In a league as talented as the WNBA, it’s not easy determining who should be an All-Star.

After fans, players and the media voted for the starters, the league’s 13 head coaches made their selections for the reserves. On Sunday, the WNBA announced the 12 players who made the team as reserves, and instantly, the debates began about who was surprisingly not on the list.

With only 22 players receiving this accolade, there are bound to be some omissions. This year is no different. But, these three players should have made the team—but didn’t.

Brittney Sykes, guard, Washington Mystics

Last week, we mentioned Sykes as a player who should be named an All-Star reserve. Given the year she’s having, it’s surprising to see that she didn’t make the team, which would have been the first All-Star honor of her career.

It’s great that rookie Sonia Citron made the All-Star roster, but she has not been a better player than Sykes. Sykes is averaging 17.9 points and 4.6 assists, which is better than Citron’s numbers. As a veteran, leader and elite defender, Sykes is one of the main reasons Washington is playing better than most expected this season.

Azurá Stevens, forward, Los Angeles Sparks

Photo by A.J. Mast/NBAE via Getty Images

Stevens is having a career year with the Sparks. She is averaging 14.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Stevens has developed into a more effective outside shooter, converting on 38 percent of her 3-point attempts, and has started in all 19 games LA has played.

While Stevens won’t make a fuss about not receiving the All-Star nod for the first time in her career, her teammates, including Rickea Jackson and Dearica Hamby, both showed her support on social media.

Brionna Jones, forward, Atlanta Dream

Photo by Andrew J. Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images

Why did Brionna Jones not make the team?

She is averaging 8.1 rebounds per game, which leads the Dream. She also is scoring 14 points a night while playing 29.7 minutes per game. Her scoring inside the paint and ability to get to her spot makes her one of the toughest players to guard in the WNBA. It’s vexing that she will not be on the team. This would have been her fourth All-Star appearance.

On Sunday, the United States captured gold at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, completing their undefeated trip to Santiago, Chile with a comeback victory over Brazil, 92-84. The AmeriCup win, the fifth in program history, also clinches the Americans a spot in the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup.

For Team USA, the tournament provided a showcase for some of the best women’s collegiate talent, a summer reminder for all the reasons to be excited about the 2025-26 NCAAW season.

As no UConn Huskies suited up for the Americans or another squad, the tournament, in particular, should excite fans of other top programs that are aiming to steal the national championship trophy that now sits in Storrs. Here’s a look at the best moments produced by familiar American NCAAW stars in Chile:

Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt)

A scoring machine as a freshman at Vanderbilt, Mikayla Blakes’ bucket getting translated to the international stage, something she confirmed with a sensational 27-point explosion in the championship game. Against Brazil, she was 9-for-14 on 2-pointers, adding in a pair of 3s and a trio of free throws as she notched the single highest-scoring game by an American in Santiago. 14 of her points came in a critical second quarter, a necessary response to a 10-0 run to start the period by the Brazilians. That effort earned her MVP honors, in addition to a spot on the All-Star 5.

For the tournament, she led the US in scoring with 14 points per game, compiling a trio of 15-point performances as the Americans advanced. And while there’s some uncertainty surrounding the coming season’s Commodore squad, Blakes will, at least, make Vanderbilt one of the most dangerous dark horses in the SEC.

Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame)

Hannah Hidalgo was the irrepressible two-way engine for the American throughout the tournament, leading Team USA in shots and steals per game.

The US needed all that Hidalgo always offers to survive in the semifinal against Canada, when she led the team with 19 points, four assists and four steals. Before that, she has back-to-back five-steal games against Mexico and the Dominican Republic. In the final, Hidalgo was Blakes’ co-star, with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. She also joined Blakes on the tournament’s All-Star 5.

No matter who is, or is not, around her at Notre Dame next season, Hidalgo reminded that she, once again, will be ready to do everything for the Irish.

Olivia Miles (TCU)

Olivia Miles, of course, will no longer be one of the Irish around Hidalgo, choosing to take her talents not to the WNBA but to TCU. And her play in Santiago should have Horned Frog fans excited, as Miles was swishing and dishing as she stuffed the stat sheet.

