The WNBA season is quickly approaching the halfway mark. The Minnesota Lynx sit atop the standings once again. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces are close behind in second place.
The New York Liberty entered this season with championship expectations. They were among the preseason favorites to win their second title in three seasons. The Liberty is holding steady in fourth place.
The Lynx are a slight betting favorite to win their first title since 2017. BetMGM has the Lynx at +275 odds on their WNBA futures board, just ahead of the Aces (+290) and Liberty (+300). With the three best teams priced close together, it’s still a wide-open race.
Meanwhile, the big story so far this season has been the Dallas Wings. After finishing tied for last place in 2025, the Wings have already passed last year’s anemic win total through their first 17 games. Paige Bueckers is putting up MVP numbers, while Jessica Shepard emerged as the frontrunner for the Most Improved Player.
Minnesota Lynx: Chasing Glory in a Non-Odd Year
The Lynx are the first team to reach 13 wins this season with a 13-4 record. The Lynx have been very profitable for bettors, with a league-best 13-4 record against the spread.
The Lynx boasts one of the most lethal offenses (91.5 ppg), which makes them tough to keep up with. Their +11.9 margin of difference is the best in the league thanks to a stifling defense (79.6 ppg), which is ranked second.
Rookie Olivia Miles, the #2 pick in the draft, leads a well-balanced scoring attack with 18.5 ppg. Veterans Natasha Howard (17.3 ppg), Courtney Williams (16.7 ppg), and Kayla McBride (14.2 ppg) provide the Lynx with multiple scoring options, so you never really know who will lead the Lynx in scoring on any given night.
During the 2010s, the dominating Lynx thrived during odd-numbered years. Head coach Cheryl Reeve led the Lynx to WNBA championships in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. They’re looking to buck the trend in 2026 with their first title since their dynasty ended. The Lynx came close in 2024, but lost to the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals. They posted the best record last season at 34-10 before the Phoenix Mercury knocked them out in the semifinals.
Reeve is the favorite at +100 to win Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her career. Meanwhile, Miles is a massive favorite to win Rookie of the Year at -5000.
Vegas Aces: Four in Five?
The defending champion Aces are trying to run it back, which would mark their fourth WNBA title in five seasons. The Aces won 12 out of their first 16 games this season after they got hot in June.
A’ja Wilson is a threat on both ends of the court. She leads the league with 25.7 ppg and 2.2 blocks per game. She’s also pulling down 9.1 rebounds per game. Jackie Young (15.4 ppg) and Chelsea Gray (12.1 ppg, 7.3 assists) are always reliable in crunch time.
Chennedy Carter, playing for her fourth team in four seasons, leads the league in bench scoring (14.4 ppg), and she’s the favorite to win Sixth Player of the Year at +150.
New York Liberty: Slow Start for Early Favorites
The Liberty topped the preseason with the highest win total projection at 32.5. After a sluggish 4-3 start, the Liberty found its groove during an eight-game winning streak.
Star point guard Sabrina Ionescu battled a sprained ankle in the preseason, and now she’s hampered by a nagging back injury.
As the anchor of one of the most formidable front lines in the WNBA, forward Brenna Stewart leads the Liberty with 19.4 ppg and 8.9 rebounds. Center Jonquel Jones averages 14.2 ppg and leads the squad with 9.1 rebounds per game. Satou Sabally, in her first season in New York, is averaging 11.3 ppg.
Despite stumbling out of the gate, the Liberty are still among the favorites to win the title at +300.
Dallas Wings: Surprise Squad
Everyone expected the Wings to improve after last year’s disastrous season, but no one expected them to be this good. Oddsmakers projected them to bubble the playoffs. The Wings entered the season with a win total of 16.5, which was tenth out of 15 teams.
The Wings have become one of the league’s biggest surprises. They surpassed last season’s win total in only 17 games. After a 3-3 start, they snapped off an 8-3 record over their next 11 games.
Paige Bueckers, the reigning Rookie of the Year, leads the Wings with 119.3 ppg and 6.1 assists per game. She’s shooting 50% from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range.
Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale (14.5 ppg) have formed one of the league’s most dangerous backcourts. Azzi Fudd, the #1 pick in the draft out of UConn, averages 13.6 ppg in her rookie season.
The addition of Jessica Shepard has been huge. Shepard started every game this season, averaging a career-high 14.2 ppg. She’s also second in the league in rebounding (11.3).
The Wings saw their title odds drastically improve from +3300 in the preseason to +1300.
MVP Race: Wilson, Bueckers, Clark
Wilson is the clear favorite (-220) to secure a fifth MVP award since 2020. The Aces’ superstar won the MVP in each of the last two seasons and seeks a third-straight award.
Bueckers is the second favorite on the MVP board at +750, but she’ll need a monstrous second half to close the gap and catch Wilson.
Caitlin Clark is one of the most popular players in the WNBA, and she’s third on the board at +800. Clark is ranked third in points (21.3 ppg) and second in assists (8.3).
The Indiana Fever drew a lot of preseason hype, but struggled at the onset with a 5-5 record. They played much better in their last seven games and improved to 10-7. Clark and head coach Stephanie White were involved in several animated sideline dustups. The two downplayed the friction as “heat of the moment” incidents, but everyone looked frustrated.
The hyper-competitive Clark is not happy about a minutes restriction implemented by the team to preserve her long-term health and keep her fresh for the postseason.
Meanwhile, Clark and WNBA officials will always be a story. The subpar officiating continues to draw league-wide criticism for its inconsistency. Still, Clark and the refs have their own combative relationship due to her fiery reaction to no-calls and their abrasive response to foul-baiting tactics.
21+. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
