Aces ready to chase WNBA title with roster full of ‘hungry wolves’

Coach Becky Hammon’s catchphrase to describe the new-look Aces, that is.

“To me, the mindset is different,” Hammon said at media day last week. “You talk about dogs: ‘Oh, this person, so and so is a dog.’ But I’m done with the dogs. I want the hungry wolves. Give me the wolves. And I think we got some. We’re building our pack.”

Now, the Aces’ season opener should be so close they can taste it.

The team begins its 2025 campaign Saturday on the road against the New York Liberty. The game is an opportunity for the Aces to spoil the Liberty’s ring night after losing to New York in the playoff semifinals last year.

It didn’t take long for Hammon to land on an explanation for the defeat. She said the Liberty were “starving” for their first WNBA title, while the Aces were barely hungry after winning it all in 2022 and 2023.

This season the roles are reversed.

“They had had a long (2023) offseason. Now it was us having a long offseason,” Hammon said. “So we had a lot to think about. We had a lot to change. We had a lot of areas we needed to grow in. And so that’s what we did.”

Roster notes

The Aces return three members of their “Core Four” this season in three-time MVP A’ja Wilson, point guard Chelsea Gray and guard Jackie Young.

Almost everything else is different.

The trio will now be joined by former Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, who was acquired in a blockbuster three-team trade that involved guard Kelsey Plum going to the Los Angeles Sparks.

Center Kiah Stokes is the fifth member of the starting lineup and said she “finally feels good” after suffering a foot injury in the 2023 playoffs. She’s not the only one. Young and Gray have also said they’re refreshed after dealing with injuries last year.

But the Aces still aren’t entering the season healthy.

Guard Dana Evans, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Sky in February, didn’t play in the preseason due to a knee injury she suffered overseas. She hopes to be available for the season opener after being a full participant in multiple practices last week.

Center Elizabeth Kitley, a 2024 second-round draft pick, is also returning from an ACL injury she sustained her final season in college. Hammon said Kitley has no restrictions, but her preseason minutes were limited.

Kitley and forward Crystal Bradford will be key for the Aces with frontcourt options Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (pregnancy) and Megan Gustafson (leg) sidelined to begin the year.

Guard Aaliyah Nye, the 13th pick in the 2025 draft, is the team’s only rookie. Veteran guard Tiffany Mitchell can also provide a spark off the bench.

Forward Kierstan Bell is back for her fourth season and said her goal is to prove herself after she “fell short” last year. Bell only played in six games and averaged 7.2 minutes per appearance.

No three-peat pressures

Wilson has a chance to become the WNBA’s first four-time MVP this season. She said it’s something she’d be grateful for but hasn’t thought about much.

Winning is her goal.

“Losing sucks,” Wilson said.

But as much as she is using last season as motivation and encouraging her teammates to do the same, the loss to the Liberty may help the Aces in one respect.

There will be no talk of a “three-peat” this season and what it would mean for the team.

“I don’t want to say the three-peat meant more to (Hammon), but I think in her eyes, it was like, ‘You guys should want this for a three-peat,’” Stokes said. “I think as players, that wasn’t our goal last year. We wanted to just be the best team.”

Wilson agreed the Aces now have a “clean slate to really dial in and win one.”

“It’s just refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it just feels like there’s no weight,” Wilson said. “There is a lot of weight to be defending champs. We don’t have that. … We’re not going for anything (historic). We’re just going to be ourselves, and we’re going to see where it takes us from there.”

GM survey results

The Aces’ new look led to different results in the annual WNBA general managers survey, which was released Thursday.

The team dominated in 2024, but didn’t as much this year.

The Minnesota Lynx, who lost to New York in five games in last year’s Finals, were voted most likely to win the WNBA title this season with 60 percent of the vote. The Liberty finished second (20 percent), with the Aces and the Indiana Fever tied for third (10 percent).

Lynx star Napheesa Collier was projected to win the MVP award with 67 percent of the vote after finishing second to Wilson last season. Wilson was second in the voting (25 percent).

Wilson was still tied with Collier for first in the voting for best leader (42 percent) and best forward (33 percent). Wilson was named the player who forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments (33 percent), the league’s best interior defender (67 percent) and the best center (50 percent).

Gray, a six-time All-Star, was named the WNBA’s best passer with 67 percent of the vote. She also received the most votes for the player with the highest basketball IQ (36 percent) and for the active player that would make the best coach (36 percent). She was named the player GMs would trust most to take a game-winning shot (25 percent) as well.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.