WNBA 2026 Storylines In Plain English

We lay out the biggest WNBA 2026 storylines, starting with the title path running straight through New York and Las Vegas. Then we get into expansion expectations, year-round basketball fatigue, and our early calls for the awards and the 2027 draft radar.
• Liberty and Aces as the clear top tier and why depth and cohesion separate them
• Expansion team expectations for the Valkyries plus early outlooks for Portland and Toronto
• How offseason leagues could affect health, fatigue, and playoff performance
• Coach of the Year candidates and why seeding matters
• Most Improved Player watch list built around opportunity, role changes, and pressure
• Sixth Woman of the Year left as TBD due to lineup uncertainty
• Rookie of the Year possibilities and why minutes and team context decide it
• DPOY names to watch and what defensive roles could look like
• MVP conversation tied to team seeding and who drives winning most
• 2027 WNBA Draft prospects to track and what makes each intriguing
Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, and tell anyone who's anyone about one, the WNBA, but then two, my show.

Transcript

Welcome And 2026 Storylines Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Train as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about the WNBA's 2026 Top Storylines. That's right, the 30th season's top storylines. Off the break, expected contenders. Listen, if you've already heard before, I don't need to talk too much about it. But my expected contenders are in fact the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces. While there may be some other teams that can challenge them, make it a little interesting. The expected contenders, I only got two. Because again, depth-wise, Liberty are in fact the best team. And then talent-wise, Liberty are in fact the best team. And then the Aces are defending champions. So they have the cohesion, they have the experience, they have the grittiness. Liberty got a chip on their shoulder. I ain't gonna lie to you. We might be seeing Liberty versus Aces again. So again, the expected contenders, ladies and gentlemen, if it's not Liberty or Aces, one of the two meaning, I'd be, I would be flabbergasted, right? Now, we got the contenders that we that we've talked about. And again, if you listened to one of my episodes before about the expectations for each team, I've already talked about the Liberty. I've already talked about the Aces. So definitely go and tune into that episode. But now, another top storyline. The new team expectations. Like last year, we saw the Golden State Valkyries go to the playoffs. This season, they might barely miss the playoffs. And that's no slight to them. That's because the other teams are actually fairly decent. Could they still get to the playoffs? Yes, they actually could. They could be a lower tee, they could be a lower seeded team again. Their starting unit, I'm projecting to be quite decent. But you need bench, you need depth, you need resources. And that's why I'm curious to see how the Valkyries do. If they're youth producers, like they had, you say Yusete last year, who didn't play. She had a chance to be rookie of the year. So because she didn't play, hey, she could be rookie of the year this year if she plays and she's hooping. Just saying. So again, ladies and gentlemen, I'm curious how the Golden State Valkyries do. I think they barely missed the playoffs, but I'm not going to be surprised if they actually missed the playoffs. And it's not because of what they did last year completely, but it's because of who they acquired. The Portland Fire, I think they missed the playoffs. As well as the Toronto Tempo. And there's no disrespect, ladies and gentlemen. I think the Tempo have a better chance of getting to the playoffs. They might have a decent tempo when it's all said and done, too. Because they be they could be playing some fast-paced offense. You got Marina Mabery, you got Britney Sykes. Like you can make some things shake with that. But again, ladies and gentlemen, I'm not expecting them to make it to the playoffs. Missing it for sure. Now, we've talked about the two teams. Well, the three teams. Well, I guess technically it's two new teams, but three if you want to talk about over the last two seasons. So we'll be talking about new team expectations quite often. Quite often. Because we got a couple more teams coming between now and 2030. Just saying. Also, I think a storyline that's going to be worthy noting, right? How do leagues like the unrivaled league or even Project B that's taking place this season, how how do those impact the WNBA players during their season? Because there's a world where, look, the women are going to be playing year-round. And while that sounds extremely cool as a sports fan, you got to think the