WNBA Power Rankings as A'ja Wilson's Aces, Angel Reese's Sky Rise

Another week, another round of power rankings.

Commissioner's Cup play began Sunday, kicking off a near-three-week sprint toward in-season glory. A brief primer, for those who aren't familiar:

• Games played between June 1 and 17 will count toward both the regular-season and Commissioner's Cup standings
• As far as the schedule goes, the games will be split by conference. Western Conference teams will play one another once during the window. The same goes for the Eastern Conference. Cross-conference games will resume June 18 (Sun vs. Mercury)
• The team from each conference with the best winning percentage during Cup play will face off in the title game July 1

For a full breakdown of the Cup, I'd recommend this FAQ section from the league's site.

As a reminder: We're still dealing with a small sample of games, so take this more as a fact-gathering stretch rather than a no-questions-asked declaration of how good your favorite team is or isn't.

Much like last week's rankings, I'll be taking a look at things I liked, and things I'm keeping an eye on moving forward for each team.

Let's dig in, shall we?

All stats are current through games played on June 1. The stats are courtesy of WNBA.com (basic player stats/advanced team stats), PBP Stats (lineup combinations), or Second Spectrum (player or team tracking/play-type data) unless otherwise noted.

13. Connecticut Sun (1-6)

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Last Week's Ranking: 12 (-1)

Week In Review: 85-83 win over the Fever, 100-52 loss to the Liberty*

Upcoming Schedule: Dream, @Mystics

What I Liked: Saniya Rivers, off movement

Defense was the focus when discussing Rivers last week, though I did mention some early intrigue with her on-ball reps. The "hmmm" levels rose quite a bit over her last two games, with the Sun involving her more in off-ball actions before letting her make decisions with the ball in her hands.

One thing that stood out: the Sun ran her off a lot of staggers—an off-ball setup with two screeners. Starting from the corner, Rivers is presented with the option to use both screens and receive the ball, come off of one and cut early, or reject both altogether and cut backdoor.

To that end: Rivers received 21 total off-ball screens against the Fever, then 29 against the Liberty. Both represented season highs for her. I'm interested in seeing how her usage continues to evolve.

Keeping An Eye On: Marina Mabrey getting two on the ball

There were some strides made on the two-on-the-ball front for Mabrey in the Fever game!

In general, it felt like she had more of a plan against that kind of aggression. If last week was "will she shoot or pass", this week is more "how quickly does she plan on working to manipulate this coverage." Aside from the clips in the tweet above, she generally worked slower in an effort to force the defense to show its hand; in light of how long it's taking Connecticut to get into their offense, that isn't always ideal for the health of the possession.

Other Thoughts

• Tina Charles logged 13 turnovers across the last two games, with 11 (!) of those coming against the Fever. It was an odd mix of sloppy-via-pressure passes and some untimely travels. Shotmaking can be a high variance deal, but the Sun need some of the self-inflicted mistakes to go away in light of the small margin for error the offense already has.

• Bria Hartley is 5-of-11 on pull-up or stepback jumpers this year, which is pretty neat. She had to step into the starting lineup for the injured Lindsay Allen to mixed results, but I continue to appreciate some of the late-clock shot-making.

• Aneesah Morrow taking and making threes (2-of-5 last week) is interesting. Everything else ... we'll call it a work in progress, especially her ball screen defense. She's holding a beat (or three) too long when asked to hedge, and that's leaving herself compromised in space.

12. Dallas Wings (1-6)

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Last Week's Ranking: 11 (-1)

Week In Review: 97-92 loss to the Sky, 94-83 loss to the Sky

Upcoming Schedule: @Storm, Sparks, Lynx

What I Liked: Arike Ogunbowale coming alive

It was a tale of two games for Ogunbowale against the Sky—37 points and seven assists in the first meeting, 15 points and two assists (three turnovers) in the second—but it was nice to see her more involved in the offense.

