Why Jackie Young is the Las Vegas Aces’ top MVP candidate and how the Connecticut Sun can survive another injury

The Las Vegas Aces have been the most dominant team so far in the 2022 season, topping the WNBA standings with a 7-1 record and league-best net rating of 15.4. First-year head coach Becky Hammon’s flashy pace-and-space offense and some personnel shifts — such as A’ja Wilson playing center and Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby no longer coming off the bench — have the team shooting more 3-pointers than ever before and thriving with more freedom and space in which to operate.

Plum and teammate Jackie Young have particularly thrived under Hammon’s more perimeter-oriented offense, taking the most shots per game on the roster. While there’s little doubt that Young, who averaged 12.2 points per game in 2021 (plus 11.0 in 2020 and 6.6 as a rookie in 2019) is a frontrunner for Most Improved Player, her name deserves to be included on the shortlist in early MVP conversations, too.

Young is scoring a league-best 19.3 points per game on 56.4% shooting, which are career-best marks. She is also one of three players in the league shooting 50% from both the field and 3-point arc (minimum two 3-point attempts per contest). While her mid-range game and ability to get to the rim have long been her strong suits, Young has expanded her versatility this season by becoming a knockdown threat from deep. The former Notre Dame standout and No. 1 overall pick is taking more 3s than ever before and hitting them at a 50% clip after just 25% accuracy last season; she has made more treys (12) in eight games this summer than in the 2020 and 2021 seasons combined (eight). She’s also getting to the line more often than in previous seasons, averaging 5.1 free throw attempts per game this season vs. 2.8 in 2021.