Minnesota Lynx, Favorites for the 2025 WNBA Title
According to the league’s annual general managers’ poll, the Minnesota Lynx are the favorites to win the WNBA championship in 2025. In addition, Napheesa Collier, the team’s star, was selected as the player most likely to be the MVP of the season.
Caitlin Clark, guard for the Indiana Fever, was the first choice for general managers if they could choose any current player to build a team around. Paige Bueckers, the number 1 draft pick of 2025 for the Dallas Wings, was chosen as the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award.
These are some of the results from the 40 questions answered by the general managers, who were not able to vote for their own team or staff.
The 29th season of the WNBA will begin on Friday, with the Minnesota vs. Dallas game, where Bueckers will make her professional debut. On Saturday, ABC will broadcast a double header, with the matchup between the current champions, New York Liberty, and the two-time champions, Las Vegas Aces, followed by the Chicago Sky against Indiana.
The Lynx, who fell to New York in the WNBA Finals last season, received 60% of the votes as favorites for the title, followed by the Liberty (20%) and Fever and Aces, tied for third place (10% each). General managers chose a Liberty-Lynx rematch as the most likely Finals matchup (50%). Cheryl Reeve, coach of Minnesota, obtained 83% of the votes as the best coach in the WNBA.
Collier, who finished second in the MVP race last season, received 67% of the votes as the favorite for MVP. Wilson received 25% and Clark 8%. Collier was also chosen as the most versatile player (42%) and the best overall defender (33%), sharing the top spot with Wilson as the best leader (42%) and the best wing (33%).
Wilson, three-time MVP, was voted as the player who forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments (33%). She was also chosen as the best interior defender (67%) and the best center (50%).
Clark, the Rookie of the Year last season, received 50% of the votes as the player around whom most general managers would choose to build a team. She tied with Aces veteran Chelsea Gray as the best point guard, with 50% of the votes each. Gray was chosen as the league’s best passer (75%) and the player with the highest basketball IQ (36%).
Clark received 33% of the votes as the best guard, surpassing Sabrina Ionescu of New York and Kayla McBride of Minnesota (25% each). Clark led the WNBA in assists (8.4 per game) and total three-pointers (122 in 40 games) last season.
General managers were impressed with Clark’s team, the Fever, as the team that could be the most fun to watch this season (75%), as well as being the most improved (42%) and the franchise that made the best moves in the offseason (64%) by obtaining DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sophie Cunningham.
There was an interesting contrast in how general managers view this 2025 draft class. While Bueckers received 73% of the votes for Rookie of the Year, general managers favored Dominique Malonga, the number 2 pick of the Seattle Storm, as the rookie who will be the best player in five years (60%).
Malonga, the 6-foot-6 French teenager, is part of the reason why general managers overwhelmingly chose France (92%) as the country outside the United States currently producing the best WNBA talent. Jonquel Jones (Bahamas), of New York, last season’s WNBA Finals MVP, was chosen as the best international player (50%).
