WNBA: Dream’s Hillmon, Lynx’s Shepard lead 6th Player of the Year race

Being an impactful WNBA player demands more than talent. It also requires the ability to apply one’s talents in ways that optimize team success.

This discrete skill is especially true for a team’s top reserve, or sixth player. Over the course of the season, she is asked to change the energy of a game when she steps on the court, scale up or down her role depending on who she is playing with, start in pinch, compensate for a starter’s extended absence and more. Successfully navigating that multiplicity of responsibilities certainly makes a player deserving of an end-of-season award.

For 2025, three such players—the Atlanta Dream’s Naz Hillmon, Minnesota Lynx’s Jessica Shepard and Seattle Storm’s Dominique Malonga—have proved themselves worthy of Sixth Player of the Year honors. Here’s more on the value of Hillmon, Shepard and Malonga:

Naz Hillmon (Atlanta Dream)

When you think of an ideal bench player, what comes to mind? Probably productivity. Reliability, for sure. And, though they’re a reserve, you’d probably want to be comfortable putting them in the starting lineup once in a while, just in case.

Naz Hillmon has checked all of those boxes in 2025. The fourth-year forward has continued to expand her game, most recently adding a consistent 3-point shot (she’s made 40 3-pointers this season after making just one in her previous three seasons), and she’s gone from being a decent depth piece to a player who is downright indispensable. In playing a career-high 24.8 minutes per game, Hillmon has also posted career-bests of 8.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists–and that doesn’t even tell the whole story.

The Dream made big splashes last offseason by acquiring centers Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones, and though the on-court fit between the two is a bit clunky, the Dream have been able to make it work, mostly by staggering the time they spend on the floor. Hillmon actually spends more time playing next to Jones (15.5 minutes per game) than Griner does (9.9 minutes), and that’s where her true value shines; she’s typically assigned the quicker opposing frontcourt matchup, and she’s deceptively fleet of foot herself, which largely eliminates the need for the Dream from playing too many lumbering, two-center lineups. To put it simply: Griner and Jones make up the walls of Atlanta’s frontcourt, but Hillmon is the insulation, providing that next layer that isn’t always visible but is just as important. She’s everything you’d want in a Sixth Player of the Year candidate. — Eric Nemchock

Jessica Shepard (Minnesota Lynx)

For a stretch of seven August games, the Lynx were without MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, yet the league leaders barely missed a beat. And that’s in large part due to Jessica Shepard, who shined as she shifted from super sub to starter.

Shepard authored the signature moment during that stretch, delivering a 22-point, 11-rebound and 10-assist triple-double to staunch Minnesota’s only two-game skid of the season. Shepard also owns the highest single-game plus/minus of the WNBA season, as the Lynx outscored the Las Vegas Aces by 46 points in her 27 minutes in their historic early August road win.

Those statistical curios, however, ultimately serve as leading indicators of her all-round, versatile impact. Back in the WNBA for the first time since 2023, Shepard provided a reliable 7.7-point and 7.1-rebound output during her average of 20 minutes a night, starting in 10 games and coming off the bench in 25. Her career-best 63 percent conversion rate on field goal attempts not only leads the Lynx, but also the league. Her rebounding percentage also has proven elite, as she ranks in the top five league-wide by grabbing almost 18 percent of available boards when she is on the court. During the extended opportunity she received during Collier’s absence, her efficiency and effectiveness impressively increased, as she shot almost 70 percent from the field while corralling 19 percent of rebounding chances in the month of August.

In short, Shepard is a trusted two-way talent for the Lynx, a cog within the league’s best offense and defense who, when called upon, is capable of raising her level of play. That sounds like a perfect Sixth Player of the Year! — Cat Ariail

Dominique Malonga (Seattle Storm)

Approaching the season’s end, Storm rookie forward and No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga isn’t a candidate for an award that many people thought she could challenge: Rookie of the Year. The 19-year old’s production pales in comparison to that of 23-year old Paige Bueckers, picked right before Malonga and slated to take home the accolade in a landslide. Regardless, all is not lost for the French phenom. Playing behind the experience of Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor, Malonga carved out an increasingly impactful role on Seattle’s bench, showing enough to humbly insert her into Sixth Player of the Year discussions.

Malonga averages 7.6 points per game, fifth-most amongst players who have come off the bench for at least 22 games. Not bad, but her candidacy shouldn’t be defined by those flat numerical confines. She barely played for the first half of the season. Through game 23, she was averaging nine minutes, four points and two rebounds. It was enough to invite unwelcome discussions about whether her international prospect profile may have been overhyped.

However, over the past few weeks Malonga has flipped that narrative on its head to such an extent that she’s a leading candidate for a respected award. In her last 16 games, she’s averaging 21 minutes, 13 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block. She’s shooting 60 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3 in that stretch. Her 55 percent shooting on the season isn’t far off, and is an impressive mark for the league’s youngest player. Of the top 10 players in bench scoring, she’s the only one shooting above 50 percent from the field. Despite her invisible role in through the first two months of the season, Malonga has propelled herself to being second in total bench points, first in total bench rebounds and second in total bench blocks. She also leads all bench players in usage, meaning that she’s a focal point of Seattle’s offense while in the game. Slow start and all, it’s hard to deny that Malonga’s combination of volume and efficiency make her a clear-cut candidate for Sixth Player of the Year. — Beckett Harrison