particular, stands out as a concern. If Sloot is not a threat to score, the effectiveness of her precision passing will be reduced. Smart teams will dare her to score while loading up on the Sky’s other offensive talents, gumming up a Chicago offense that needs to improve upon last season’s scoring struggles.
Connecticut Sun: Will youth be served?
Training camp roster: Marina Mabrey (v), Tina Charles (v), Diamond DeShields (u), Lindsay Allen (u), Yvonne Anderson (v), Olivia Nelson-Ododa (r), Haley Peter (tc), Jacy Sheldon (u), Leïla Lacan (d), Rayah Marshall (d), Abbey Hsu (d), Amy Okonkwo (tc), Kamila Borokowska (tc), Kariata Diaby (tc), Madison Hayes (tc), Morgan Maly (tc), Mya Hollingshed (tc), Caitlin Bickle (tc), Robyn Parks (tc)
There’s a cavalcade of questions that could be lobbed at the Sun, who arguably experienced one of the single most devastating offseasons in WNBA history as the core of championship contender fled central Connecticut to chase championships elsewhere.
Like any organization forced into a rebuild, the Sun have resisted the label, insisting the team intends to compete under new head coach Rachid Meziane. Maybe so. But if things go south, are the Sun prepared to pivot to a future focus, empowering young players, particularly first-round draft picks Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers, over the long-tenured aging stars, such as Tina Charles, and reclamation projects, like Diamond DeShields, that the team imported in during the offseason?
Ideally, Connecticut is internally realistic about their prospects, even if they remain publicly optimistic. That means a training camp that invests in the development of Morrow and Rivers, along with the likes of Jacy Sheldon and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, rather than one that prioritizes playing styles that would elevate vets whose stays in Connecticut likely will be short.
Dallas Wings: What’s the commitment to McCowan?
Training camp roster: Arike Ogunbowale (v), Myisha Hines-Allen (v), Teira McCowan (v), DiJonai Carrington (v), Ty Harris (u), NaLyssa Smith (r), Maddy Siegrist (u), Paige Bueckers (d), Kaila Charles (tc), Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (tc), Joyner Holmes (tc), Aziaha James (d), Madison Scott (d), Aaronette Vonleh (d), JJ Quinerly (d), Luisa Geiselsöder (tc), Mai Yamamoto (tc), McKenize Forbes (tc)
Of course, the new backcourt of Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale intrigues, inspiring a number of questions. Yet, there’s not much to worry about there, as the two are too talented for their tandem not to work.
More pressing questions arrive in the Dallas frontcourt, particularly involving Teaira McCowan. While the 6-foot-7 center who is entering her seventh WNBA season has shown flashes of star-level impact, her effectiveness and engagement often has failed to match the Wings’ high-dollar investment in her. And in a league that increasingly prioritizes spacing, shooting and speed, traditional bigs must be elite outliers in order to remain on the court; McCowan hasn’t been that.
Will Dallas, under the leadership of new general manager Curt Miller, who led teams that often played multiple bigs during his tenure as head coach of the Connecticut Sun, continue to pour into McCowan? Or, will new head coach Chris Koclanes be empowered to minimize her role and lean into smaller, modern lineups that could super-charge the Dallas offense?
Golden State Valkyries: Who’s going to score?
Training camp roster: Tiffany Hayes (u), Stephanie Talbot (v), Kayla Thornton (v), Monique Billings (v), Cecilia Zadalasini (u), Temi Fagbenle (u), Laeticia Amihere (u), Veronica Burton (tc), Carla Leite (d), Shyanne Sellers (d), Kate Martin (u), Kaitlyn Chen (d), Chloe Bibby (tc), Janelle Salaün (tc), Kyara Linskens (tc), Migna Touré (tc), Elissa Cunane (tc), Julie Vanloo (tc)
The Valkyries’ inaugural roster is full of interesting players, many of whom profile as the kind of players who could play an impactful role on winning teams.
But winning in the W demands elite offensive talent, and it doesn’t look like the Valkyries have nearly enough of that. Scoring could be a significant struggle for this squad.
Tiffany Hayes is the only Valkyrie capable of consistently creating shots for herself and others. That’s a huge burden to place on the 35-year-old who will be entering her 13th WNBA season, even if she looks as spry, shifty and swift as ever. It’s been since 2021 with the Dream that Hayes played a full season as a primary offensive option. The past two seasons, she instead thrived as secondary scoring option on the Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces, two teams that featured top-tier talent.
