Bettors back Clark for WNBA MVP, Fever for title over Wilson, Aces

The Aces are one of four teams with short odds to win the WNBA title this season.

But bettors are all over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to win it all.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said. “The Fever are leading the way in ticket count and money wagered. Same thing with Caitlin Clark for MVP. She’s dominating the ticket count and money wagered.

“She’s driving the WNBA bus right now.”

Clark, who led the league in assists last season with 8.4 per game en route to winning rookie of the year, is the 2-1 favorite to win WNBA MVP.

Aces center A’ja Wilson, who led the league in scoring (26.9 points per game) and blocks (2.6 per game) last season, is the +225 second choice to win her second straight MVP and fourth in six years.

“I opened A’ja Wilson (as) the favorite at 2-1 and Caitlin Clark at 5-2, but almost all the tickets in the pool and all the money are on Caitlin Clark, so now she’s 2-1 and I bumped A’ja Wilson out,” Sherman said. “I don’t know how much more A’ja Wilson can do statistically than she did last year. … If she improves, it would be unbelievable.

“But Caitlin Clark, coming off her rookie campaign, you expect her numbers to go up and the Fever to have a better record with the additions that they have. That’s why she’s the favorite.”

Indiana returns Clark, 2023 rookie of the year Aliyah Boston and two-time WNBA All-Star Kelsey Mitchell to a team that finished 20-20 last season and made the playoffs after a 1-8 start. The Fever also added former WNBA champions DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard, the 2019 defensive player of the year.

“They made some nice offseason additions,” Sherman said. “They have a pretty solid team, plus they have a new coach in Stephanie White from Connecticut.”

The New York Liberty are the +220 favorites to repeat as WNBA champions. The Fever are tied for the +350 second choice with the Aces and Minnesota Lynx, who lost to the Liberty in the WNBA Finals.

“You expect to see one of those top four teams win the title,” Sherman said.

After the core four

The Aces return Wilson and All-Stars Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, the 2022 WNBA Finals MVP, to a team that fell short last year in its quest to three-peat as WNBA champions. The team reshuffled its core four in January when it traded Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks for Jewell Loyd, who led the league in scoring in 2023.

“They’re obviously going to be very good with the core four players they have,” Sherman said. “They just need some help from their bench.

“Last year, you could see it wore thin on them not having enough bench support. They couldn’t keep up with the Liberty.”

New York starter Betnijah Laney-Hamilton will miss the entire campaign as she recovers from an offseason knee injury. But Sherman expects the acquisition of veteran guard Natasha Cloud to offset the loss of Laney-Hamilton as the Liberty return most of their title team.

“The addition of Natasha Cloud should keep them at what we saw last year,” Sherman said.

Minnesota also returns pretty much the same team that narrowly lost the Finals to New York in overtime in Game 5.

“They were tough as nails last year,” Sherman said. “I would expect something similar to what we saw last year from the Lynx.”

The Phoenix Mercury are the 14-1 fifth choice to win it all and the Seattle Storm are next at 30-1.

“The Mercury made some additions where they can maybe be an outside threat, and even Seattle,” Sherman said. “Beyond that, I’d be a little shocked (to see another team win it all).”

Season win totals

The WNBA has increased its regular-season schedule from 40 games to 44 this season with the addition of the expansion Golden State Valkyries.

The Liberty have the highest regular-season win total at 31½ after sharp bettors wagered on them to go under 32½ wins. The Aces, Lynx and Fever are next at 30½ apiece.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.