wear and tear on players' bodies, will that start to accumulate? Will that start to make players' careers shorten a little bit? They already only play 41 games or 40 games. So I'm curious how that impacts the WNBA players. Will that vault them up, kind of like how we see players go to Team USA and then have a monstrous season the next year? Or will it make you look a little rough and ragged? Maybe at the beginning you snapping, but then as the season progresses, if we get to the playoffs, which is a little bit tougher, maybe your fatigue dips a little bit. So I'm curious how these two new leagues are going to impact the WNBA playoffs. And I guess regular season too. So we'll be paying attention to that. Now, the WNBA award expectation. By the way, you get rookies, you got events in both of those leagues. So it's everybody in the league. Everybody across the board. Even how contracts are formed. I wonder if those, if there will be stipulations in there about these two leagues. Now, we're going to talk about here the WNBA award expectations. Okay. We're going to talk about Coach of the Year, Most Improved, Sixth Woman of the Year, Rookie of the Year, D-poy MVP. Coach of the Year. I got five, about five, but yeah, about five names, right? Shell Reeve off the Lynx. Chris DeMarco off the Liberty. Becky Hammond off the Aces. Carl Smesco off the Dream. And Sidney Johnson off the Mystics. Now keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, I genuinely do expect to see. Well, hear me out. Cheryl Reeves, if your links are a top two seed, you might win the argument for me. Chris DeMarco or Becky Hammond, respectfully, because I've already talked about y'all teams as being contenders. If you're not the one seeds, I don't want to hear it. Like I don't want to hear y'all names mentioned at all whatsoever. Carl Smesko on the Dream. As like I still got y'all as contenders, but if you're a top two seed, I'll hear it. Like I'll hear that for sure. If you're if you meet my expectations, I can't quite say, oh, you should be coach of the year. My coach of the year is someone who exceeds expectations personally. Okay, but again, top two seed, I'm not expecting that out of the dream. Could they? Sure. That's why I put Carl there for the dream as coach of the year if they if they get top two. And then Sidney Johnson, the Mystics. Listen, I have y'all in that playoff contending status. If y'all vault up to a top four seed, that would be pretty spectacular. Could there be other coaches that win it? Yes, but these are the five, ladies and gentlemen, that I'm looking forward to watching coach over this season. Because again, they have realistic chances of winning. The most improved player, I'm looking at about eight names right now. We got Shakira Alston, because she's got that contract extension. Cameron Brink, because she just came off of injury. Hey, look, you gotta do something for us, Cameron. All right, we just traded away Rekrete, we just traded away Rakia Jackson, and you are now the lone young'un that we kept. You gotta do something. Angel Reese, because you were doing all that jawing, all that talking about your former team saying how you want more. All right, well, now you got it. You're now on the dream. So now more scrutiny is gonna be thrown at you, which is kind of hard to think about. So again, I'm expecting her to showcase a little bit more skill. Expecting her to get most improved, that she can be a candidate. Ezie Magbagore, because now you have more opportunity to do something. I want to see what she does for the Seattle Storm. Could she be one of the better players on the team? Or will she get usurped by Dominique Malonga, who was drafted number two last year? Our fam, who was drafted number three this year. Could she get eclipsed by the two younger players? That's a possibility as well, too. So again, I'm expecting Ezie to have a little chip on her shoulder this season. And no NECA, no problems. That's all I'm expecting. Well, maybe a little problem, but again, not for her as much. Marina Mabury, because you are now on a new team. Literally, you are on a new team. Floor is yours, sweetie. Floor is yours. You gotta go hoop, you gotta go get a bucket by all means necessary. And I think if you emerge as the leader and you help bring this team onto the playoff scene, oh my gosh. Like the tempo, like, bro, if you can set the tempo for the tempo, I think you can get most improved player. Bridget Carrollton, you were the first pick in the expansion draft. And and I think it would be kind of fire if you can win most improved for the fire. But that also requires you to in your team to get a little closer to that playoffs. But also, I need to see something like you getting a bucket, just a smidge more, just a smidge more. You're a quality role player. Let's see what you can