Head coach Natalie Nakase is going to need to cook up some creative schemes in order to generate points. If not, Golden State could be a hard watch.
Indiana Fever: Can White raise the ceiling?
Training camp roster: Kelsey Mitchell (v), Natasha Howard (v), DeWanna Bonner (u), Sophie Cunningham (u), Damiris Dantas (v), Sydney Colson (u), Lexie Hill (r), Brianna Turner (u), Aliyah Boston (u), Caitlin Clark (u), Mikayla Timpson (d), Bree Hall (d), Yvonne Ejim (d), Jillian Alleyne (tc), Jaelyn Brown (tc)
How good of a coach is Stephanie White?
That question might seem blasphemous. She was the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year with the Connecticut Sun and has a 62.2 career winning percentage, a mark that includes the two previous seasons she spent on the sidelines in Indy in 2015 and 2016.
Yet, during White’s first stint in Indiana, Tamika Catchings was still wearing a Fever uniform, finishing out the final two seasons of a Hall of Fame career. With the Sun, she steered a veteran roster led by Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, one that had been on the precipice of a title under previous head coach Curt Miller. While Bonner travelled to Indianapolis with White, the Fever are otherwise a young, unseasoned team, a stark contrast to the kind of teams White has coached.
There’s a lot of pressure on White to take a Fever team bursting with talent to the next level. But, that’s not something she’s done in her career as WNBA coach. It certainly doesn’t mean she can’t do it, and with core trio of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, she has the pieces necessary to make something special happen, but, there is no guarantee that White can deliver the results expected with her return to Indiana.
Las Vegas Aces: Who’s helping A’ja?
Training camp roster: Jewell Loyd (v), A’ja Wilson (v), Chelsea Gray (v), Jackie Young (v), Kiah Stokes (u), Tiffany Mitchell (u), Megan Gustafson (u), Dana Evans (v), Kierstan Bell (r), Queen Egbo (tc), Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (tc), Aaliyah Nye (d), Elizabeth Kitley (d), Harmoni Turner (d), Deja Kelly (tc), Jordyn Jenkins (tc), Crystal Bradford (tc)
A’ja Wilson did it all last season, putting together an all-time season that rightly earned her unanimous MVP honors.
In particular, she did it all without much frontcourt help. Outside of Kia Stokes, who is solid defensively but limited offensively, Vegas did not have another true big that head coach Becky Hammon trusted. And with offseason addition Cheyenne Parker-Tyus sidelined due to pregnancy, the Aces might be entering the 2025 season in the same situation, leaving A’ja alone to do it all. (Except she’ll be wearing her own shoe this time around.)
That’s unless Liz Kitley emerges as Wilson’s present and future frontcourt partner. Selected No. 24 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Kitley tore her ACL in the final regular season game of her accomplished five-year college career at Virginia Tech, resulting in her missing all of what would have been her rookie season.
Will all of the skill the 6-foot-6 center showed off as a collegian—where she was a hub with superb scoring touch on offense and a rebounding and shot-blocking presence on defense—translate to the W? Foot speed, especially coming off a knee injury, and strength are concerns, as the lack of both could prevent her skills from shining at the next level. The Aces have to hope her strengths outweigh her weakness. If not, the team again will be asking too much of Wilson, even if she is up to the task.
Los Angeles Sparks: Do Roberts and the roster fit?
Training camp roster: Dearica Hamby (v), Kelsey Plum (v), Azurá Stevens (v), Mercedes Russell (u), Odyssey Sims (u), Rae Burrell (u), Julie Allemand (u), Emma Cannon (tc), Aari McDonald (tc), Cameron Brink (u), Rickea Jackson (u), Sarah Ashlee Barker (d), Sania Feagin (d), Shaneice Swain, Liatu King (d), Alyssa Ustby (tc), Masha Kliundikova (tc), Anneli Maley (tc)
New Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts arrives in the W known for an offensive style that prioritizes 3-point shooting. In her last season in charge at Utah, the Utes finished fourth in Division I in 3-pointers made per game. Offseason addition Kelsey Plum, who is one of the W’s higher-volume 3-pointer shooters, seems like a perfect fit for Roberts’ system.
