Five WNBA players to watch in 2026

The WNBA is back. Training camps opened Sunday, and the first preseason games are set for this coming Saturday.

As the league celebrates its 30th year, here is our list of five players who will define the 2026 season.

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson

The last time we saw Wilson, she went supernova following a disastrous 53-point loss in early August to the Minnesota Lynx. The Aces won their final 16 games of the regular season, and Wilson averaged 26.1 points on 52.7 percent shooting, 12 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game during the stretch. Las Vegas then won its third WNBA title in four seasons, with Wilson averaging 26.8 points and 10 rebounds per game in the playoffs.

Wilson is on a G.O.A.T. trajectory, and she has a strong chance of skyrocketing up several all-time leaderboards with another monster season. Based on her average totals over the past three seasons, Wilson, currently No. 21 on the all-time scoring list, will likely end the year in the top 10. She could also move past 2026 Pro Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Candace Parker for fifth-most blocks. Wilson, currently ninth, trails Parker by 86 and averaged 93 from 2023-25.

As impressive as Wilson's run was to end 2025, the encore will likely be just as thrilling.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark

Clark missed 31 games last season with a right groin injury and later a bone bruise but returned to game action in March for Team USA, averaging 11.6 points and 6.4 assists per game as the national team went 5-0 in the FIBA Women's World Cup 2026 qualifier. The 2024 Rookie of the Year shot 40 percent from beyond the arc, and it will be worth monitoring if she can carry over that rhythm into the regular season.

She struggled from distance before suffering her 2025 season-ending injury, shooting 14.3 percent from three-point range in her final seven games, averaging one make on seven attempts per game. Even if she needs time, with All-Star teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, thanks to her excellent court vision, Clark should be able to produce eye-popping assist numbers out of the gate.

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers

Last year, Bueckers set the rookie single-game scoring record with 44 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. That was the high-water mark in a prolific offensive season for the 2025 WNBA Draft's No. 1 overall pick, and she looks to build on that this year along a stronger roster that includes former Minnesota Lynx forwards Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smith and the 2026 No. 1 pick, guard Azzi Fudd, Bueckers' former teammate at UConn.

Smith and Fudd will improve the Wings' spacing after they took the league's third-fewest threes — and made them at the second-lowest clip (30.4 percent) — which should give Bueckers more room to operate in the mid-range, where she feasted last season, finishing the season second in both mid-range field goals made and attempted, per Her Hoop Stats.

Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby

Following the 2025 All-Star break, Hamby ranked third in total points scored while averaging 19.7 points per game on 60.5 percent shooting, trailing only Shepard (67.8 percent) in field goal percentage among players with at least 100 attempts (h/t Stathead). She lived near the rim, ranking first in attempts and makes in the restricted area, carving out a huge role on the Sparks, who ranked second in scoring (85.7 points per game).

Hamby remained hot during Unrivaled, becoming the first player in league history to score 40 points in a game on Jan. 11. Having set a career-high in points in each of the past two seasons, we wouldn't be surprised if the 11-year veteran has another level to her game ready to be unleashed this summer.

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas

Thomas became even more important to Phoenix when guard Satou Sabally reunited with former Oregon Ducks teammate Sabrina Ionescu by joining the New York Liberty in free agency. A six-time All-Star, Thomas joined the Mercury last year after 11 seasons with the Connecticut Sun and helped guide Phoenix to the WNBA Finals for the sixth time in franchise history and first since 2021.

Thomas is the complete package, leading the league in assists and finishing third in rebounds last year while shooting a career-high 53.2 percent. She also ranked fourth in defensive win shares, per Her Hoop Stats. As challenging as repeating 2025's success will be without Sabally, the team's leading scorer, with Thomas in her prime, the Mercury will likely remain out of retrograde.