What stood out to me most was the off-ball stuff. One, on a basic level, the hand-fighting (complimentary) between her and Ariel Atkins was awesome to watch. I always enjoy watching defenders like Atkins try to keep a lid on explosive scorers, especially ones known for taking unconventional paths off the ball.

Beyond that, the mix of flare screens, basic pindowns, and Iverson cuts—envision Arike starting on one side of the court, then cutting across two screens at the free throw line to catch it on the other side—helped set up some fruitful touches for Ogunbowale, particularly in her 37-point explosion. It was a nice reminder of what it could (and honestly, should) look like when there's more intention behind her usage.

I'd expect more of an uptick with Paige Bueckers (concussion protocol) and Ty Harris (knee) out for the Storm matchup on Tuesday, and a return timeline beyond that game currently unknown.

Keeping An Eye On: Defensive game plans

Last week, I said I didn't want to tap the Wings Defense button too much.

I would like to amend, because I'm ready to tap the button.

My week one thought was more about rotations than anything. Whether it was defending a ball screen or zoning up against an isolation or post touch, I couldn't get a bead on if they wanted their help to come from the opposite corner or the opposite wing.

Either is fine if it's drilled that way and, more importantly, the players on the floor know what the rotation pattern is. That the help was initially sporadic and the rotation chain seemed inconsistent felt like an early issue that needed to be corrected.

Coming off their two-game set with the Sky, I just have to ask: why purposely put two-on-the-ball against actions initiated by Courtney Vandersloot?

I don't mind establishing a baseline of activity for a new group of players (the likely answer to my question), but the Wings ultimately opened up plays for the Sky to make when they didn't have to. The Wings have the second-highest blitz rate against pick-and-rolls in the league right now (the Sparks are first) and, based on who they've played so far, I can't say that I love that.

Other Thoughts

• First, I hope Paige Bueckers is OK. Concussions aren't anything to play with, so I hope she and the team takes as much time as needed. As for a basketball thought, I am keeping an eye on her pull-up 2 vs 3 balance.

• The two-game set against the Sky was a nice encapsulation of the Teaira McCowan Experience: felt her impact on the (offensive) glass and with her interior scoring, but also got dinged while defending in space.

• Last thing on the defense, I promise: though it hasn't been an All-Defense start to the year for DiJonai Carrington, I would like to kindly suggest that her teammates become a little more proactive about calling out screens so she doesn't get hammered as often as she did in the Sky matchups. That's not fair to her.

11. Los Angeles Sparks (2-6)

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Last Week's Ranking: 10 (-1)

Week In Review: 96-81 loss to the Aces, 85-80 loss to the Mercury

Upcoming Schedule: @Wings, Valkyries

What I Liked: Odyssey Sims' aggression

We'll start here: Sims converted 13 of her 15 shots inside the arc against the Aces and Mercury.

In both games, her mix of speed (even at this stage) and subtle physicality—ask Aaliyah Nye, Tiffany Mitchell, and Sami Whitcomb about those shoulder nudges—gave her plenty of access to cleaner-than-expected looks in the paint. Watching her complement those tricks to set up pull-up jumpers was a nice touch, too.

Sims continues to be a fun watch for me.

Keeping An Eye On: Kelsey Plum's early process

Plum got a positive nod for me last week for her blend of scoring and playmaking, so I'm certainly not going to drastically reverse course on that. I've still mostly enjoyed the playmaking reads, and she's lived in the paint. To that point, her 117 drives not only leads the league, but leads the league by 42 drives (Skylar Diggins, 75).

I will say, I'm keeping a closer eye on some of the early attacks from Plum in this upcoming stretch of games.

Against the Aces and Mercury, Plum went a combined 6-of-21 (28.6%) on shots taken within the first six seconds of the shot clock—and I'm not sure if the six or the 21 is more noteworthy.

