WNBA Team Previews and Predictions
Sportsmemo’s Ronald Cabang provides his WNBA regular season team previews along with final standings predictions for the 2022 WNBA season as the Chicago Sky look to defend their championship. Who will finish first in each respective conference? Check out his analysis of every WNBA team and how he projects them to finish.
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2022 WNBA Betting Notes | |
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Defending Champ: | Chicago Sky (Finished 16-16 in the Regular Season) |
2022 Favorite: | Las Vegas Aces (+350 at DraftKings) |
Regular Season: | May 6 – August 14 |
What’s New? | Conference semifinals are now best-of-5 instead of single game |
Defending MVP: | Jonquel Jones from Connecticut |
Incoming No. 1 Pick: | Rhyne Howard to Atlanta |
WNBA Team Previews By Final Standings Projections
Eastern Conference Team Previews
1. Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun are one of the favorites to win the WNBA championship season and for good reason too. They have the reigning MVP in Jonquel Jones and are bringing back a majority of their roster from last season. They did lose Briann January to Seattle, but I think they upgraded with Courtney Williams. The Sun defense will once again be one of the best in the league, if not the best, and gaining a scorer like Williams just makes them a more complete team.
2. Chicago Sky
Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot are two of the top three-point shooters in the league and if Candace Parker can stay healthy, this team should be able to start off the season fairly strong even without Kahleah Cooper. Once Cooper joins the team, the Sky will once again be one of the top teams to beat. Losing Diamond Deshields is tough, but they brought in Julie Allemand who should be serviceable backup guard. She didn’t play in the WNBA last season, but she had a pretty decent all-around season with the Fever in 2020.
3. Washington Mystics
The Mystics have a great guard duo in Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins and the return of a healthy Elena Delle Donne will be huge for this team. The Mystics will likely take a lot of precaution with Delle Donne this season so she may miss some games, but Myisha Hines-Allen played really well last year and I think she steps it up again this year. When healthy, the Mystics starting five will be able to compete with team but the biggest issue with this team will likely be overall depth.
4. New York Liberty
I’m expecting a huge improvement in numbers by Sabrina Ionescu this season, as long as she can stay Healthy. Ionescu and Betnijah Laney will need to carry the load offensively this season, with that said they’ll need a third option. I think reigning rookie of the year, Michaela Onyenwere, and Natasha Howard are solid options. This team is bringing back all their key players, but depth is still an issue for this team.
5. Atlanta Dream
The #1 overall pick of the draft, Rhyne Howard, had a strong preseason debut but couldn’t back it up in her 2nd game. It’s going to be an up and down season for Howard, but she should have a steady role for this Atlanta Dream team. I don’t see the Dream improving much as they lost their top scorer from last season. This team had the most dramatic change over the offseason returning only four players from last season’s roster.
6. Indiana Fever
Kelsey Mitchell seems to be their only big offensive threat. With Teaira McCowan off to Dallas, this team will need have a big season from rookie Queen Egbo. Egbo showed a lot of promise with a pair of double doubles in the preseason, but this team will likely be at the bottom of the standings once again.
Western Conference Team Previews
1. Las Vegas Aces
Liz Cambage was a huge loss, but the Aces are a very deep team, especially at the guard position. This team is one again one of the favorites to win the championship and its well deserved. They have a versatile roster, where they have multiple players who can play and defend multiple positions. It’s never bad when you can return six double digit scorers from the previous season either.
2. Seattle Storm
This is going to be the Stewie and Jewell show for the Storm this season. Breanna Stewart and Jewell Lloyd is one of the top two scoring duos in the league, if not the top, but the depth is lacking in Seattle. The WNBA have a “Point God” of their own in Sue Bird but I’m expecting a slight decline in her production at this point in her career. One player I feel could take a huge leap forward this season would be Ezi Magbegor. She played well in spot starts with multiple double-doubles. Depth will hurt this team as the season progresses.
3. Phoenix Mercury
The Britney Griner situation obviously doesn’t help and hopefully she gets back home soon, but they brought in a couple of really great players in Tina Charles and Diamond DeShields. Only three players in the league averaged 20+ ppg, 9 rpg, and 2 apg last season and the Mercury have two of them on their roster in Griner and Charles. They have a strong back court duo in Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi. Kia Nurse will be out a majority of the season, but at full strength this team has the star power to make it to the finals.
4. Minnesota Lynx
The Lynx have a majority of their key players back on their roster, but will be shorthanded to start the season for multiple reasons. The two most notable names to miss the start of the season are Kayla McBride who is out because she is still playing overseas and Napheesa Collier is out due to the impending birth of her child. Fowles will continue to dominate the post both offensively and defensively and Aerial Powers will need to hold it down as the top scorer until McBride and Collier come back. This team can be dangerous at full strength.
5. Los Angeles Sparks
The Sparks should improve on last year’s 12-20 record this season with the addition of players like Liz Cambage, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Chennedy Carter. Cambage and Carter along with Nneka Ogwumike could be one of the top scoring trio’s in the league. I’m expecting a fast pace, electric offense from this team, but depth will be an issue for this team as the season progresses.
6. Dallas Wings
The Dallas Wings will be starting off the season fairly shorthanded, Teaira McCowan, Satou Sabally, and Kayla Thornton are all still overseas. Arike Ogunbowale will once again be one of the top scorers in the league. Marina Mabrey is a three-point specialist, but I see her having a Kelsey Plum type 6th woman role where she’s expected to just focus on scoring. When healthy, I can see this team being one of the top spread covering teams in the league.
2022 WNBA Stat Guide
Check out Ralph Michael’s guide featuring records against the spread, over/under totals and home-away splits for the last five seasons. Track the incoming and outgoing players, plus the 2022 WNBA draft class, with returning production stats in a number of key categories.
WNBA Betting Tips
Kelly Stewart sits down with WagerTalk WNBA betting specialist Skee Profit to discuss some WNBA betting tips for beginners. With only 30+ games in the regular season (compared to 82 for the NBA), how does the shortened season affect traditional handicapping angles? Kelly and Skee share their thoughts.
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Meet the Author
Though Ronald Cabang has a background in analytics and data visualization, he brings a unique perspective to his sports betting angles. He was an advisor at a sports agency for a few years where his role was to identify talent from small schools and find a way for them to get on to professional rosters. That meant understanding players’ and teams’ strengths and weaknesses and finding the perfect match. This gives Ronald an edge because of his experience scouting teams and understanding the nuances of coaching and the psychological aspect of sports which comes into play in sports betting.
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