The 2016 WNBA season – and with it, WNBA betting – will begin on May 14th. The favorites to win their respective conferences as well as the championship series include the Phoenix Mercury, the Minnesota Lynx, the Chicago Sky, and the New York Liberty.
Phoenix Mercury. This season will mark the return of guard Diana Taurasi, who has been instrumental in the three WNBA championships the team has won – the last of which coincidentally came on the last season Taurasi played. The 2004 No 1 draft pick decided to take a sabbatical from the WNBA in 2015 while still moonlighting in Russia with the UMMC Ekaterinburg. Bill Simmons recently asked her about the probabilities of Phoenix winning another title, along with UConn winning it all, and Taurasi winning a fourth gold medal. “I like my chances on all three,” she answered confidently.
Minnesota Lynx. The current, reigning, defending champions are obviously WNBA betting favorites. The team future-endeavored Tricia Liston, but drafted Bashaara Graves and Temi Fagbenle, and also hired the services of Jia Perkins. Graves averaged 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in for Tennessee this season. Fangbele, an All-Star Pac-12, averaged 13.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for USC during the 2015-16 season. And Perkins is a 12-year pro and All-Star who averaged 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last season for the San Antonio Stars.
Chicago Sky. The Sky is looking to win its first WNBA title after coming the closest to it in 2014, where they lost the finals to current odds-on WNBA betting favorite Phoenix Mercury. To help them with that goal, the team drafted Imani Boyette – who loves to cook, binges on Netflix, loves to read and write, and wanted to be a singer/accountant – and Jordan Jones – who loves dressing up around the house, binges on Netflix and Hulu, and has many nicknames. Not quite sure how well all that is going to translate on the court (don’t look at me like that, I got all that from the Sky’s official website).
New York Liberty. “Led by head coach Bill Laimbeer, I believe we have put together the best staff in the WNBA, one that puts our players in the position to be successful every time they take the floor,” team President Isiah Thomas said. “Katie Smith (associate head coach) has been critical to our team’s success and has been elevated to associate head coach, while Teresa Weatherspoon (Director of Player Development) will expand the way she uses her unparalleled expertise to positively impact youth and our community. Rosemary Ragle (Head Athletic Trainer) has worked with many of the best players in the game for nearly two decades, and understands her contributions to a championship culture.”