Yardbarker
x
Aces open title defense vs Phoenix as Wilson leads 2026 chase
Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Aces open title defense vs Phoenix as Wilson leads 2026 chase

Originally posted on Dice City Sports  |  By Mark Hebert  |  Last updated May 8, 2026 11:29 AM ET
Google Add us as a preferred source on Google

The WNBA is bigger, louder and deeper than ever. The Aces know that better than anyone because they helped raise the standard everyone else is chasing.

Las Vegas opens the 2026 season Saturday against Phoenix at T-Mobile Arena. It is a rematch of the 2025 WNBA Finals, but it is also the start of something bigger: a title defense in a league that keeps growing around them.

The Aces enter as WNBA champions for the third time in four years. They also enter with a retooled roster, a familiar core and the same simple expectation.

Win again.

Bigger league, same target

The Aces are part of the WNBA’s present, but this season also sits inside a larger historical moment. In the anniversary framing provided for the league, the WNBA began as a bold idea that changed how basketball was seen. In 2026, Las Vegas is one of the clearest examples of what that idea became.

The franchise has become a championship brand, a local force and a national measuring stick. Its stars move culture. Its games carry weight. Its roster decisions matter across the league.

That does not make this season easier. It makes it heavier.

The WNBA is richer in talent, attention and money. The league’s new CBA raised the 2026 salary cap to $7 million and created a path for true million-dollar stars. That bigger stage fits the Aces, but it also gives more teams the resources and ambition to chase them.

A’ja Wilson said the Aces understand what comes with that.

“There’s a target on our back,” Wilson said. “There’s going to always be one, but we have to stay true to us.”

That is the challenge now. Las Vegas cannot just be talented. It has to be connected, disciplined and sharp enough to absorb every team’s best shot.

Wilson still sets it

Wilson already had her own media day moment, arriving with fiery red hair and calling it a “Jean Grey type of vibe.” The look mattered because Wilson made it matter. It was personality, brand and warning sign wrapped into one.

However, the bigger story is still the standard she sets.

Wilson followed a massive 2024 season, when she averaged 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, with another MVP-level year in 2025. She averaged 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.

That is not maintenance. That is control.

Wilson’s offseason also showed how far her reach now extends. She continued the rollout of her A’One and A’Two sneaker lines, took part in her first European tour with Nike and spoke about building a brand rooted in her voice and identity.

Still, she did not sound satisfied.

“I’m grateful, but I’m greedy,” Wilson said.

That line should travel with the Aces all season. Las Vegas has the title, the star and the standard. But Wilson made it clear the goal is not to admire what they already did.

It is to keep taking more.

Core still counts

The Aces did not need to rebuild around Wilson. Instead, they retooled around a core that still gives Becky Hammon one of the league’s most dangerous foundations.

Chelsea Gray remains the organizer. She started all 44 games in 2025 and averaged 11.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals. The numbers matter, but her control matters more. Gray gives Las Vegas tempo, late-clock calm and a trusted decision-maker when possessions tighten.

Jackie Young gives the Aces their two-way connector. She averaged 16.5 points, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals while shooting 47.5 percent from the field in 2025. Young can handle, defend, attack closeouts and stabilize different lineups.

Jewell Loyd gives Las Vegas another proven scorer. Her first season with the Aces brought 11.2 points per game and 38.2 percent shooting from three while she played all 44 games and made 25 starts.

That is the core advantage. Las Vegas does not need one player to solve every possession. It has multiple players who can win in different ways.

Retooled, not restless

The frontcourt looks different, and that may shape the season. Las Vegas kept its championship foundation, but it added more size, more physical options and more ways to survive minutes when Wilson sits.

NaLyssa Smith gives the Aces real rebounding history and finishing ability. Her best season came in 2023 with Indiana, when she averaged 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds. After joining Las Vegas in 2025, she averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent from the field.

That efficiency matters next to Wilson. Smith does not need to be the first option. She needs to run, finish, rebound and give Las Vegas another physical body around the paint.

