Five WNBA predictions for 2025

With the New York Liberty defeating the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, the 2024 season has officially come to an end.

So with that in mind, now is as good a time as ever to get off some spicy takes and predict what will happen in 2025 as the league continues to grow exponentially. Here are five things I think are locks to happen next year:

The Golden State Valkyries will make the playoffs

That’s right, the expansion team with zero players on its roster right now will go from non-existent to playoff-bound in their first year of action.

Why? It’s because Joe Lacob is the owner, and he is obsessed with winning. Other owners talk that talk, but Mr. Lacob walks it. With the Golden State Warriors, he’s won titles and paid exorbitant amounts of luxury-tax money, and while such a scenario won’t happen in the W, I’m sure he will do everything he can to bring in good players.

They’ll have an expansion draft, where they can pick up players other teams don’t protect. Add in the No. 5 pick in the 2025 draft and plenty of cap space, and I believe he’ll field a team that will crack the top eight. They’ve also already hired a good coach in Natalie Nakase.

Once people see the players they get from the expansion draft, free agency and through the traditional draft, more people will see my point of view. Be ahead of the curve and take my word as gospel. You’ll look like a ball-knowing expert if you do.

The Las Vegas Aces are done

Yes, A’ja Wilson is HER. But she’ll have to be that alone. We finally found what can defeat Las Vegas. And no, it isn’t a group of frat bros on a three-day weekend, but the grind of the WNBA.

The 2023 Aces were one of the best teams I’ve ever seen. Taking just a slight dip from that level of play meant that Las Vegas was fourth-best during the 2024 regular season and beaten by New York rather easily in the second round. Simply put, this team maximized their ability as constructed. If they try to run this back, they’re going to get run over.

They’ll always have a chance as long as they have A’ja, but the Aces need to clean house. Everyone not named Wilson and Jackie Young should be on the chopping block. They need to wheel and deal to stay competitive, and unless they make a blockbuster trade, I don’t see the Aces as threats to the title.

The single-game scoring record will be broken

The current record for most points by an individual is set at 53. Both A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage reached this exact number, with Wilson doing it in 2023 and Cambage reaching that number back in 2018.

With 3-point shooting increasing by the day in the WNBA, I think a new record will be set in 2025. Players like Caitlin Clark and Arike Ogunbowale are individual scoring machines that can get hot from deep. Wilson could also be a threat, given how she is the center of the Aces’ offense and very much in her prime.

Records are made to be broken and even with just 40 minutes to do it, I think 53 is going down in 2025.

A team will win the treble

Since 2021, there have been three accomplishments a team can achieve in the WNBA: the best record, the Commissioner’s Cup and the WNBA title. Only the Las Vegas Aces, in 2022, have accomplished all three, earning the WNBA treble.

In 2025, a team will accomplish this again. I don’t think it’ll be the Aces, but perhaps it will be the New York Liberty looking to prove the 2024 title wasn’t a fluke. Or, could the Connecticut Sun finally put it all together? Maybe a team like the Seattle Storm fine tunes things and becomes the next WNBA superpower?

The Cup will be the first accomplishment a team can achieve, so be on the lookout for that winner and their position in the WNBA standings.

Everyone will get along

Okay, even I don’t believe in this one. With the sport’s growing popularity, I’ve heard some fans reminisce about the days gone by, when it was just hoop talk in the W. I chuckle at that sentiment.

That’s the nostalgia talking because—for decades now—the WNBA has always had more drama than a telenovela. We’ve had team infighting, players taking shots at organizations on social media and a hilariously small All-Star MVP trophy. Even in these Finals, the refs became a topic of discussion, along with the WNBA Commissioner’s dress.

The W discourse never has been pure hoops; it’s always had a certain percentage of unseriousness. I have no idea what will happen in 2025, but I am certain we’ll be fighting with each other all summer long, and I can’t wait.