On the year, Plum is 13-of-37 (35.1%) on those looks. Only former teammate Jackie Young has attempted more (38). And of the 23 players that have attempted at least 15 of those shots so far, only three players—DiJonai Carrington, Marina Mabrey, and Jewell Loyd—have converted a lower number of those shots.

Other Thoughts

• While I've enjoyed the Azurá Stevens Experience overall, it is worth noting she's racked up at least four fouls in each of her last three games. She gets a little handsy in space, and she hasn't gotten the benefit of the doubt on some of her swipe-downs when defending drives. Not a major concern right now and this is "duh" analysis, but the Sparks need her to be more cognizant because they need her on the court.

• Speaking of drives, I still find myself amused by the get-out-of-my-way drives and post-hits from Dearica Hamby. The efficiency on those should normalize soon.

• Back to the Sparks wing division: a general "Get Well Soon" to Rae Burrell (knee), an "I don't know what's going on and it isn't my business, but I hope everything's alright" to Rickea Jackson (personal reasons), and a "Do we need to slot you into this group now?" to Julie Allemand.

10. Golden State Valkyries (2-4)

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Last Week's Ranking: 8 (-2)

Week In Review: 82-77 loss to the Liberty, 86-75 loss to the Lynx

Upcoming Schedule: @Mercury, Aces, @Sparks

What I Liked: Janelle Salaün's on-ball exploration

I was initially excited about Salaün because she slots neatly into the Big Forward Who Can Do Stuff™️ archetype. I'm even more excited because the Valkyries have leaned into letting her, well, do stuff.

She's been tasked with setting and running ball screens. Off-ball usage has been there—they really get her involved with their sideline or after-timeout sets—and it's allowed her to attack on the move. I haven't loved the process on post-ups—too fade-heavy for my liking, especially against smaller players—but there's plenty of time to improve in that area.

Keeping An Eye On: Advantage creation

The natural downside to not having a bona fide top scoring option is that teams feel more comfortable sticking with their base defensively and staying out of rotation.

The Valkyries, at least in pick-and-roll, have seen the highest rate of switches (23.5%) in the league. They're only generating 0.72 points per possession when teams duck under picks—the third-lowest mark in the league behind the Wings (0.71) and the Sun (0.68).

They have willing drivers up and down the roster—the team is fourth in drives per 100 possessions—but haven't won enough of those drives (0.85 PPP, 11th) to significantly shift defenses yet.

Other Thoughts

• Tiffany Hayes missing games after taking a shot to the face, finally returning against the Lynx (with a mask) only to be knocked out of that game makes me incredibly sad. I hope she's OK moving forward.

• I've been pretty impressed with the glass work from the Valkyries, especially in light of how much zone they've thrown out. No team in the league grabs a higher share of defensive rebounds than them (75.3%).

• Your Julie Vanloo update: She's now logged a league-leading 20 skip passes in 110 minutes. Your low man remains unsafe when Vanloo's on the floor.

9. Chicago Sky (2-4)

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Last Week's Ranking: 13 (+4)

Week In Review: 97-92 win against the Wings, 94-83 win against the Wings

Upcoming Schedule: Fever

What I Liked: the Kamilla Cardoso-Courtney Vandersloot partnership

Their pick-and-roll chemistry popped in the preseason, and we were treated to some nice possessions between the two over the weekend.

Something that immediately popped out, first in the Mercury game but especially in the first matchup against the Wings, was the duo flipping the script. Instead of Cardoso screening for Vandersloot, it was Vandersloot setting cross screens for Cardoso to get her some easy, deep touches.

The Wings had it pretty scouted the second time around—a natural benefit to seeing the same opponent twice in a row—but I'm a pretty big fan of guards being used as lead blockers.

We saw plenty of Vandersloot screening in New York, notably as a partner to Breanna Stewart in an effort to break defenses. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Vandersloot getting Cardoso open.

Keeping An Eye on: Angel Reese on offense

Honestly, I've been a little annoyed by the way Reese's start to the season has been discussed.

