Can the Storm Finish Strong? How Will Delle Donne Look?: Five Questions for 2022 WNBA Season

Will Seattle be the team to beat? Will a healthy Elena Delle Donne vault Washington up the standings? Evaluating that and more ahead of the 2022 season.

The 2022 WNBA season is almost here and after a busy offseason that saw multiple league scoring champions change teams in free agency, young stars get traded and some MVPs return to their respective franchises, it’s hard to pin down who is best suited to take home this year’s title.

But before the games begin Friday, we pose five burning questions that could go a long way in determining how this season will play out.

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1) Can the Storm return to form from last year’s hot start?

Lest we forget there were two championship trophies handed out last season. The more important one, of course, was awarded to the Sky, who won the WNBA title in four games over the Mercury, but the Storm also took home hardware of their own, winning the first-ever Commissioner’s Cup crown. Seattle dominated the W throughout the season’s first half. Despite coach Noelle Quinn abruptly taking over for Dan Hughes after only six games, Seattle was 16–5 heading into the All-Star break, with forward Breanna Stewart once again emerging as one of the front runners for the league’s MVP award.

The Storm’s second half, however, looked far different, dropping their first two regular-season games after play resumed, going just 5–6 overall in that final stretch. Stewart missed the last two games of the regular season due to what she said was a foot injury and was inactive for the team’s lone playoff game, a second-round loss to the Mercury.

This season, though, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Storm look more like the team from the first 20-plus games of 2021 than the one that backed into the postseason. While Stewart underwent a minor offseason Achilles procedure and recently told ESPN she was “easing back into practice” at the start of training camp, she has been playing five-on-five since March and should be poised to, yet again, be one of the sport’s most dominant players. Jewell Loyd, who averaged career highs in points (17.9) and assists (3.8) last year, also re-upped with Seattle for two years and Sue Bird listened to Storm fans’ playoff serenade and elected to return for her 19th—and presumably final—season making them an instant contender. Acquiring veteran guard Briann January, who was first-team all-defense in ’21, should also pay dividends, as will the return of forward Gabby Williams, who has not played in the WNBA since ’20 while starring in Europe. Seattle is looking for its third title in five seasons and with continuity both on the sideline and on the court, it very well could be the team to beat.

2) What will Mystics star Elena Delle Donne look like?

From all public indications, Delle Donne is poised for a bounce-back season. In February, she told reporters she felt “phenomenal” and had not experienced pain for months. “I feel like I’m moving again like my younger self, but even better and more efficient,” she said.

Nothing she’s voiced in training camp has raised cause for concern either. The result could mean a Mystics franchise that was out of the 2021 postseason could be one of the league’s biggest surprises this summer.

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Washington took home the championship in 2019, Delle Donne’s last full campaign. Their roster has seen some turnover since then, but some key pieces—namely guards Ariel Atkins and Natasha Cloud—have continued to develop in recent seasons, as has forward Myisha Hines-Allen, who averaged just 7.8 minutes per game in ’19 but is now an important part of the frontcourt. While swapping Delle Donne for last year’s scoring champion Tina Charles may prove to be a net-zero, it’s also possible that the return of a two-time league MVP vaults Washington up the standings. If Delle Donne, now 32 and coming off multiple back procedures, plays like her younger self, the Mystics could be especially dangerous.

3) Which of last year’s top four seeds will regress?

Projecting which teams will take a step back is one of the most daunting preseason tasks, but history says there will be some turnover at the top. Of last year’s top-four playoff seeds the Lynx seem the most likely to slide down the standings, primarily because star forward and U.S. Olympian Napheesa Collier will be out at least for the start of the season due to the upcoming birth of her first child. Collier could miss the entire year and should she return, it likely wouldn’t be until late in the campaign. Hall of Fame center Sylvia Fowles’s return for one final season and the addition of five-time All-Star wing Angel McCoughtry should help Minnesota remain competitive, but how role players like Aerial Powers, Kayla McBride and Damiris Dantas perform will be especially crucial in Collier’s absence.

Of course, predicting regression candidates is especially challenging this spring, in part because last year’s Finals matchup was the most surprising in league history. Phoenix and Chicago became the first two teams to survive two single-elimination games and advance out of the best-of-five semifinal series and got hot at the right time. But the Sky entered the All-Star break at just 10–10 and were 16–16 entering the playoffs. Phoenix was 9–10 before the Olympic stoppage and just 19–13 heading into the postseason. Both teams could again contend for a title, but they too could look more like their first-half selves.

4) How will the Aces look under first-year coach Becky Hammon?

Here is another team that has finished in the top four in each of the last three seasons and is looking to remain there. Now led by first-year coach Becky Hammon, who Las Vegas reportedly made the highest-paid coach in league history, the team could have a distinctly different feel this year. Star center Liz Cambage left for the Sparks via free agency, making 2020 league MVP A’ja Wilson the franchise’s undisputed focal point in the frontcourt. Hammon has told reporters that she is looking to implement a new system on both ends. On offense she wanted the Aces to play a style predicated on spacing, pace and ball movement, which could see guards Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum flourish. But such adjustments could also lead to the team undergoing some early-season growing pains.

Still, even with a new coach, Las Vegas is returning each of the six players who averaged the most minutes per game last season. It could also receive immediate contributions from floor-stretching rookie forward Mya Hollingshed and rookie sharpshooter Kierstan Bell, both first-round picks. The Aces made the 2020 Finals and were a game away from making last year’s championship. They could very well make it back this fall if Hammon continues to bring the best out of a talented roster.

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5) Could any of the younger rosters become legitimate title contenders?

This is another way to ask, what should we make of the Wings and Liberty? While the Dream and Fever still appear to be in full-on rebuilding mode, both Dallas and New York made last year’s postseason and are looking to continue to take steps forward. For Dallas, it locked up star guard Arike Ogunbowale to a long-term contract this offseason and has surrounded her with impactful perimeter players in Marina Mabrey and Allisha Gray. The Wings’ frontcourt is also loaded with young talent, led by 2021 All-Star Satou Sabally; last year’s top draft picks Charli Collier and Awak Kuier; and recently acquired center Teaira McCown, who was the No. 3 pick in ’19. Add in veteran forwards Isabelle Harrison and Kayla Thornton, and Dallas seems poised to compete. And yet, it’s still fair to wonder if the group will take the necessary steps forward, especially on the defensive end where they were No. 8 overall, to become a true contender.

New York’s biggest offseason change came on the sideline, having brought in long-time Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello after the Mercury did not renew her contract. Brondello will look to implement her up-tempo style on a roster that features 2021 All-Star Betnijah Laney, ’19 Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard and ’20 No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu, among others. Ionescu told reporters that this offseason primarily consisted of rehabbing the same left ankle that kept her out for most of her debut season and provided her with lingering pain last year. She said she is finally feeling fully healthy, which should no doubt make New York more dangerous. The addition of former Sky center Stefanie Dolson via free agency should help, as will the continued development of reigning Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere. But despite all of that, in a league littered with top talent, New York could be one of the team’s on the outside of the playoff bracket if its core does not reach the level of some others around the league. It’s also possible both Dallas and New York show on-court improvement but fall out of the postseason due to more significant jumps by other teams.