do. Because we saw what happened last year for the Valkyries. So the template has been set. So we gotta see what happens for most improved. Sanaya Rivers, I think this will be an underrated player. And if she hoops the way I think she can hoop, bro, I think she can win this award hands out, like hands down. And I'm looking forward to watching Saniah on the sun. Like if the sun are not at the bottom of the barrel, if they're starting to be considered like a competitive team, she has the capability of guarding one through three, sometimes a four, but ideally one through three at an elite level. And if that offense comes along, we could be talking about her as an all-star, which would help lead to the most improved player. And then also Maddie Seagre off the wings. Look, she was a pretty, she could get a bucket in college back in the day. All right. And back in the day, really, is not that far along, not that far ago. She's playing with Arike Agumbawale, with Paige Beckers, and with the number one pick in AZ Food. So she could get lost in the salts, but what happens? Because they also got what was Alana Smith, right? Like they got a good team across the board. I'll give them that. But what happens if Maddie starts producing a little bit more than what we might expect? Like, what happens if Maddie starts giving fringe all-star caliber production? That may end up making some things tricky for the wings, not gonna lie to you. Because now we might think about should we keep Urike? Or should we trade her and look to keep our youth? That could be a whole discussion. But Maddie Seagre's will have the opportunity to be in the running for most improved player. Now, sixth woman of the year, I'm gonna just cut this off because again, that I just listed off all my players for most improved, right? These are my expectations. But sixth woman of the year, I gotta go TBD. And I gotta go TBD because this one's a little bit unfair. I don't know who's officially gonna be coming off the bench. I can tell you who's gonna be coming off the bench for the for the Liberty, probably for the Aces, too. And you might be able to pick somebody off that team. You genuinely might be able to like pencil somebody from one of their team from one from one of those teams in this list. But outside of that, like the dream, are they gonna keep Nas Hillman on the bench or are they gonna try to have her in the starting unit? Brianna Jones could come off the bench, and she's been a sixth woman of the year before. Nas Hillman was just sixth woman last year. So they have some things to argue about. But other teams have some question marks too, bench wise. So again, I'm putting this as a TBD. Rookie of the year. I got a listing of four. Could we go five and throw Flager Johnson in here? Maybe. But I'd I'd like to see how she does a little bit better because again, the direction I think the storm are going to be going. That could be a little tough if Flager sees enough floor time. Does she have the talent? Yes. But our fam, because of her ability, because of her height, I think she could see the floor. Also, them trying to experiment a little bit, her versatility. Again, our fam is also in the running for rookie of the year. Both of those players, her and Flager, are on the Storm. So whichever one gets more tick, and if the Storm starts to integrate these players into the starting lineup, that could be a case for them making rookie of the year. AZ Fudd, she could get six women of the year candidacy, because she could be coming off the bench, getting a bucket herself. But what happens if her team makes a playoff push and Arique gets traded before that? And A-Z gets interjected into the starting lineup and she starts hooping. That's the case for rookie of the year. How about Olivia Miles being a quality contributing member on a playoff team, meaning the Lynx, and you allow Courtney Williams to slide back to the sixth woman of the year spot? What happens if Courtney is now sixth woman of the year, who also gives you all-star caliber numbers again? Just saying, Olivia Miles could be rookie of the year if she's a starter on the team, which I expect, and her to get a bucket, her to be producing, her to get assists, quality assists, quality playmaker, help being the floor general on this team, making it easier for them offensively. So that way someone like Nafisa Collier can focus on defense. Kayla McBride can just focus on her getting buckets, that would be Stellar. Then we also got Lauren Betts, who, hey, she could be coming off the bench as well, too. At 6'7, 6'7, 6'7. But what happens, ladies and gentlemen, if she ends up starting and dominates? Rim protector. We could be talking about her in the depoy conversation as well, too. But rookie of the year discussion, she's getting the bucket. Leading the team in