She has undoubtedly underwhelmed as a scorer—10.0 points while converting 31 percent of her twos is simply not good enough, and that's OK to say. The release point on her rim attempts feel dangerously low, a departure from the growth we saw during the Unrivaled season and preseason play.

What's caught my eye more than anything is some of the pressing. There have been a few drives and more than a few attempts after grabbing offensive rebounds (still unrivaled in that department, by the way) where a pass and a deep breath would've served her well.

While that isn't ideal, it's not like any of this is irreparable. It's worth noting that Reese is still playing with her left hand/wrist wrapped—a good bit of the inefficiency or reversion to old habits could simply be her not being fully comfortable extending and exposing it on those attempts.

Broadening things out, it's still been cool to watch the expansion of her role. More touches, more hub work, more grab-and-go opportunities. I do hope the finishing turns around soon, because she's been sealing the heck out of people to establish positioning. There are buckets there for the taking.

I think she'll be all right.

Other Thoughts

• Ariel Atkins is averaging 21-5-4-2 over her last three games. Her touches and overall off-ball screen usage (season-high 19 off-ball screens received in the second Wings game) have gone up during this stretch. I, for one, am shocked.

• The Sky remain monsters on the offensive glass. After their two-game set with the Wings, they've now rebounded 41.8 percent (!) of their own misses so far, easily the best mark in the WNBA.

• Rebecca Allen played a combined 47 minutes against the Wings, and the Sky won those minutes by [checks notes] 35 points. Her defense down the stretch against Paige Bueckers was phenomenal. I won't press the "Please Start Her" button yet, but more (closing) minutes are warranted at the very least.

8. Indiana Fever (2-4)

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Last Week's Ranking: 6 (-2)

Week In Review: 83-77 loss to the Mystics, 85-83 loss to the Sun

Upcoming Schedule: Mystics, @Sky

What I Liked: Full court pressure

For the Fever to have a successful season, they were going to need to improve defensively. In a stretch of games without Caitlin Clark, they absolutely needed their defense to level up.

One of the shifts from last year's team has been much higher pick-up points defensively. Between Sydney Colson (who's out with a leg injury), Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham (ankle injury), the Fever have been intentional about them bothering opposing ball-handlers from the time the ball is inbounded.

On the season, only the Mercury (Monique Akoa-Makani Hive, stand up!) have picked up ball-handlers higher on the floor, on average. It's worth keeping an eye on, both from a production and fatigue standpoint with this shorthanded roster.

Keeping An Eye On: The guard room

There's no Clark for at least another week, and Colson was dubbed "day-to-day" by head coach Stephanie White when asked about her (and Cunningham's) status earlier this week.

They recently added Aari McDonald on a hardship contract, which makes sense on a few levels. Most notably, McDonald's speed and ball pressure should slot in nicely to what the Fever are trying to accomplish.

Other Thoughts

• Foul trouble last week aside, this has truly been a great start to the season for Aliyah Boston. I love that part of the "What do we do without Caitlin" answer has been Boston flashing to the elbow or above the break and making a bunch of decisions. She has 12 assists (to four turnovers) in the two games since Clark went down.

• The Fever are going to need more (and better) from Kelsey Mitchell (13.5 points on 25.8 percent shooting from the field), though I do wonder how much her finger is ailing her. It's been four-straight games of sub-40 percent shooting.

• If you're reading this, Lexie Hull just cut from the corner to get another layup. That's your bad, bucko. Lose track of her at your own peril.

7. Washington Mystics (3-4)

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Last Week's Ranking: 9 (+2)

Week In Review: 83-77 win against the Fever, 85-63 loss against the Liberty

Upcoming Schedule: @Fever, Liberty, Sun

What I Liked: Jade Melbourne's drives

I say this respectfully, I promise: Jade Melbourne has tossed up (and made) some absolute nonsense this year.