Against Columbia, she flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, which she then followed up with nine points, eight assists and seven boards in the win over Puerto Rico. Her pinpoint playmaking again was on display against Mexico, when she set a FIBA Women’s AmeriCup record with 10 assists in a single game. She then tossed nine dimes in the final, finishing as the Americans’ assists leader.

Joyce Edwards (South Carolina)

In the final, Team USA faced the last player who swung a title to South Carolina in Brazil’s Kamilla Cardoso (who was named to the tournament’s All-Star 5 along with Damiris Dantas). That’s now the expectation for Joyce Edwards in Columbia. (She’ll also have assistance from Ayla McDowell, an incoming Gamecock freshman who plays for Brazil.)

Edwards opened the tournament with a 19-point performance against the host Chileans. In the Americans’ next group phase win over Columbia, she posted a 13 points while grabbing nine boards. Against Brazil, Edwards, Team USA’s leading rebounder, not only helped the Americans win the battle of the boards, tying the team-high with seven rebounds, but also scored 11 efficient points to help the US claim the gold.

Gianna Kneepkens (UCLA)

Yes, UCLA lost a number of key contributors to last season’s Final Four team. But, they might have added the best shooter in college basketball in Gianna Kneepkens, who’s making her way to Westwood from Utah.

Kneepkens shot 50 percent from 3 in Santiago, with back-to-back games where she went 3-for-3 from behind the arc. The first of those efforts came against Mexico and future Bruin teammate Gabriela Jaquez. Kneepkens led the American rout with a team-high 20 points, shooting 70 percent from the field overall. On the other side, Jaquez struggled, an outlier in otherwise solid tournament that included her putting up 22 points in Mexico’s tournament opening win over Chile. Jaquez, who helped Mexico earn their best finish since 2011, received the tournament’s Rising Star award.

Madison Booker (Texas)

During her sophomore season at Texas, Madison Booker struggled a bit in some of the Longhorns’ biggest games, as her scoring efficiency eluded her against tough competition.

In Santiago, however, Booker was there for the Americans in the biggest moments. In the semifinal, when Canada not only led at the half against the US but also had the advantage late into the third quarter, Booker put the finishing touches on a hard-fought American victory, scoring seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Earlier in group play, when Puerto Rico was giving the US all they could handle in a closely-contested first half, an early-third quarter burst from Booker propelled the Americans to a comfortable victory, as she scored seven points in the first five minutes of the second half. Booker finished that win with nine points, five assists and two steals.

Flau’jae Johnson (LSU)

Big 4 was big on the Fourth of July for Team USA. She captained a domination of the Dominican Republic with 22 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two boards.

While Johnson was quiet in other contests, it’s that ability to go off, a skill she’s shown off throughout her time in Baton Rogue, that makes her special. On the 2025-26 Tigers, just as at the AmeriCup, she’ll be called on to do that on a team overflowing with talent.

Raegan Beers (Oklahoma)

Raegan Beers balled out in her debut in red, white and blue. She scored 22 points as she shot 75 percent from the field, going 1-for-1 from behind the arc for good measure. Seven boards and three steals rounded out the complete performance against Chile. Beers later pulled down 10 boards in the Americans’ win over the Dominican Republic.

Beers’ head coach at Oklahoma, Jennie Baranczyk, served as an assistant coach to head coach Kara Lawson for the AmeriCup, an experience that likely will benefit the Sooners as they look to make even more noise in their second season in the SEC.

Kennedy Smith (USC)

Without JuJu Watkins, Kennedy Smith, who is coming off a freshman season that, despite some injury troubles, featured promising flashes, will be expected to step up for the Trojans next season.

It’s something she’s certainly ready to do on the defensive end. In the semifinal against Canada, Smith provided difference-making defense, with three steals and three blocks. She finished the tournament ranked third in steals per game, executing 14 total takeaways.

Staying on top of injuries is a major key to winning any fantasy basketball league. Not only is it important to keep track of who isn’t playing (and for how long), but if you know which players are in line for more minutes or larger roles as a result of those injuries, you can make more informed waiver wire pickups or trades.

The Dallas Wings are a good example of how injuries to several rotation players have opened up major opportunities for others. Things haven’t gone according to plan for the Wings thus far, but they’ve been getting big contributions from some younger players who may not have seen much playing time otherwise. These players—Aziaha James and Luisa Geiselsöder—highlight this week’s installment of our WNBA Fantasy Grab Bag.

