WNBA: Caitlin Clark powers Indiana Fever up to No. 3 in power rankings

Neither the New York Liberty nor the Minnesota Lynx remain unbeaten, but with just one loss each, they are still the two best teams in the league.

However, the Atlanta Dream are quietly only 1.5 games out of second place after three-straight wins. Let’s take a look at the third edition of Swish Appeal’s WNBA power rankings, which feature a strong No. 3 through No. 6 range that includes the Dream and three other teams that could challenge the Liberty and Lynx down the line.

1) New York Liberty (9-1)

Maintained same spot from previous rankings

The Liberty lead the Minnesota Lynx in net rating by 6.7 points, and their only loss came without Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich. It’s hard not to put them ahead of Minnesota.

As our editor-in-chief Cat Ariail has discussed, Breanna Stewart is no longer the great 3-point shooter she once was. I also think Stewie isn’t as clutch in the playoffs as she used to be, and is lagging behind more than just A’ja Wilson in the best-player-in-the-world debate, with Napheesa Collier and Caitlin Clark on the rise. But Liberty fans will take her 19.5 points per game and the 9-1 record any day.

With Betnijah Laney-Hamilton out and Kennedy Burke taking on a larger role, this Liberty team has a different feel than last year’s. Different, but seemingly just as good. I worry about Stewie not being as dominant, but, for now, everything is fine for New York.

2) Minnesota Lynx (10-1)

Maintained same spot from previous rankings

The Lynx’s one loss, to the Seattle Storm, is a little bit worse than the Liberty’s loss to the Indiana Fever. But Minnesota bounced back with a blowout win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Napheesa Collier is currently top five in averages for points, rebounds, steals and blocks. That’s everything but assists, and her 3.9 per game in that category is still very good. Courtney Williams’ scoring and playing time have been down of late, though she did bounce back with 17 points against LA. Meanwhile, Kayla McBride was 0-for-7 from 3 with four points in that game. The Lynx could use some more consistency from Collier’s supporting cast.

3) Indiana Fever (5-5)

Up two spots from previous rankings

The Fever made a statement with their 14-point win over the Liberty, and I realize I’m making a little bit of a statement by putting a 5-5 team this high. On the one hand, it’s not surprising for me to put them this high, as I considered them title contenders entering the season and their only ugly stretch this year has come without Caitlin Clark. On the other hand, that ugly stretch was a bit too ugly for comfort.

Even without Clark, Indiana should have been able to defeat the now 4-7 Washington Mystics and the now 2-8 Connecticut Sun. And in the 19-point loss to the Dream, the individual stats for some of Clark’s supporting stars were concerning: Kelsey Mitchell was 0-for-5 from 3, Lexie Hull was held scoreless in 32 minutes, Aliyah Boston was an uncharacteristic 3-of-9 from the field with seven points and just four rebounds and DeWanna Bonner continued her early-season struggles with just five points.

Yet, all those players (except Bonner, who didn’t play) bounced back and supported Clark’s amazing performance against the Liberty. I’m willing to throw the Dream game out of consideration because of how impressive the Liberty game was.

One thing I worry about with the Fever is them handling the immense pressure of having Clark on their team. A lot of people out there have only heard of one WNBA team and expect them to win the championship every season, when, in reality, it’s going to be challenging enough to get the monkey off their back and just win a first title in the Clark era. But their gutsy performance against New York has me confident that this team may be able to handle the pressure down the line. They just need to keep riding the good vibes of that win.

4) Phoenix Mercury (8-4)

Maintained same spot from previous rankings

I struggled with spots No. 3 through No. 6 in these rankings, ultimately deciding to make that statement of putting the Fever third. One thing I counted against the Mercury was only beating the Las Vegas Aces by six on Sunday. Not only were the Aces without A’ja Wilson, but they were also coming off a three-game stretch that saw them lose to the now 5-5 Golden State Valkyries by 27 points, lose to the now 4-8 Sparks by eight points and defeat the now 1-11 Dallas Wings by just four points, albeit that last one was without Wilson. And the Mercury had both Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper back for that game.