For a sub-elite rim threat, she quietly has one of the more unique finishing packages in the league. The only guarantee on a Melbourne drive is that she's going to start with a full head of steam.

From there, she may keep that speed up to maintain whatever advantage she's created. She may flow into a quick pitter-patter of the feet for a 12-foot floater. She may, as she did against 6'4 Leonie Fiebich, sprinkle in a sweeping hook off glass. The touch on her scoops specifically has had me in a headlock all year.

She's a fun guard to watch.

Keeping An Eye On: Zone defense

One of my early notes on the Mystics involved their penchant for zone, particularly in the second quarter of games.

There's been a bit of a departure from the zone as of late. They busted out the look on nearly eight percent of their possessions through their first four games, but that's dropped to 1.3 percent over their last three.

I wonder how much of this is a matchup deal, a lineup deal, or just a random blip. Maybe, as the sample of games grows, we'll learn that the zone stretch was actually the outlier.

Other Thoughts

• It would appear the early answer to my "How do you split up the frontcourt minutes" question is to have five bigs logging at least 10 minutes a game. That's neat. From the big room, I quickly wanted to salute some of the passing we've gotten from Emily Engstler and Kiki Iriafen specifically.

• Brittney Sykes continues to drive all over the place, which led me to a fun stat find: she's averaging over six falls per game (second only to Satou Sabally), and almost none of them have led to easy transition opportunities on the other end. She's getting foul calls on a majority of these, but I do want to shout out the diligence in which the remaining four players are getting back in transition while Sykes works her way back. Only the Lynx (8.9%) are allowing a lower rate of transition possessions than the Mystics (10.8%) so far.

• You can add this one to the "These Rookies Are Awesome" file: Opponents are generating a paltry 0.65 points per possession on trips featuring a pick-and-roll defended by Sonia Citron. That's the 3rd best mark among 40 players that have defended at least 50 of them—and Citron has a much lower switch rate than the two players (Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu) ahead of her, which speaks a bit to her screen navigation burden.

6. Seattle Storm (3-4)

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Last Week's Ranking: 4 (-2)

Week In Review: 94-87 loss to the Dream, 75-70 loss to the Aces

Upcoming Schedule: Wings, @Mercury

What I Liked: Gabby Williams, all over the place

There haven't been many wings better than Gabby Williams to start the year—high praise considering some of the performances we've gotten so far.

Williams has provided her usual brand of in-your-jersey defense, taking on an assortment of tough matchups and being an absolute terror off the ball.

The real intrigue has come on the offensive end, where Williams has been trusted to initiate offense—a key factor in unlocking Skylar Diggins' off-ball usage—while also serving, surprisingly, as the Storm's best shooter. Through the first seven games of the season, Williams is shooting a blistering 47.1 percent from deep on nearly five attempts. Both figures would easily be career highs.

Keeping An Eye On: Ezi Magbegor

It continues to be a slow burn for Magbegor, at least as a scorer. I certainly didn't have a shade under seven points per game and 48/0/31 (!!!) shooting splits on my bingo card, but the usage is what feels off to me.

It hasn't felt like the same dose of grab-and-go possessions that we got from Magbegor last year. She's received a total of 11 screens (six off-ball, five on-ball) so far. Her work as a screener hasn't felt as vital in light of how good the Diggins-Nneka Ogwumike pairing has been. It's just been odd, but it's obviously early.

Other Thoughts

• Not sure how much I should read into Dominique Malonga having her best games against the Aces so far, but it sure is interesting. Even more interesting: Malonga was in the closing five against the Aces on Sunday, despite it being a low-minute game (12) overall.

• Talked about Ogwumike's scoring last week, but I'd like to quickly note that she's been screening and passing her tail off to start the year. She's carved out and capitalized on a lot of advantages so far.

• I am once again singing the praises of Erica Wheeler. Her mix of rim pressure and pull-ups have been vital off the bench.

