An exciting 36 game WNBA season will begin on May 6, 2022. After an action-packed offseason highlighted with star signings and big name trades, 12 talented teams will begin their journey to become WNBA champions. 

According to Vegas Sportsbooks, preseason odds have the Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces favored to win the 2022 WNBA Finals. During free agency, Connecticut re-signed forward Jonquel Jones, who averaged 11.2 rebounds and a career best 19.4 points last season.

“I think the Suns have a good chance because [they] are usually very well coached, [and] they always have good players, but I don’t think [preseason odds] are very accurate. [Resigning Jones] helps them a lot because she’s probably one of the best players in the league, and she’s pretty unstoppable,” said Varsity Basketball Player Gianna Ghio (‘23).

Las Vegas lost their center Liz Cambage to the LA Sparks but re-signed 2020 MVP A’ja Wilson to a 2-year $398,422 contract. In addition, Becky Hammon will be the new head coach of the Aces, replacing Bill Laimbeer. 

“I think [losing Cambage] definitely hurts them, but probably not that much because she’s not as effective sometimes. She’s mainly just a big presence and she can score, but she’s not as dominant as A’ja Wilson would be,” said Ghio.

The 2021 WNBA Finals runner-up Phoenix Mercury signed Tina Charles to a 1 year $108,000 contract. Charles led the league with a career best 23.4 points per game and averaged 9.6 rebounds for the Washington Mystics in 2021. 

“I think [Charles] is really going to help with [their] rebounding because they lost [Brittney] Griner, who was probably their best rebounder. It’s also a pretty low contract, only $108k, so the cap space doesn’t hurt as much for Phoenix. She’s a great replacement and it looks like they might be able to go back to the finals,” said Shantelle Tupaz (‘24).

The current WNBA Champions Chicago Sky re-signed 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper to a 2-year $405,000 contract. They lost minor pieces such as Diamond DeShields and Stefanie Dolson in free agency, but they will start the season with the 4th best odds (via Vegas Insider) to win the title.

“Overall, starpower is the most important and can kind of carry you to the playoffs. But when it gets down to the best of the best in trying to repeat or seek another championship, those minor [players] become more important. It’s those other pieces that make a championship team,” said JV Football Assistant Coach and WNBA fan Robert Palmer. 

The WNBA will be available to the national audience for certain games. Go to espn.com to view the 2022 schedule and the channel that national tv games will be played on. National broadcasts are available on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS Television Network, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, NBA TV, Prime Video and Facebook Watch.