ARLINGTON, TX - JUNE 28: Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles 5 dribbles past Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd 35 during the WNBA, Basketball Damen, USA game between the Dallas Wings and the Minnesota Lynx on June 28, 2026, at College Park Center in Arlington, TX. Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire WNBA: JUN 28 Minnesota Lynx at Dallas Wings EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon260628024
ARLINGTON, TX - JUNE 28: Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles 5 dribbles past Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd 35 during the WNBA, Basketball Damen, USA game between the Dallas Wings and the Minnesota Lynx on June 28, 2026, at College Park Center in Arlington, TX. Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire WNBA: JUN 28 Minnesota Lynx at Dallas Wings EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon260628024
With the regular season about to drop the curtain on September 24, WNBA champion Lexie Brown named her contender, the underdogs, the sleeper, and those tricky teams to watch out for.
“The Dream… have been contenders since the beginning of the season,” Brown said during a recent appearance on NBA Tv’s The Association via X. “So, the fact that they might not finish the season with home-court advantage, might be an underdog, a lower seed in the first round, is ridiculous, actually.”
Beating the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 89-81 on August 30, Atlanta has switched places with the Indiana Fever and moved up to No. 4. Though the Seattle Storm star kept the Lynx as her contender, imagining the Dream as underdogs is “ridiculous,” too.
July 2, 2026, Hartford, Connecticut, USA: L-R Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd 35, Paige Bueckers 5, center Li Yueru 28 and forward Jessica Shepard 32 on the court during the game against the Connecticut Sun at PeoplesBank Arena. Hartford USA - ZUMAw109 20260702_fap_w109_075 Copyright: xDebbyxWongx
July 2, 2026, Hartford, Connecticut, USA: L-R Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd 35, Paige Bueckers 5, center Li Yueru 28 and forward Jessica Shepard 32 on the court during the game against the Connecticut Sun at PeoplesBank Arena. Hartford USA - ZUMAw109 20260702_fap_w109_075 Copyright: xDebbyxWongx
Brown’s sleeper team is the No. 7 Washington Mystics, with the youngest, most WNBA-inexperienced core. They entered the season with just two veterans and 12 of 18 active rookie players on their roster, with an average age of 23.6 to 24 years old.
But they can become a playoff threat given the right matchup.
“I think if they get the right matchup, they're going to be a very, very hard out,” Brown said in NBA TV's X post. “Just the young energy that they have… They look like they're having so much fun playing right now. Their coach is having a great time coaching them.”
The No. 8 Dallas Wings will be the team to watch out for. Although their No. 1 draft pick Azzi Fudd’s absence makes them “a little less dangerous,” they still have Paige Bueckers, Arike Ognubowale, and Jessica Shepard.
But all of these predictions can turn upside down at any moment, though.
The standings can shift at any moment
The Sunday Fever vs Dream matchup already marked a switch, and teams still have games left to play. Brown believed that, other than the Lynx, the No. 2 to 8 seeds will switch places.
Some will try to manipulate the standings to get the desired parity. And the lower seeds will play better than they have before.
“Outside of Minnesota … I feel like we're going to see a lot of change from two to eight,” she added to the same X post. “We might see a little bit of manipulation going on … None of these teams is an easy out, especially the lower seeds.”
The teams will play the last part of the season after September 16, following the midseason break.
Do you think Brown’s predictions will fall on the right marks? Let us know in the comments.
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Written by
Deblina Roy
Edited by
Rudra Dubey