The WNBA coaching carousel finally came to a stop before the holiday season, as the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics announced new hires on Dec. 23. Now that every team has a head coach, if not yet a full coaching staff, it’s time to evaluate their directions heading into the 2025 season. For now, we’ll exclude the five teams (the Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm) that didn’t make head-coaching changes, but rest assured, there will be more to come later in the offseason.
Ceiling: Win a first-round playoff series
The Dream regressed last season, specifically on offense, after a 19-win campaign in 2023. A team with two perimeter stars in Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray should generate better offense (it was last in the league in offensive rating in 2024), and the addition of Smesko, one of the more creative minds in college basketball, seems like the right move to help Atlanta get over the hump. That doesn’t solve the inherent problem of the Dream’s overall talent — for all of Howard’s gifts, she has yet to demonstrate she is on par with the league’s MVP candidates, and Atlanta doesn’t have many plus shooters. However, a more efficient offensive system combined with growth from Howard and Gray should at least put the Dream in contention to win a playoff series if it all breaks right.
Ceiling: Earn a playoff berth
Chicago might have made the playoffs a year ago had Angel Reese not missed the end of the season with an injury, so a postseason berth isn’t exactly a stretch. However, the Sky don’t seem to be rushing the process with Marsh, who is 37 and had never been a head coach. Chicago can prioritize the long term with Marsh’s player-development focus. The Sky own their first-round picks for the next two seasons, putting little pressure on making the playoffs right away. They can even afford to pick projects in the upcoming WNBA Drafts, knowing Marsh will help them reach their potential, if not immediately.
Connecticut Sun: Rachid Meziane
After six straight seasons of advancing to the WNBA semifinals, it’s safe to bet on Connecticut reaching that ceiling again but not breaking through. The Sun made the most interesting offseason hire by bringing in Meziane, who was the 2023-24 EuroLeague coach of the year and led Belgium to a EuroBasket gold medal in 2023. He is not a known quantity like other WNBA coaches, all of whom either have long domestic NCAA résumés or served as WNBA assistants, which could produce some surprises in Connecticut. However, it’s hard to believe that a roster with the same spacing issues and frontcourt redundancies can be a championship contender. Ideally, the Sun will take a different direction this offseason with Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and DeWanna Bonner entering free agency. However, the front office’s public comments suggest it will run it back, and that once again makes Connecticut a playoff lock regardless of who the coach is.
Dallas Wings: Chris Koclanes
Ceiling: Win a playoff series
This is the hardest team to evaluate heading into the offseason because so many questions need to be answered. The Wings won the top overall pick, but will that result in Paige Bueckers coming to Dallas? Will Satou Sabally try to force her way out in free agency? The Wings can core her, but that hasn’t stopped stars in the past. Can Chris Koclanes — who has been prepared for this job by Curt Miller — make an instant impact, particularly on defense? Or will he perform more like a rookie head coach? Best-case scenario: With Arike Ogunbowale, Sabally and Bueckers performing at their peaks (and a competent defense under Koclanes), Dallas could be in the WNBA semifinals and make more noise. Even as the worst team in the league in 2024, the Wings still beat the Lynx twice, convincingly. But the bottom could drop out just as easily as it did this season, leaving Dallas out of the postseason.
Ceiling: Make the postseason
The Valkyries gave every indication that they intend to be competitive in their inaugural season to create a winning culture and adhere to owner Joe Lacob’s timeline of becoming a champion within five years. That extends to hiring Nakase, who has never been in a rebuilding situation in her NBA and WNBA coaching career. During the expansion draft, Golden State selected several immediate contributors. Without a star, at least not yet before free agency, the Valkyries don’t have the upside to make noise in the playoffs, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they played hard enough to advance to the postseason. There is an argument that Golden State would be better off earning a lottery pick in 2026 to build for the future; however, that doesn’t seem to be the mantra of this front office.
Ceiling: Win a championship
Indiana wouldn’t have fired Christie Sides, a coach who led the Fever to the third-best offense in the league and a top-six net rating in 2024, if the organization didn’t have high hopes for 2025. Caitlin Clark was already a first-team All-WNBA player as a rookie; with her and two-time All-Star Aliyah Boston anchoring both ends, Indiana can compete with anyone, and the Fever will have the cap space to bring in another impact contributor at the forward spots. White was the 2023 coach of the year and a few possessions away from coaching the Sun to the WNBA Finals in 2024. With an MVP candidate, more stars, depth and a high-level head coach, Indiana shouldn’t settle for anything less than the mountaintop this season.
Los Angeles Sparks: Lynne Roberts
After four years of missing the playoffs, firing Curt Miller indicated that the Sparks could no longer stomach a slow rebuild. It would be a failure for the franchise to end up in the lottery again, especially since Los Angeles does not control its first-round draft pick in 2026. That puts a lot of pressure on Roberts, who has had longer runways in previous positions. She’ll have to acclimate to a new league quickly for the Sparks to achieve their goals. On paper, Los Angeles has enough talent to make the playoffs, but the Sparks have not had a healthy roster over the past few seasons. If availability breaks in their favor, they should end up back in the postseason. Until another player steps up as an All-Star to complement Dearica Hamby (Cameron Brink might have been on track before tearing her ACL last June), the playoffs are the upper limit for this team.
Washington Mystics: Sydney Johnson
Ceiling: Select a good draft pick in 2026
Unlike Los Angeles, Washington has expressed patience for a long rebuild and wants to create a new foundation through the draft, which means the playoffs would be a worst-case scenario for the Mystics. The hiring of Johnson supports that timeline, as his coaching experience mostly comes from men’s college and 3×3 before one year as an assistant with the Chicago Sky. He’ll need some time to grow into a quality WNBA head coach, and Washington can afford to wait. Expect a fire sale from the Mystics this offseason of veterans like Brittney Sykes, Stefanie Dolson and Karlie Samuelson as the franchise pivots to its next era.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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