But, what about the rest of the roster? Outside of first-round draft pick Sarah Ashlee Barker, who profiles as a potential 3-pointer gunner in the W, and Azurá Stevens, a 6-foot-6 stretch big who could take another leap under Roberts, the rest of the Sparks are more comfortable inside the arc. That’s especially true of two players central to the Sparks in Rickea Jackson, who loves her middies, and Dearica Hamby, who has attempted to extend her range over her career but is more effective as a driver or low-post scorer. The same applies to Cameron Brink, who is expected to return from her ACL injury in June; at Stanford she shot more 3s over the course of her career, but remained vastly more effective around the basket. Encouragingly, Hamby’s Vinyl teammate Rae Burrell was a more eager, improved 3-pointer shooter in Unrivaled, suggesting she could be in line for an expanded role under Roberts.
It will be interesting to see how Sparks players adapt to Roberts’ preferred style, or how Roberts adjusts her style to her players.
Minnesota Lynx: Are there any questions?
Training camp roster: Napheesa Collier (u), Kayla McBride (v), Courtney Williams (v), Alanna Smith (v), Natisha Hiedeman (v), Bridget Carleton (u), Karlie Samuelson (v), Diamond Miller (u), Grace Berger (u), Kiara Leslie (tc), Jessica Sheppard (tc), Alissa Pili (u), Dorka Juhász (u), Anastasiia Olairi Kosu (d), Dalayah Daniels (d), Ajae Petty (tc), Camryn Taylor (tc), Marième Badiane (tc), Reigan Richardson (tc), Christyn Williams (tc)
After losing out on a WNBA title that they believed should have been theirs, the Lynx enter the 2025 WNBA season highly motivated—and possibly even better.
The Lynx not only return the core of the team that took them to the Finals, but should also have the services of Diamond Miller for a full season. While injuries have interrupted her WNBA career, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft has flashed game-changing talent. Already the league’s best 3-point shooting team in 2024, Minnesota also added another premier markswoman in Karlie Samuelson, a nearly 40 percent career 3-point shooter. Rebounding remains a weakness, but it is a not unintentional one, as head coach Cheryl Reeve has prioritized a 5-out, switchable and versatile style of play over traditional size, believing the benefits of such lineup constructions outweigh struggles on the glass.
Add on the fact that all of the Lynx who participated in Unrivaled suffered no injury setbacks and it’s hard to identify any questions or concerns in Minneapolis. This team should be the championship favorites.
New York Liberty: Will Stewie’s 3s fall?
Training camp roster: Breanna Stewart (v), Sabrina Ionescu (u), Natasha Cloud (v), Jonquel Jones (v), Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (v), Nyara Sabally (u), Kennedy Burke (tc), Isabelle Harrison (tc), Marquesha Davis (u), Leonie Fiebich (u), Annika Soltau (tc), Kaitlyn Davis (tc), Rebekah Gardner (tc), Marine Johannès (tc), Esmery Martinez (tc), Jaylyn Sherrod (tc)
Of course, the defending champs believe the favorite status should belong to them, although injury-related concerns, especially the expected season-long absence of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, will make the New York Liberty’s repeat quest difficult.
But one thing that could ease any periods of turbulence that the Liberty experience during their title defense is Breanna Stewart’s 3-point stroke.
Last season, Stewart shot a career-worst 29.5 percent from 3. It was the extension of a shooting slump that began in the 2023 WNBA playoffs, when she shot 19.1 percent from deep following a MVP-winning regular season where she converted 35.5 percent of her triples, a number right in line with her career average. In the 2024 playoffs, her percentage remained a subpar 26.1 percent. Stewart also saw her shooting woes follow her to the Paris Olympics, where her mark from behind the arc was 28.6 percent, and to Unrivaled, when she sunk to 18.6 percent.
In spite of this extended slump, Stewart’s teams, with the exception of Mist, have done a lot of winning, suggesting that the respect she still garners as a shooter elevates her team’s offense, even if her shot is wayward. Yet, the Liberty likely will have less margin for error in the 2025 season. In addition to the aforementioned injury concerns, which also include Stewart’s own post-Unrivaled knee scope, New York will be integrating new players in key positions, all while wearing a target on their back due to their status as reigning champions. Stewie rediscovering her 3 could be for an elixir for any ills the Liberty may encounter.
Phoenix Mercury: Do they have a first five?
