5 bold predictions for the 2026 WNBA season: A comeback MVP, Sparks in the Finals and expansion team success

New York possesses all the pieces on paper. An MVP-caliber core three of Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu that lifted the Liberty’s offense to top-three in each of their three seasons and third in defensive rating their first two. The free agency signing of Satou Sabally, the “unicorn” forward yet to reach her full potential. A packed roster that includes Leonie Fiebich, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Marine Johannes.

Can new Liberty coach Chris DeMarco lead the team to playoff success in Year 1? (Photo by Sean D. Elliot/Getty Images)

(Sean D. Elliot via Getty Images)

Things written on paper don't always translate to banners. Chris DeMarco won four NBA championships in a variety of positions with the Golden State Warriors, but it’s still his first head coaching job — plus, under the brightest lights in New York. Teams built around bunches of All-Stars don’t always come through. And the rest of the field is stout with contenders. As last year showed, one injury or bad stretch could diminish championship prospects. And there’s already some concern — Ionescu is out at least two weeks after rolling her ankle in the preseason.

… But Stewart wins MVP

We said “bold predictions,” and we meant it. Stewart is coming off a down year by the stratospheric standards she’s set in previous seasons. On a Liberty team battling through injuries last year — including ones she sustained herself — she averaged career lows in scoring (18.3 ppg tied rookie year), rebounding (6.5, a full one fewer than 2022), effective field goal percentage (.487) and, most detrimentally, 3-point percentage (.241). It was off her fewest attempts (2.8).

Can a healthy offseason, new head coach and fresh system change that for the 31-year-old forward with three WNBA championships, two league MVPs, two Finals MVPs, a Commissioner’s Cup MVP and seven All-WNBA selections?

The last 30-something to win the award was Sylvia Fowles in Minnesota’s 2017 championship season. It was the first time in four seasons she earned votes on the ballot and followed seasons of production closer to her career floor. It also came on a stacked team, another comparative analysis for Stewart’s position with the Liberty’s cast of All-Stars. Ionescu is a preseason MVP candidate, and Jones is an overlooked key asset.

Stewart is coming off a strong offseason, winning the Unrivaled championship with the Mist and earning MVP of the final. Once the WNBPA vice president put the marathon CBA negotiations behind her, she jetted off to win a third EuroLeague title in a two-game stint with Fenerbahçe last month. Stewart’s last WNBA MVP honor came in the controversial 2023 race; it was the second-smallest margin between top finishers in league history.

Los Angeles will reach the Finals

Bank on the Sparks to play some f****** defense this season; once they do, they could find themselves in their first Finals since winning it in 2016.

A major piece is the MVP in that series, Nneka Ogwumike, returning to Los Angeles following two seasons in Seattle. Ogwumike, 35, earned All-WNBA second-team honors each of the last four years while maintaining a stat line similar to that of her peak years in Los Angeles. The veteran forward will add a defensive presence that the Sparks sorely need after finishing 10th in defensive rating (108.5), above only the lottery-bound Sun, Wings and Sky. Cameron Brink, a 6-4 rim protector who averaged a sixth-best 1.4 bpg, is in her second full season after ACL surgery.

The offense kept them in playoff contention until the final days. The Sparks ranked second in scoring (85.7 ppg) in head coach Lynne Roberts’ first season at the helm. They return Kelsey Plum (19.5 ppg) and Dearica Hamby (18.4), the second-most productive scoring duo in the WNBA last year. Only the Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young averaged more together at 39.9 ppg.

Triple-double mark will fall again

There were a season-record 17 triple-doubles in 2025, six more than the total from 1997-2021. The only other double-digit triple-double season was 14 in 2023.

The game is leaning more that way with do-it-all, positionless stat-stuffers filtering into the ranks. Alyssa Thomas, the career record holder with 25, is in a prime position to stack onto her total as a point-forward barreling through the lane to find shooters in Phoenix. Caitlin Clark, entering the season healthy after missing 31 games, has three in her pro career.

Jessica Shepard, Jackie Young, Skylar Diggins, Angel Reese and Julie Allemand also notched triple-doubles a year ago. Sabrina Ionescu, the NCAA record-holder, will have the ball in her hand more. And Olivia Miles, who had six as a graduate senior at TCU, should see plenty of opportunities in Minnesota.

Toronto will make the playoffs

Sandy Brondello has never missed the playoffs as a head coach. Not in her single 2010 season at the helm of San Antonio (which later moved to Las Vegas). Not during eight summers in Phoenix. And not while leading the Liberty for four seasons from 2022-25.

No reason to go against the two-time WNBA champion now. The Tempo secured major assets in each of their three roster-building opportunities this offseason by adding Marina Mabrey and Nyara Sabally in the expansion draft; signing the trio of Brittney Sykes, Temi Fágbénlé and Canadian Kia Nurse in free agency; and drafting Kiki Rice in the first round of the collegiate draft.

They may not defeat the Liberty, Aces, Fever or Dream, but they can stay competitive in the middle of the pack. As the league grows, reaching the playoffs will become less of a gimme and more of a notable achievement. With 15 teams in the league, 53% of them will make the postseason versus 75% when there were 12.

The Valkyries became the first expansion team in WNBA history to reach the playoffs in their inaugural season. Golden State (23-21) took the eighth and final seed, losing to Minnesota in the first round. The league’s previous four expansion franchises combined to go 24-108 in their first season.