5. Las Vegas Aces (4-2)

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Last Week's Ranking: 7 (+2)

Week In Review: 96-81 win against the Sparks, 75-70 win against the Storm

Upcoming Schedule: @Valkyries

What I Liked: A'ja Wilson's passing

They call her Ricky Rubio, folks.

It was a nugget A'ja Wilson dropped last year, but reminded the world after the Aces' win over the Sparks. Wilson's leading the team in assists this year (4.2), a wild stat for a few reasons, but it's worth noting that she has seemingly leveled up as a distributor.

She's diagnosing double-teams quicker; pairing that reality with an uptick of cutting has led to some nice connections. The kick-out passes on drives have been intriguing, especially in light of Wilson bringing the ball up way more this year (8.7 possessions per game) than she did in 2024 (2.8).

Keeping An Eye On: Jewell Loyd, inside the arc

Loyd has transitioned to, primarily, an off-ball role with the Aces. To say that it's been a mixed bag would be an understatement.

Loyd is shooting a career-best 41.7 percent from three. Over 44 percent of those attempts have come from the corners, another (easy) career high if that number holds. Zoom out, and a whopping 58 percent of Loyd's shots have come from behind the arc—you guessed it, a career high.

The shots inside have been few and far between...and so have the makes. A 4-of-26 clip (15.4%) looks like a typo. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the shots myself.

A lot of this feels like really, really bad luck; the amount of free throw line pull-ups that Loyd has missed is frankly comical. That is a bread-and-butter shot that I expect her to start making soon.

The rim attempts are where my brow raises. There haven't been that many, first and foremost, and a lot of those have been of the fading, across-the-body variety. Those are high-difficulty looks that you don't get the benefit of the doubt on from a foul-drawing perspective (Loyd's free throw rate is at career low levels). I think a cleaner process there would be helpful.

Other Thoughts

• It's a little concerning how often "the Aces have to match up better in transition" has come up in my notes this year. That needs to shape up soon.

• Two things on Chelsea Gray, if I can. The splits aren't as dramatic as Loyd's, but it's been an interesting dichotomy between her threes (41.4% on 4.8 attempts) and her inside-the-arc work (34.4% on 2s), too. Also, more respect needs to be put on her hands defensively; if she isn't leading the team in jump balls forced, she has to be up there.

• Welcome back to the rotation, Tiffany Mitchell. Back-to-back first half stints were a pleasant surprise last week. I certainly didn't expect to see her spending some time defending Nneka Ogwumike when the Aces went to smaller lineups.

4. Phoenix Mercury (5-2)

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Last Week's Ranking: 3 (-1)

Week In Review: 74-71 loss to the Lynx, 85-80 win against the Sparks

Upcoming Schedule: @Lynx, Valkyries, Storm

What I Liked: The defense

The thing I probably appreciate most about the Mercury's second-ranked defense is how early they pressure you. Not only do they have the highest pickup points in the league, they have that lead by nearly four feet.

It's true backcourt pressure, headlined by the legal annoyance of Monique Akoa-Makani. And if you're able to cross half-court and flow into your offense, you have to deal with both ball pressure and aggressive gap help. Only the Lynx (0.78 PPP) allow fewer points per possession on drives than the Mercury (0.82 PPP), with the Mercury boasting a league-high 87 percent help rate on those drives.

This is a team that flies around and makes you feel them. It should come as no surprise that they lead the league in steals (9.4) right now. Heck, Satou Sabally racked up seven across the Lynx and Sparks matchups.

Keeping An Eye On: Offense without Alyssa Thomas

Thomas has already been ruled out of the Mercury's upcoming rematch against the Minnesota Lynx as she nurses a calf injury. I naturally hope she's able to heal quickly and completely, but I do wonder which buttons the Mercury will press to generate efficient offense.