However, perhaps it was unfair to expect Copper to immediately have a huge impact in her first game back. (She scored 11 points.) Expect Phoenix to start playing some really good basketball in the near future now that she has joined Thomas and Satou Sabally on the court. One thing to keep an eye on is Thomas’ standing in the assist average race; she currently has nine per game, just 0.2 behind Clark for the league lead. The rebounds have been down for Thomas of late, but the assists have been up.

5) Atlanta Dream (8-3)

Up one spot from previous rankings

Maybe I’m being too hard on the Dream. After all, they are third in the league in winning percentage and are third in most power rankings from other analysts. However, the Fever with Clark and the Mercury don’t have any losses to teams with losing records. Atlanta has a loss to the Mystics and a loss to the Sun. On either side of the win over the Dream, Connecticut lost by 48 and 37.

I expected Rhyne Howard to take a crazy leap this year, the likes of which we may only see from her and Clark. Then, in my last power rankings, I noted that she had likely yet to play her best basketball of 2025. She remains inconsistent and inefficient. Meanwhile, Brittney Griner has not been the superstar I expected her to be in the majority of games.

Allisha Gray is a bright spot, for sure. She is on track to receive the first MVP voting points of her career; she’s currently fourth in the league in fantasy average. But so much for Griner (0.1 makes per game at 14.3 percent) and Brionna Jones (0.3 makes per game at 16.7 percent) becoming 3-point shooters in head coach Karl Smesko’s system. So far, Naz Hillmon (0.7 makes per game at 40 percent) is the only frontcourt player doing any notable damage in that area.

The Dream are second in the league with 10.2 made 3s per game and eighth at 32.7 percent. They’ll take the mediocre percentage as long as they’re eliminating the long-2 attempts and still cashing in on more 3s than most teams in the W—because that’s the whole point of the strategy. However, I’m sure they’d like to see their bigs get more involved.

6) Seattle Storm (6-5)

Up one spot from previous rankings

Man, the Storm were looking good after they beat the Lynx by 10. They have the pieces to be a really special team that goes far this year.

Erica Wheeler seems to be back to a star level, and remember, she was fifth in the league in clutch points per game in 2021. That could be key moving forward. She, Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Gabby Williams and Ezi Magbegor seem like a solid five. Meanwhile, Alysha Clark is doing her job by shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc. In fact, Williams (43.4), Wheeler (39.3), Diggins (39) and Ogwumike (34.5) are all legit 3-point shooters right now, contributing to the Storm being second in the W in long-distance efficiency at 36.8 percent. Williams has cooled off, going 1-for-8 over her last two, but fingers crossed she can get back on track.

7) Las Vegas Aces (5-5)

Down four spots from previous rankings

The Aces are in real trouble. I had them first in my preseason power rankings and only moved them down two spots in my next edition despite their 20-point loss to the Storm. I had liked how they bounced back from that loss with a 15-point win over the Sparks and a five-point win over the same Storm. But they went on to follow that up with the three-game stretch mentioned earlier. Yes, the Valkyries have since furthered their case as legit, but that was a big margin to lose by for the Aces. And yes, the Sparks have some talent too, but the Aces just do not look like themselves.

One good sign is that Jewell Loyd is 8-for-16 from 3 with 19 points per game over her last two. Vegas needs her to be the player who was the perfect complementary piece to an all-world player on two championship teams in Seattle. She cannot be someone who ruins the chemistry; she must be someone who makes it better.

I thought about putting the Aces one spot lower on this list, but they’ll still have A’ja Wilson when she returns. I said it was hard to imagine them not finishing top three with a player like her; now I’m saying it’s hard to imagine them not finishing top seven. Aces fans are praying the free fall ends here.

8) Golden State Valkyries (5-5)

Up one spot from previous rankings

As someone with extensive ties to the Bay Area, I have to say I’m loving this. The Chase Center crowd provides phenomenal homecourt advantage, and the good vibes just keep on getting better for Golden State. The Valkyries are 4-3 without the player who was expected to be their best in Tiffany Hayes! In their latest win over the Storm, they were without not just Hayes, but also third-leading scorer Janelle Salaün and second-leading distributor Julie Vanloo—imagine how high they could climb on this list!