Aziaha James and Luisa Geiselsöder have become must-add players

As a rule of thumb, any time a team is down multiple starters, it’s worth looking at which players stand to benefit from those absences. The Wings have been without DiJonai Carrington since June 22 due to a rib injury, and Arike Ogunbowale is now also on the shelf with an injured thumb. Factor in Tyasha Harris, who underwent season-ending knee surgery earlier in June, and you get a Wings backcourt that has virtually no remaining options to play next to Paige Bueckers, save for fellow rookie Aziaha James.

Luckily for the Wings, James has risen to the challenge. She’s started in Carrington’s place and, in those five games, has been highly productive, averaging 15.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 31.5 minutes played (27.8 fantasy points). In her most recent game, with Ogunbowale joining Carrington on the bench, James dropped a career-high 28 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists in a whopping 38 minutes of playing time.

James isn’t the only Wings rookie who has been thriving lately. Luisa Geiselsöder, who recently returned from a stint playing for Germany in FIBA Women’s EuroBasket, started at power forward in the team’s most recent game and recorded four points, four rebounds and four defensive stats in 33 minutes. Geiselsöder shot poorly from the field (1-for-9), but for a Dallas frontcourt that doesn’t have much in the way of defensive playmaking, she’s likely to have a consistent role for the remainder of the season.

As for James, things aren’t as immediately clear. When Carrington and/or Ogunbowale are cleared to return, she won’t be shooting the ball as often as she is right now. It’s possible, though, that the Wings, who drafted James at No. 12 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft, will want to keep her in the starting lineup as they evaluate their young talent in what’s shaping up to be a lost season for the franchise. James is undoubtedly a must-add fantasy player right now, and it’s not inconceivable that she’ll retain some value even when the Wings get healthy.

Aari McDonald is stepping up in Caitlin Clark’s absence—again

Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

McDonald gained cult hero status among Fever fans earlier in the season when she signed with the team on a hardship contract and filled in admirably for an injured Caitlin Clark over a three-game stretch. Due to the nature of such contracts, McDonald had to be released when the Fever got healthy, but with Clark once again on the sidelines (this time with an injured groin), McDonald is back in Indiana, and she’s once again giving the team a much-needed boost.

Since returning to the Fever, McDonald is averaging 9.8 points, three rebounds and 5.5 assists in four games. Most importantly, she’s playing 28.5 minutes per contest, and it’s largely been alongside Indiana’s other starters. Sydney Colson may have been the Fever’s backup point guard of choice heading into the season, but it’s clear that the team now prefers McDonald to play the lion’s share of the minutes next to Kelsey Mitchell; she’ll lose most of her fantasy value when Clark returns, but just like in her first stint with the Fever, McDonald should be rostered until that happens.

Is NaLyssa Smith worth an add now that she’s in Las Vegas?

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Smith was dealt to the Aces last week in exchange for a 2027 first-round draft pick, having played just 18 games for the Wings prior to being traded. At the time of the deal, she was averaging career-lows in minutes (19.3), rebounds (5.1) and points per game (6.6), and she didn’t seem to have the kind of consistent offensive role in Dallas as she did her first few seasons with the Fever.

Needless to say, Smith was not living up to her ADP of 39.7, but there’s reason to believe that she could now be a worthwhile waiver-wire pickup. The Aces have been scrambling to find help in their frontcourt for A’ja Wilson; Kiah Stokes is more or less ignored by opposing defenses, and neither Megan Gustafson nor Cheyenne Parker-Tyus have played this season. The fact that they gave up a first-round draft pick for a player whose trade value had already cratered suggests that they were enthusiastic (or, as our Mykah Horrell puts it, desperate) to add another big with some offensive skill.

Of course, with Wilson and other big-name players like Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray on the roster, Smith won’t be a focal point of the Aces’ offense, either. Until Gustafson (lower leg) and Parker-Tyus (pregnancy) are ready to suit up, though, the Aces simply don’t have many other options at the position. Even if Smith is only marginally productive for the Aces (she recorded four points and seven rebounds in her first game with the team), she’s worth rostering in deeper leagues until they get their act together.