An early observation from the first Lynx game was that it felt more pick-and-roll heavy with Sabally, both as a screener and initiator, compared to the off-ball goodness I wrote about last week. Sure enough, Sabally logged season-highs in on-ball picks received (13) and set (16) against the Lynx, though the volume dropped against the Sparks.

More Sabally feels like a fair expectation, but the guards will naturally be tasked with more creation duties for however long Thomas is out. I'm interested to see how it goes.

Other Thoughts

• Kathryn Westbeld deserves a quick shoutout for opening the floor with her shooting ability, while also nailing most of her help and contest assignments at the rim defensively. The latter is a thankless job, but she's doing it at a pretty high level. Among 49 players to have contested at least 20 shots in the paint, Westbeld is sevent in field-goal percentage allowed (37%).

• I've talked about the three-point shooting with Akoa-Makani already, but I'm keeping an eye on her inside-the-arc work. She has a funky pull-up that she isn't afraid to get to—hit a big one down the stretch of the Lynx game, for example.

• Haley Jones is here! If you're of the mind that Jones is more of a playmaking 4 rather than a large point guard (I'm probably in that camp), is there another active player you'd rather have her around than Alyssa Thomas? Feels like some valuable pointers could be shared on that front.

3. Atlanta Dream (5-2)

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Last Week's Ranking: 5 (+2)

Week In Review: 94-87 win against the Storm

Upcoming Schedule: @Sun

What I Liked: Rise of Naz Hillmon

I touched on some of the early impact of Hillmon last week, but after following that up with yet another good game off the bench (11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, +24 in 24 minutes), it felt like a good time for a wider spotlight.

She's been awesome to start the season.

The defense has popped, with teams not having much success trying to attack her on the block (0.73 PPP on those trips) or in pick-and-rolls (0.77 PPP). She uses length well while also moving better than most players her size.

Offensively, I've appreciated the early aggression and activity. Hillmon has always been a good screener, and that hasn't changed. The random slices into the post, with either Rhyne Howard or Allisha Gray as screeners, has been a nice touch. She's also taking and making threes; she made one all of last season, and is currently riding a three-game streak of making at least one three.

Keeping An Eye On: Jordin Canada's return

It would appear that we're about to see Jordin Canada back on the court:

If so, it's not hard to be (cautiously) excited about her insertion into the lineup. Canada's speed should pay immediate dividends to the group, getting the Dream out in transition more and, in general, into their offense a little quicker. Her rim pressure should take some of the creation burden off of Gray and Howard, giving them more opportunities to work and attack off the ball.

Other Thoughts

• I wondered if Rhyne Howard was OK, and she immediately responded with 33-6-5-2-1 while seeing plenty of Gabby Williams in the process. Fair enough!

• I continue to enjoy the defensive work of Maya Caldwell. She's been sticky on and off the ball in her own right, but her willingness to take on tougher assignments undoubtedly makes life a little easier for Howard and Gray.

• Bri Jones continues to maul people on the block: only Tina Charles has logged more post-ups (57) than Jones so far (43), with the Dream scoring at an insanely efficient clip (1.18 PPP) on trips featuring a Jones post touch. I really appreciate how she does her work early. It feels like all of her catches are deep in the paint.

2. Minnesota Lynx (7-0)

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Last Week's Ranking: 2

Week In Review: 74-71 win against the Mercury, 86-75 win against the Valkyries

Upcoming Schedule: Mercury, @Wings

What I Liked: Courtney Williams-Napheesa Collier connection

Death, taxes, and the Williams-Collier pairing finding answers against your defense.

Play drop coverage (1.23 PPP), and you have to deal with Williams pulling up for middies or her immediately hitting Collier in the pocket and taking your lunch money from there.

Put two on the ball, either intentionally (1.06 PPP) or via re-screen (1.00 PPP) after trying to go under a screen against Williams, and the ball's coming out quick with Collier once again being incredibly rude to you.

Try to switch (1.25 PPP) and ... well, good luck with that.