Veronica Burton is an X factor to keep an eye on. Her 3-point shooting has been hot and cold (mostly cold) this year, but she is turning into a legit starting point guard in this league because of her high volume of assists. She’s averaging 5.4 on the season and nine over her last three games. Plus, the “Backcourt Burglar” in her returned on Saturday, when she had four steals after swiping just two over her previous five.

9) Washington Mystics (4-7)

Down one spot from previous rankings

Just as the Fever’s key players posted poor individual stats in their most-recent game against the Dream, the Mystics’ stars were pretty much abysmal in Sunday’s 23-point loss to Atlanta, a game in which Washington mustered just 56 points.

Their top three of Brittney Sykes, Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron were 2-for-10, 2-for-9 and 2-for-8 from the field, respectively. I still think that “Big 3” is legit, but Iriafen and Citron were bound to experience some growing pains. It’s going to be tough, but the Mystics have to try to get back to playing their best basketball, because THAT team could make the playoffs. Right now, they’re a game and a half outside the playoff picture, and, while it’s early, we’re starting to see a clear top eight and bottom five developing.

10) Los Angeles Sparks (4-8)

Maintained same spot from previous rankings

The Sparks are the only team I’ve kept in the same spot in all three of my power rankings so far. They are who I expected them to be. In the best-case scenario, they could move up and fight for the playoffs, but they may have to compete with everyone else’s best-case scenario.

I continue to be so impressed by Rickea Jackson. She became in the star in the league right away as a rookie and is following that up with a star sophomore campaign. Her 3-point shooting numbers have improved from 1.1 makes per game at 34.7 percent to 1.4 at 38.5. She had that 30-point game last Wednesday where she was 4-for-8 from distance and followed it up with 18 points on 3-for-5 from long range. The “Big 4” of the future for LA could be Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, Jackson and Cameron Brink, the last of whom still hasn’t played yet this year but should be back from her ACL tear soon.

11) Chicago Sky (3-7)

Maintained same spot from previous rankings

Since my last power rankings, Courtney Vandersloot has been ruled out for the season with a torn ACL. Her return to Chicago was such a feel-good story, so it’s tough to see that happen. At age 36, she only has so many seasons left. For the Sky, it’s also a big blow because of the talent she was still able to bring to the court, even at her age.

I was hard on Angel Reese in my last power rankings. Since then, she’s accomplished two key things: First, her first game shooting better than 50 percent from the field (8-for-13 for 61.5 percent) and second, in a separate game, becoming the second-youngest player in WNBA history to record a triple-double. The triple-double was achieved thanks to an assist outburst; she dished out 11, six more than her previous career high. So much of Chicago’s success hinges on Reese’s success, so these performances are a good sign.

However, some sobering facts remain. The Sky’s only three wins have been over the two teams below them in these rankings, and all of their losses—save for a five-point loss to the Mercury on May 27—have been by double digits.

12) Connecticut Sun (2-8)

Up one spot from previous rankings

Unlike the Sky and the Wings, the Sun have a win over a team that is .500 or better; in fact, they have two, albeit with one of them coming over the Clark-less Fever. At the same time, they have some ridiculous blowout losses.

Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles have delivered in terms of being the team’s two stars with 17.6 and 16.8 points per game, respectively. However, Connecticut isn’t getting a ton of offense from anywhere else, as they are dead last in scoring at 71.3, comfortably behind Chicago’s 75.6. One bright spot and good sign is the fact that Saniya Rivers looks comfortable on a WNBA court. The rookie is third on the Sun in minutes per game with 26.6.

13) Dallas Wings (1-11)

Down one spot from previous rankings

The Wings actually have a comfortably better net rating (-8.6) than the Sky (-14.6) and the Sun (-22). They’ve lost a lot of close games, including to good teams. I was tempted to put them ahead of the Sun because I put them at No. 8 in the preseason and still feel like they’re better on paper than the Sun, who I had at No. 11 before the season. But the sheer amount of losses are piling up for Dallas. They are a full two games behind Connecticut, so I felt like I had to put them last.

Since my last power rankings, Paige Bueckers had that 35-point game. She is certainly a positive individual success story amid a sad season so far for the team as a whole.