Two weeks ago, for the first time in her career, Breanna Stewart lost to the Seattle Storm, as her depleted New York Liberty, without three starters in Jonquel Jones (ankle), Sabrina Ionescu (neck) and Leonie Fiebich (EuroBasket), failed to muster enough against her former team.

Since then, things have remained shaky for the defending champs. The game in Seattle was a second-straight loss, and they’re 2-2 in their subsequent four games. Ionescu’s absence was limited to one game, but she’s mostly struggled to find her stroke since returning to the court. She finally turned in a Sab-level stat line in New York’s Thursday win over the Los Angeles Sparks. The victory against LA also was Fiebich’s first game back, while Jones is still sidelined.

All the while, Natasha Cloud’s stellar start the season also stalled. In the month of June, she put up a single-digit scoring average as she shot 36.8 percent from the field and 24.2 percent from 3. (But as with Ionescu, the Sparks might have helped Cloud solve her struggles, as she scored a season-high 23 points.) Fill-in starters Nyara Sabally, Rebekah Gardner and Kennedy Burke have been serviceable, but not particularly impactful, low-usage options.

That’s left a large burden on Stewart, something she’s assumed with her typically unfazed style. Even if she’s still coming up empty from behind the arc, shooting under 21 percent from 3, she’s finishing 50 percent of her overall shots, an indication of how automatic she’s been on 2-pointers as she averages 20.5 points per game. Except for a slight dip in her rebounding, her numbers are in line with her career averages.

That Stewart is still one of the best players in the world is a positive sign for the Liberty’s repeat chances. The team’s recent struggles easily can be explained away as absence-induced tumult. The eventual return of Jones, with whom the Liberty are undefeated when she plays at least 10 minutes, should get the team back on their championship course due to her status as the most complete—and completely unguardable—true center in the W. Presumably, both Ionescu and Cloud will shoot better, Fiebich will fully adjust to being back in the States and all will be well. Live, laugh, love, Liberty.

Or, does such a presumption ignore real problems? Will the contender switch flip back on when the Liberty are at full-strength? Or, will we discover that their back-to-back prospects have dimmed?

The Storm’s status as a title threat is certainly specious. At times, they look like a championship-caliber team, with a top-notch defense that turns into efficient, transition offense. Conversely, an absence of offensive firepower that is exacerbated by their low-volume 3-point shooting, along with a lack of reliable depth, raises questions about their ability to advance out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

There’s no question, however, about the continued excellence of Nneka Ogwumike. Like Stewart for the Liberty, she remains a tide-raising superstar, one who is fresh off reaching No. 7 on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. One of her best games of the seasons came against New York, when she scored 26 points while shooting better than 70 percent from the field.

On Sunday, Ogwumike’s Storm meet Stewart’s Liberty for a nationally-televised afternoon date in Brooklyn (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Quite possibly, it could prove to be a WNBA Finals preview. Or, it could produce an outcome that exposes the deficiencies of one of these championship hopefuls.

Here’s a key question for Sunday’s other two WNBA games:

Can the Aces get some Vitamin D in CT?

The Las Vegas Aces are in a dark place and in need of some sunlight. Or, maybe just an opportunity to light up the Connecticut Sun?

A game against the two-win Sun should, at least temporarily, present an opportunity for A’ja Wilson’s supporting cast to rediscover their games. Yes, it will be against Connecticut, but a 25-point game from Jewell Loyd, a points and assists double-double from Chelsea Gray, a efficient scoring afternoon from Jackie Young and some spark-plug moments from new addition NaLyssa Smith would be encouraging.

So far this season, the Aces’ only two wins of 20 or more points, a formerly routine occurrence for the the two-time champs, have come against the Sun. Can they make it three on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, League Pass)?

Can Angel (again) slow Phee?

Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images

Is Angel Reese the Napheesa Collier stopper? Reese has successfully induced Collier, a queen of efficiency, into some of her most inefficient outings. Last season, the Minnesota Lynx were 3-0 against the Chicago Sky, but, in the two games in which Reese played, Phee shot under 40 percent from the field, including a 6-for-19 effort.

Then, there was Unrivaled, where Reese’s Rose, the eventual inaugural champs, upset Collier’s then-undefeated Lunar Owls, holding Collier, who would be named Unrivaled MVP, to a season-low 16 points on 6-for-19 shooting, her poorest shooting performance of the season. In the third matchup between Rose and Owls, Collier again scored just 16 points and experienced her second-worst shooting night. Angel, of course, was Unrivaled’s Defensive Player of the Year.