Cheyenne Parker-Tyus brings veteran frontcourt scoring and rebounding. Brianna Turner brings a defense-first profile with shot-blocking and glass work. Those are different tools, and Hammon may need all of them during a long season.

The Aces’ retool is not flashy in every spot. It does not need to be. It needs to give Las Vegas enough lineup answers to handle a deeper league.

Carter changes the pace

Chennedy Carter might be the most important new variable. She gives the Aces speed, pressure and a downhill scorer who can change the feel of a second unit.

Carter has averaged 14.6 points for her career. Her best statistical season came in 2024 with Chicago, when she averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 48.7 percent from the field.

Wilson knows what Carter can do to a defense.

“I feel like Chennedy could be someone that could bring an excellent spark off the bench for us,” Wilson said. “You never want to be on the other side of the basketball when it comes to her.”

Wilson also remembered Carter’s scoring from the other side.

“I was an opponent against her when she fried us,” Wilson said. “So it’s pretty cool to have her in the locker room now. So she won’t be frying us. She’s actually going to be frying other people with our jersey on.”

Carter described her own game in one word: “electrifying.”

That is what Las Vegas needs. The Aces need Carter to push in transition, pressure the ball, get downhill and give the bench real bite. If she does that, she gives Hammon another player who can create without waiting for every possession to be perfect.

Depth decides the grind

The Aces have stars, but depth may decide how cleanly they navigate the regular season. A title defense is not only about who closes games. It is also about who protects legs, changes matchups and steadies rough minutes in May, June and July.

Dana Evans gives Las Vegas an experienced guard with bench scoring and playmaking, though her availability remains unclear. She has been ruled out indefinitely with a left leg issue, and the severity has not been disclosed.. Kierstan Bell gives Hammon another wing option after making 16 starts in 2025.

Stephanie Talbot adds veteran shooting and size. Janiah Barker, a 6-foot-4 rookie forward selected in the second round of the 2026 WNBA Draft, gives Las Vegas another developmental frontcourt piece.

None of those roles need to become too big. But the Aces need enough from the group to keep Wilson, Gray, Young and Loyd fresh. That is how a talented roster becomes a sustainable one.

Early test, familiar foe

The schedule does not give Las Vegas much time to ease in. The Aces open Saturday against Phoenix at T-Mobile Arena, then turn around and visit Los Angeles on Sunday.

After that, Las Vegas heads east for two games at Connecticut on May 13 and May 15, then visits Atlanta on May 17. That is five games in nine days, with four on the road.

The early stretch should tell Hammon plenty. It will test Carter’s fit, the frontcourt combinations and how quickly the Aces can reconnect their championship rhythm.

The opener carries extra meaning. Phoenix was Las Vegas’ 2025 WNBA Finals opponent, and the Aces will hold a pregame ring ceremony to honor their third WNBA title in four years. The first 7,500 fans will receive a “Three of a Kind” flag.

Then the chase begins again.

The Vegas standard

The league changed. The roster changed. The money changed. The target got larger.

The expectation did not.

Las Vegas enters 2026 with history behind it and pressure in front of it. That is the cost of becoming the standard. It is also the reward.

The Aces are not chasing relevance. They are defending a title in a bigger WNBA, with a retooled roster and a star who still sounds hungry.

The rest of the league is chasing. Las Vegas is trying to stay greedy.

Up next

The Aces open their championship defense Saturday, May 9, against the Phoenix Mercury at T-Mobile Arena. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. PT.

It is a rematch of the 2025 WNBA Finals, and Las Vegas will hold a pregame ring ceremony to honor its third WNBA title in four years. The first 7,500 fans in attendance will receive a “Three of a Kind” flag.

Las Vegas then travels to Los Angeles for the second game of a season-opening back-to-back. The Aces face the Sparks on Sunday, May 10, at Crypto.com Arena, with tipoff set for 3 p.m. PT.

This article first appeared on Dice City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.