rebounding. Although that could be tough because, you know, Shakira Austin's on the squad. Quality defender. Whether she's known as the best rim protector on her team. Stuff like that is why we consider her as rookie of the year. But ladies and gentlemen, rookie of the year could be a jump ball this season. We have a lot of talent, a lot of opportunities, and a lot of interesting situations to help produce a rookie of the year. Now, depoy. We got the perennials, right? Nafisa Collier and Asia Wilson. Alyssa Thomas is a usual suspect. How about Gabby Williams? Again, she's on a new team, ladies and gentlemen. And her being on this new team, and when I say new team, it's the Golden State Valkyrie. So technically speaking, it is still a new team. It's the second, it's their second year, not hers, the team's second year. Her versatility could help her be in the running for depoy. Camilla Cardoza, the rim protection capabilities. Now that they got Azare Stevens, you can space the floor out. I'm expecting her to, her stats to go up a little bit more, rebounding to go a little bit more. Rim protection. You have a chip on your shoulder now, sweetie. I need to see something. So I'm expecting her. You don't have to win it, but be on the listing. How about Alicia Gray or Angel Reese? If they're anchoring the defense for the Atlanta dream, that's got to get you some, hey man, that's got to get you some consideration for the depoy. And especially looking at Angel. We know Alicia Gray can defend it. She's very versatile. But Angel, you could realistically guard one through fives. So this is a case for you to showcase that you're able to get a bucket, which we know you've averaged a double-double, but an efficient bucket, leading the team in rebounding and anchoring that defense, D-Poy could be yours. And then Leone Phoebe, this player can literally guard one through five. And she could be a low-key favorite for D-Poy. Because the Liberty, there's pretty spectacular. So, D-Poy, ladies and gentlemen, these are some names to look out for for sure. And I'm going to be paying attention to that because this is a lot of teams, a lot of names that we can run out. Now, MVP. Of course, again, the perennials. You got Asia Wilson, you got Nafisa Collier. I'm going to just say this off top. I don't know if a player from the New York Liberty is going to be up here. I think they're too deep. Like, you got Sabrina, you got Stewie. Stewie might be the person, but then you also got Satu Sabali. And I don't expect John Quell Jones to do it. But she's pretty talented. So again, like, unless Leone Phoebe just starts snapping, I don't expect anybody to get from the Liberty on this list. But a player like a Ryan Howard, one, if Asia and Nefisas team are number one, I can understand why they'd get it. Ryan Howard, if your team's a top two seed, you could even say this for Alicia Gray, but I'm thinking I'm thinking Ryan's the more offensive-minded player. Can she defend? Yes, but she can get a bucket a little bit better than Alicia can. But Alicia was just MVP caliber last season. So her or Ryan, if they're top two, one of those two should be able to get it. Aliyah Boston, if your team is top three seed, I got to consider you for MVP. And a little bit higher than a Kelsey Mitchell or even a Caitlin Clark. Now keep in mind I said top three seed, and they're on the same team. Kelsey, you gotta average 20 plus points efficiently. And Caitlin, you gotta average a triple-double. Because Aaliyah is gonna continue to give her her quality numbers. And to be clear, she can get a bucket as well as stop one in the interior. So again, Aaliyah Balston, I'm looking at her for MVP. Alyssa Thomas, if your team is a top four seed, and I'm projecting you to be a playoff team, and you could miss the seed. You could miss the playoffs. If your team's top four, I gotta consider you for MVP. NECA Aguma K. Listen, bro. If my Sparks are top three seed, we gotta slide the, we gotta slide the MVP, MVP vote into NECA. Because I don't think that goes to Kelsey Plum nor Cameron Brink nor Dearca Hamby nor Ariel Atkins. Like nobody's gonna impact our team winning more than NECA Aguma K. But that's just me. Gabby Williams, if the Valkyrie are top five seed, I gotta think that you are the leader at that helm. Yes, they did have some tremendous players last season. Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton, they did their job. Tiffany Hayes is a good player. But to be clear, Gabby Wilson, or Gabby Williams, oh my God, is the better player on the team. So as a result, I would expect her to be up here for the MVP listing if their team is a top five seed. Because I don't expect them to make the playoffs, barely miss it, but they can make the playoffs. But there could there be other players like sure. I could hear Paige Beckers getting into the MVP listing, although I don't expect Paige to win it on the Dallas Wings right now. I don't. But there could be like these are my these are my players right now, especially based on season, in terms of how I'm expecting the season to go. And again, I already told you, the Liberty, I don't expect anybody on the Liberty to be up here. But those are my NBA, WNBA award expectations, ladies and gentlemen. And to close out the episode, one of the things that I'm gonna be looking forward to is the WNBA draft 2027 radar. Because I'm looking forward to watching seven players next season. We got Juju Watkins. Is she actually leaving? We know who Juju is, right? Like freshman phenom, arguable best player in W in college basketball for women. Like she's a bucket. Okay, she can easily get a bucket. And she can defend. She's got to see if she can playmake a little bit more. So if she can up that playmaking, WNBA could have a problem. Madison Booker, mid-range Maddie, as they call her. What's her production gonna be like during this senior season? If it eclipses what she did this past season, plus, if she's able to do what she did on a consistent basis, but also in March Madness, never having a bad game, we could be talking about her as a top pick, but we gotta wait to see how that goes. Audi Crooks. Look, and there's no way easy, there's no easy way to say this. I'm not body shaming, but if she can lose a little bit of weight, get a little bit in better shape, I think that can go a long way. Because in the in look, in the WNBA, you're gonna have to move them puppies. There's a big difference between the girls in college versus the girls in the pros. I ain't gonna hold you. Same thing with the men. So if you if she don't, is she talented? Yes. I just don't know how well she's gonna be able to do in the WNBA. Because you got players like a Zhang Ziyu who is 7-3. Like how to 7-3. I'm curious how well she would do against Zhang Ziyu. And that's the player that she would be drafted with. And mind you, ladies and gentlemen, you can't teach height. And there's only been one other player to have been drafted with the height that Zhang Ziyu had. And that's Margot Didek, okay? She was drafted in 1998, and she was 7'2. So Zhang Ziyu would be the tallest player drafted in the WNBA. And I can't wait to see how she does. Does she dominate? Oh, that'll be crazy. But you can't teach height, ladies and gentlemen. Honestly, she may be the number one pick when it's all said and done. I get Juju is a quality talent. But damn it, if you can't teach height, and 7'3 is still 7'3. She got a lot of work to do, but again, there's nobody with her height. And the rim protection gotta be crazy. It's gotta be stupid. Now, I'm also looking at Michaela Williams, Malaysia Fool Wiley, and Hannah Hidalgo. Quality players. Now I'm just gonna say this. I'm more so focusing on Malaysia Fool Wiley and Hannah Hidalgo. Malaysia, we already know she's a quality athlete with ball handling skills. Hannah Hidalgo, she was a de-poy at what, 5'6? Where she got 5.6 steals during her junior season. And she can get a bucket. So I'm very curious in seeing just how well these two, like, bro, they're so spectacular. It's ridiculous. All right. So I'm looking forward to seeing how she does. And then, okay, okay, all right, Michaela Williams, I hear y'all, right? She can play pretty well. Good height to her six foot. She gave but 14 points, five rebounds, four assists on 50% from the field. That's not bad. So I gotta throw on this list. Because again, expectations of Michaela next season are a little high. So if she can live up to Those expectations, you gotta put her in here. But ladies and gentlemen, those are the seven players I'm looking forward to watching next season. Especially during the draft, but next college season, definitely looking forward to seeing them play. Maybe not Zhang Ziyu because she's not in college, she's overseas. But we'll wait to see when she does go to that WNBA draft for 7-3? That is disgusting work. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this does conclude the end of the episode. Thank you all for listening. I appreciate it. This was the long one. So y'all hear my expectations or the top storylines that I'm gonna be following for the WNBA season. I'm curious what y'all all think. Is there a top storyline that I didn't say? Is there something that I missed? Are there any draft picks or prospects that I forgot to mention? How about in terms of the awards? Are there did I overlook somebody? Did you guys think I was unfair? I'm curious your thoughts. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, like I said, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, and tell anyone who's anyone about one, the WNBA, but then two, my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.