The 2024 WNBA season will follow up an amazing 2023 that featured captivating storylines and massive viewership numbers. The Aces-Liberty finals matchup garnered 728,000 average viewers, which makes the 2023 WNBA Finals the most watch Finals in 20 years.
Finals MVP A’ja Wilson and the Aces became the first team to win back-to-back championships since the Los Angeles Sparks (2001-02). WNBA fans witnessed a suspenseful, three-woman MVP race that ended with Liberty star Breanna Stewart winning by a narrow margin. The league was also introduced to a new crop of stars that could one day compete for their own MVP award.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league have a lot to build on next season. And there are prospects who could declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft that could shake up the league as well. Let’s take a look at potential storylines for the 2024 WNBA season.
ACES 3-PEAT
The Aces will embark on a mission that only one other team has accomplished. Only the Houston Comets have won three straight championships in WNBA history. In fact, the team, led by Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper, won four consecutive championships (1997-2000) in the first years of the league.
Head coach Becky Hammon, Wilson and the Aces are primed to make history. The core — Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young — are all returning while in the primes of their careers. Wilson seems to progress each season after being taken No. 1 overall out of South Carolina in 2018. In 2023, she averaged 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.2 blocks per game. She won her second-consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award after a dominant season.
Young’s progression in 2023 — she averaged 17.6 and four rebounds per game — garnered early-season MVP talks and eventually landed her a spot on the All-WNBA Second Team.
The pieces are intact for an Aces three-peat.
LIBERTY RUNNING IT BACK
Sandy Brondello and her squad were one game away from forcing a do-or-die Game 5 in the WNBA Finals. All signs point to them running it back with the same squad in hopes to win the franchise’s first title. Brondello said the team did “miracles” in its first season together after an offseason roster overhaul. But she noted that more time together could be the special ingredient needed to reach the mountaintop.
“So we’re gonna grow with more time with each other because it’s a new group,” Brondello said at the end of the 2023 season. “I’m excited. Going through the fire, that’s how you grow, isn’t it?”
Starters Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney will get another year to mesh in Brooklyn. The starting five will be complete if star Jonquel Jones decides to re-sign with the team. After the Finals loss, the 2021 MVP signaled that she is “definitely trending towards coming back here.”
SDS TO CONNECTICUT SUN?
Aside from Jones, star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith headlines the 2024 free agent class. She’s set to be an unrestricted free agent after a rocky tenure with the Phoenix Mercury. The six-time All-Star didn’t play a game in 2023 while on maternity leave and she later said that the team didn’t allow her to use its facilities.
They’re not gonna acknowledge me this year and it’s ok guys. We’re not affiliated unless it’s the checks….per management. I can’t even use the practice facility or any resources. But I still love the X-Factor!! https://t.co/lcDb05fVVg
— Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4) August 3, 2023
“They’re not gonna acknowledge me this year and it’s OK guys,” she said on X. “We’re not affiliated unless it’s the checks… per management. I can’t even use the practice facility or any resources.”
She added in another post: “But “I’m fine with being distanced… [because] now I can’t possibly be the villain anymore,” she wrote.
Diggins-Smith averaged 19.7 points, 5.5 assists and four rebounds in 30 games played in 2022. Her playmaking at the point would suit any team in the league, but Connecticut looks like a great destination. Her possible addition fills the team’s need of a true starting point guard. Diggins-Smith at the point allows 2023 MVP runner-up Alyssa Thomas to not have the burden of ballhandling duties for majority of games.
And having two assist machines — Diggins-Smith and Thomas — on the floor together creates an offense that becomes more difficult for opposing defenses to handle. Thomas ended 2023 ranked second in assists per game — behind Vandersloot — with 7.9. Diggins-Smith’s 5.5 per game in 2022 ranked seventh.
ALIYAH BOSTON, CAITLAN CLARK DUO
The Fever winning the 2024 WNBA draft lottery quickly led the basketball world to imagine: how good could Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark be together?
Clark has one more year of college eligibility, but all signs point to her leaving Iowa and ending up as the Fever’s top selection.
“How versatile she is,” Boston told Wish-TV News 8 when describing the Iowa guard in December. “Her vision on the court. I think that’s super important. And I think she does a great job of that at Iowa. And so, I think it’s going to be exciting whatever she decides, whether that’s to come out [into the WNBA Draft] or that’s to stay in. Regardless, ultimately, it’s her decision. She has to do what’s best for her. But whoever we get in the number one pick, they’re going to enjoy the Fever.”
Clark currently leads the NCAA in points (30.9) and in three-pointers made (4.86). Her possible addition to the Fever could induce nightmare pick-and-roll sequences for years to come. Clark landing in Indiana doesn’t mean the team will shoot to the top of the WNBA, though. The Fever finished with a 13-27 record in 2023 after winning just five games in 2022.
The Iowa guard’s addition would certainly add to a rebuilding roster that includes the unanimous Rookie of the Year Winner Boston, who played all 40 games while averaging 14.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
The duo complements other key pieces on the Fever as well: 2022 All-Rookie Team selection NaLyssa Smith and guard Grace Berger.