The problem-solving and bucket-getting between the two is simply unfair. Throw in the spacing, cutting and random off-ball screening that the Lynx sprinkle in, and they don't even allow you to load up against this duo.

Keeping An Eye On: Alanna Smith's shooting

For the third season in a row, Smith's off to a hot start from deep. Her volume (4.0 attempts) and efficiency (45.8%) would be career highs if they held. I'm more focused on the former, because an early note I have is how willing she's been to fire against contests.

It's a pretty big deal that she's starting to garner some "oh snap, she's open!" closeouts; that's a subtle shift from some of the "we'll live" attempts we saw last season.

Other Thoughts

• I wondered how quickly Kayla McBride would get in rhythm. She's averaging 17 points on 70.8 True Shooting. I suppose the answer was "immediately" then.

• The Lynx starting the season 7-0 and almost no one, from the players to head coach Cheryl Reeve, being pleased with how they're playing because they're goal-oriented and process-pilled is my kind of carrying on. If this is what the Job Not Finished version looks like, the rest of the league should be pretty worried.

• [roams the internet] We're about a week away from a "Hey, are the Lynx more versatile on the court or off of it?" prompt, aren't we? What a fun group of personalities.

1. New York Liberty (7-0)

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Last Week's Ranking: 1

Week In Review: 82-77 win against the Valkyries, 85-63 win against the Mystics, 100-52 win against the Sun

Upcoming Schedule: @Mystics

What I Liked: Leonie Fiebich, moving around

As a defense, you're already worried about so much. Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones can bully you, dice you up from the perimeter (more Jones than Stewart these days), immediately flow into action with a high level guard or receive a screen from one and put you in a what-do-I-do scenario.

Sabrina Ionescu has gotten more comfortable inside the arc as both a finisher and playmaker, and Lord knows she's liable to pull up from deep at a moment's notice. Natasha Cloud has been a dynamic driver and screener while continuing to shoot well from deep (37.9 percent on 4.1 attempts).

The Liberty mixing in some Leonie Fiebich post touches on top of all of that seems a tad bit unfair. She'll start at the bottom of a stagger and decide to seal some poor guard into oblivion. Sometimes it'll just be a random dive from the corner while there's action happening above the break. No matter the context, you see her get the ball while towering over her defender and can't help but think, "What can you even do?"

That's also the point of this roster—the starting lineup, specifically. You can't rest for a moment or help from anywhere. Thwarting the initial action of the Liberty isn't really success against them; it's just presenting them another opportunity to inflict mental anguish when they flow into something else.

Keeping An Eye On: The record books

We're only seven games in, of course, but the Liberty have the league's best offense (112.8), defense (87.7), net rating (25.1), assist rate (78.0), effective field-goal percentage (58.1), and true shooting percentage (62.6).

This isn't just a great start; it's one of the most dominant stretches of basketball the league has ever seen—and we're barely two years removed from the Aces pulling off a season that only the Houston Comets could really appreciate.

Other Thoughts

• I'm still losing my mind over Sunday's beatdown of the Connecticut Sun. The Liberty really assisted on their first 19 shots en route to a 48-point win. It's the kind of game that makes it difficult to engage in hyperbole, even with the talent gap. It was unrelentingly efficient hoops on both ends of the floor.

• Two things on Ionescu: She's shooting 43.8 percent on 10.7 three-point attempts over her last two games, and that's terrifying. Also, I alluded to this in the Mystics section, but opponents are generating 0.51 points per possession on trips featuring a pick-and-roll defended by Ionescu—that's the best mark in the WNBA among 40 players to defend at least 50. The infrastructure around Ionescu is strong, of course, but the fact that she's getting stronger (and smarter) has allowed her to hold up better defensively. She does her job.

• OK, seriously: What is Ellie's official birthday? I just don't know if you can have, like, three different days listed as the "official" birthday. That's not how this is supposed to work!