The now-WNBA sophomore has the length to bother the MVP favorite, in addition to the athleticism to contain Collier and her fancy footwork. And despite some spicy on-court moments, the two players have showered each other with support and respect, establishing the kind of organic, good-natured rivalry the WNBA should promote.

With Reese’s history of causing trouble for Collier, on top of the fact that the Lynx will be on a back-to-back, the Sky might have a chance of pulling off the upset (7 p.m. ET, League Pass).

Game information

Seattle Storm (11-7) vs. New York Liberty (12-5)

When: Sunday, July 6 at 1 p.m. ET

Where: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

How to watch: CBS

Las Vegas Aces (8-9) vs. Connecticut Sun (2-15)

When: Sunday, July 6 at 4 p.m. ET

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT

How to watch: WNBA League Pass

Chicago Sky (5-11) vs. Minnesota Lynx (16-2)

When: Sunday, July 6 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

How to watch: WNBA League Pass

It’s been a bumpy ride for the Chicago Sky this season. Once again, they started at the bottom of the ladder and are trying to work their way up.

As the All-Star break approaches, the Sky are currently 5-11, standing in 11th place among the 13 teams in the WNBA. Their status is attributable to the fact that they are led by a first-time coach in Tyler Marsh, who is tasked with maximizing the veteran presences of Ariel Atkins and Elizabeth Williams in a way that jells with emerging stars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

At this point, things are not working on either end of the floor. Chicago ranks near the bottom of the league in both offensive and defensive rating. Their defensive rating is 113.6 and they have allowed 87.7 points per game. A failure to control the perimeter explains a significant part of their defensive woes. The Sky have allowed their opponents to take 27.6 3s per game and shoot 39.2 percent, the highest mark in the league, from behind the 3-point line.

On the offensive end, turnovers continue to plague their ability to establish an offensive flow. They are averaging 18.9 turnovers per game, the worst ball security in the league. That has resulted in the Sky squandering games that were going in their favor, or turning a potentially close loss into a blowout defeat.

This offensive problems been exacerbated by the loss of Courtney Vandersloot, whose season came to an end against the Indiana Fever on June 7 when she tore her ACL in the opening minutes. The temporarily absence of Cardoso, who’s competing for the Brazilian National Team in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup Tournament, which goes through July 6, has further depleted the Sky.

But even with all their obvious deficits, the Sky have managed to cultivate some bright spots.

After a slow start, Reese has come alive as of late. She recently was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, as she averaged 19.7 points, 17.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals. In addition, she shot 48.9 percent from the field and 92.3 percent from the free throw line. On June 24, Reese finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and a season-high four steals in their come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Three days later, she tallied 17 points and 18 rebounds in the Sky’s loss to the Golden State Valkyries. On June 29, Reese rounded out her week with 24 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks in another win over the Sparks. Reese is expected to be a reserve at the upcoming All-Star Game in Indianapolis on July 19.

Elizabeth Williams has filled in effectively for Cardoso. Against the Sparks in LA, she had 12 points and nine rebounds. Ariel Atkins has admirably assumed point guard duties; her 3.4 assists per game are a career high. Rachel Banham has made her way into the starting rotation as a formidable shooter. Dating back to June 22, she’s averaged 10.5 points per game while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. Kia Nurse, Rebecca Allen and Michael Onyenwere have each stepped up in measurable ways at both ends of the floor.

Altogether, the Sky are looking at the road ahead and not in the rearview mirror. Marsh emphasized unselfishness as the foundation of what he is trying to put together for the long term, explaining:

That’s the team that we’ve had and the team that we knew that we had from day one, even through the ups and downs that came through the earlier part of the season.

Selflessness is what we preach from day one. And so I think that the willingness of everyone to pick up whatever may be voided at that given point in time throughout the season has been picked up in different areas. And so whether that’s been Rachel or Ariel or Angel or any of our players that have come off the bench and been able to provide a spark here and there, it just speaks to them and their willingness to do whatever it takes to win, but also whatever it takes to lift up the person next to them.

So that’s the culture that we want to create here, and not just for the foreseeable future.