With the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game coming Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ABC) in Chicago, it’s a good time to look at how the season is shaping up and revisit and update our preseason picks. The Chicago Sky, Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics appear to be the title contenders, while no other team has better than a .500 record. That said, it is worth noting again that the defending champion Sky were 16-16 going into the playoffs last season, so don’t count out any team just yet.
The All-Star Game will feel like another celebration for the Sky, with four players — Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Kahleah Copper and Emma Meesseman — playing. Each is having a strong season, and there are a lot of other players leaguewide making noise individually. Which one of them are best positioned right now for league awards? Which teams are favored to make the WNBA Finals? Which will be the last team standing?
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Mechelle Voepel look at who and what have stood out most to this point.
Which team or player has been the biggest surprise — good or bad — so far this season?
Pelton: This was supposed to be a building season for the Atlanta Dream, who maintained cap flexibility for 2023 with one-year deals in free agency and trades for players on expiring contracts. Instead, behind a top-tier defense and the production of No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard, the Dream are well positioned for their first playoff trip since 2018.
Voepel: Agree on Atlanta. The Dream were last in many preseason lists, including our ESPN Power Rankings. With a new coach (Tanisha Wright) and after parting ways with last season’s leading scorer, Courtney Williams, among other contributors, Atlanta was projected as a franchise almost starting from scratch. That has been a good thing, with the dividends paying off earlier than expected. Along with Howard’s strong first season, an older WNBA rookie — 26-year-old guard Kristy Wallace — also has been a…
Source : espn