Training camp roster: Kahleah Copper (v), Satou Sabally (v), Alyssa Thomas (v), Kalani Brown (v), Sami Whitcomb (u), Kitija Laska (v), Alexis Prince (tc), Anna Makurat (tc), Helena Pueyo (tc), Julia Ayrault (tc), Kathryn Westbeld (tc), Lexi Held (tc), Megan McConnell (tc), Monique Akoa-Makani (tc), Murjanatu Musa (tc), Temira Poindexter (tc), Shyla Heal (tc), Natasha Mack (tc), Celeste Taylor (tc), Sevgi Uzun (tc)
If the WNBA decided to adopt Unrivaled’s 3×3 format, the Phoenix Mercury would have reason to feel good about their championship prospects due to their new “Big 3” of Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper.
But since Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has yet to announce such a change, the Mercury’s chances of championship-level success in the WNBA seem slim due to the team’s lack of reliable depth. In fact, Phoenix might have trouble determining which two players should join the Thomas-Sabally-Copper triumvirate in the starting lineup.
As Eric Nemchock recently wrote, training camp will be crucial for the Mercury. Head coach Nate Tibbets has to hope that two players, whether it be veterans Sami Whitcomb and Kalani Brown or young returnees Natasha Mack and Celeste Taylor, establish themselves as viable, versatile starting-caliber players. If not, it could be a season of valleys, rather than peaks, in the Valley.
Seattle Storm: How ready is Malonga?
Training camp roster: Gabby Williams (v), Skylar Diggins (v), Nneka Ogwumike (v), Ezi Magbegor (v), Alysha Clark (u), Lexie Brown (v), Katie Lou Samuelson (u), Dominique Malonga (d), Erica Wheeler (tc), Jordan Hobbs (d), Madison Conner (d), Serena Sundell (d), Mackenzie Holmes (d), Brianna Fraser (tc), Zia Cooke (tc), Li Yueru (tc)
The Seattle Storm’s core is composed of known quantities.
The steady, efficient play of Nneka Ogwumike. The fiery defense and drives of Skylar Diggins. The box-score stuffing style of Gabby Williams. The defensive impact of Ezi Magbegor. Those four are surrounded by a likewise established group of vets who understand their roles.
Dominique Malonga, in contrast, is an unknown. That makes finding out what she can bring to the team in 2025 the biggest question for the Storm. If she wows in camp, proving that she must be in head coach Noelle Quinn’s rotation, and not just for developmental reasons but because she can be a difference maker, Seattle not only becomes a must-watch team, but also will see their ceiling rise into the championship contender stratosphere.
Washington Mystics: Can Edwards make a star leap?
Training camp roster: Brittney Sykes (v), Stef Dolson (v), Shakira Austin (r), Sug Sutton (tc), Sonia Citron (d), Kiki Iriafen (d), Georgia Amoore (d), Aaliyah Edwards (u), Lucy Olsen (d), Sika Koné (u), Jade Melbourne (u), Zaay Green (d), Ashten Prechtel (tc), JoJo Lacy (tc), Khadijah Cave (tc), Morgan Jones (tc), Emily Engstler (tc)
Following the 2024 WNBA season, the Washington Mystics decided to enter a deep rebuild, ousting the father-son Thibault tandem from their general manager and head coach roles, hiring new leadership in general manager Jamila Wideman and head coach Sydney Johnson, trading away Ariel Atkins to the Chicago Sky and Karlie Samuelson to the Minnesota Lynx for draft capital and adding three rookies in the first round of the 2025 WNBA Draft.
While it’s worth questioning the Mystics’ approach for multiple reasons—whether an NBA-style, long-term, draft-based rebuild can be applied in the WNBA; how the arrival of the new CBA could change team-building rules and, in turn, strategies; if it is smart to sit out this moment of growing interest in the league by taking an intentional step back—the biggest reason to question Washington’s plan is Aaliyah Edwards.
In Edwards, does Washington already have a burgeoning star worth building around? Although she received inconsistent opportunity during Unrivaled’s 3×3 schedule, Edwards was THE story of the league’s 1-on-1 Tournament, beginning with her blanking of Breanna Stewart in her opening round victory. The attitude that carried her all the way to the 1-on-1 final, combined with her improving skill set, suggests she could be the star that DC appears to believe that they do not yet have. With an outstanding training camp, maybe Edwards can make the organization believe.
*All contract statuses are courtesy of Her Hoop Stats.
