rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
Napheesa Collier has quietly established herself as one of the best players in the WNBA. After being named to her first All-WNBA First Team in 2023, she put together another strong season in 2024. Collier led the Lynx to the WNBA Finals, won the Defensive Player of the Year award, and finished second in MVP voting behind only A’ja Wilson. Wilson got all 67 first-place votes and deservedly so, but Collier was clearly next in line.
Since then, Collier has not taken any time off. She is currently excelling in Unrivaled, a new professional women’s basketball league she founded together with Breanna Stewart. Collier’s Lunar Owls are undoubtedly the best team in Unrivaled right now. On top of that, she won the 1-on-1 tournament, leads the league in scoring, and is making a strong case to be named the league’s inaugural MVP.
Playing in Unrivaled is also a perfect way for Collier to prepare for her next WNBA season with the Minnesota Lynx. If her performances this offseason are any indication, Collier is set up well for another successful season.
Prediction #3: Collier averages a career-high in points per game
Collier is one of the greatest two-way players in the WNBA at the moment. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement. So far, Collier has only averaged more than twenty points per game twice in her career. In 2023, she averaged 21.5 points per game, which still marks her career high.
Collier seems well-prepared to crush that number in the 2025 season. Unrivaled has offered Collier plenty of opportunities already to work on her skill set. Playing so well in a league that offers no chances to hide on either end of the floor and winning the 1-on-1 tournament will have Collier going into the 2025 WNBA season with incredible confidence.
Lynx fans should expect a big offensive season from Collier in which she averages somewhere between 23 and 25 points per game.
Prediction #2: Collier will give A’ja Wilson some serious competition for the MVP award
While Collier finished second in MVP voting last season, she was not really a competition for A’ja Wilson, who won the award unanimously. Wilson got all 67 first-place votes, while Collier received 66 second-place votes and one third-place vote. The former undoubtedly deserved the award.
Wilson put together two 40-point games, became only the second player in league history to record a minimum of 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks in a game, and set a league record for consecutive games with at least 20 points.
While WNBA fans should expect another dominant season from Wilson this year, Collier could give her some real trouble in the MVP race this time around—as well as the Defensive Player of the Year race. Collier and Wilson are some of the most talented two-way players in the league, and Collier has a chance to give Wilson some trouble as she chases her fourth MVP award.
Prediction #1: Collier leads the Lynx back to the WNBA Finals
The way the Lynx’s 2024 season ended was not great. Despite pushing the Liberty to five games in the finals, the Lynx could not take home the championship. It was a great disappointment, but it also means that the Lynx will go into the 2025 season wanting to get revenge and make up for the loss.
The Lynx are returning pretty much the same roster, as all key players from the 2024 season are still under contract. That group managed to be one of the best teams in the league last season and looks ready to do the same again.
Minnesota is not the only team well set up to compete for a title—the Liberty still look strong, the Aces cannot be counted out, and the Fever and Mercury made some big moves this offseason—but, if Collier can build on last season’s success, she might just lead the Lynx back to the WNBA Finals.
