2026 WNBA Season Preview, Predictions: Championship, MVP and Rookie of the Year Odds
After a tumultuous offseason behind the scenes, the 30th WNBA season begins in earnest on Friday night. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces look to become just the second league franchise to win four titles in five seasons, several clubs look to take the next step, and several rookies are about to make their heavily anticipated debuts.
Can Las Vegas make history? Can the Liberty recover from last season’s injury frustrations to win their second title in three years? Can Minnesota survive until franchise superstar Napheesa Collier returns? Will Angel Reese be the difference in Atlanta? Will Caitlin Clark recover and play a full season for a Fever side that pushed Las Vegas to the brink in the playoffs?
Beginning Friday night, we’ll get answers to those and countless other questions about the 2026 campaign.
Make sure to check out Sports Interaction’s complete list of WNBA game odds and WNBA futures.
2026 WNBA Championship Odds
Las Vegas may have won last year’s title, but the pre-season odds for this year’s eventual champion reflect the belief that the consistent string of injuries befalling the Liberty were the only thing keeping the defending champions from repeating.
New York, the preseason favourites at +220, returns its big three of Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones after signing each to three-year deals. Then, the Liberty made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason when it acquired Satou Sabally, who averaged 16.3 points and 5.9 rebounds for the 2025 WNBA finalist Phoenix.
The Aces are right there at +425, followed by Clark and the Fever at +450, and the Atlanta Dream at +600.
The Lynx, who don’t know how long they will be without Collier to start the season, are +850.
It’s hard to bet against the Aces making history, but look for New York to respond with another title thanks to a stacked and healthy starting lineup.
2026 WNBA MVP
It’s scary to think that four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, at the age of 29, may still be early in her prime. Last season’s scoring and blocks leader also finished second in rebounds as she guided the Aces to another league crown.
She opens this season as the favourite to win an unprecedented fifth MVP at +200.
Clark played just 13 games and was dwarfed in scoring by teammate Kelsey Mitchell, but she is still a magician with the ball. Her 8.8 assists per game would have finished second to Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas if she qualified. At +250, the odds are evident of the confidence in Clark recovering from her injury and taking the next step toward her first league MVP.
Collier is +750 despite doubts regarding an ankle injury that forced her to miss the entire Unrivaled season. Stewart is +1200 to win her third MVP award, while teammate Ionescu is +1400 to win her first.
Paige Bueckers is +1800, sixth-best odds for the second-year Dallas Wings guard.
There will be several qualified standouts competing for the award, but this is Wilson’s to lose.
2026 WNBA Rookie of the Year
Azzi Fudd joins former UConn teammate Bueckers in Dallas. The first-team All-American was taken first overall and is expected to immediately aid Bueckers in Dallas’s rebirth. She is the preseason favourite to win Rookie of the Year at +270.
Olivia Miles, the All-American point guard who led TCU after three standout seasons with Notre Dame, may have more immediate pressure than expected on her shoulders in Minnesota with Collier’s absence. She is +320. Nineteen-year-old Spaniard and new Seattle Storm centre Awa Fam is +425.
Lauren Betts, UCLA’s standout centre who joined Fudd as a first-team All-American, is now a Washington Mystic and is listed at +700.
The pick here is Miles, long in Hannah Hidalgo’s shadows at Notre Dame and countless others nationally. When Collier does return, Miles will have the stud down low to boost her assists numbers, while scoring at a high clip from the outside to keep opponents honest.