9. In July, 12 WNBA stars will break to chase Olympic gold.

Team USA will be eyeing its sixth straight gold medal when the team heads to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Summer Olympics. The WNBA season will be put on hold from July 23 to August 24.

Three-time gold medalists Bird, Catchings and Taurasi will captain this year’s National Team, which is coached by UConn’s Geno Auriemma. How that trio blends with younger stars like Delle Donne and Moore will be fascinating to watch.

One thing is near-certain: Expect dominance. Team USA rides a 41-game winning streak into the event and owns a 58-3 all-time Olympic record.

10. The Liberty are looking to finish what they started.

In Bill Laimbeer’s third season as head coach, the Liberty clicked on all cylinders. New York stood atop the league with a franchise-best 23-11 regular-season record, owned the league’s best defense and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

But the Liberty head into 2016 with unfinished business after falling to the Fever in a decisive Game 3. Forward Tina Charles has been dominant out of the post, but they will have to cope for the loss of Epiphanny Prince, who is likely to miss a significant portion of the season after offseason knee surgery. Fortunately, New York signed former Fever guard Shavonte Zellous, a key addition to one of the league’s deepest and toughest rosters.

11. The Dallas Wings usher in a new era.

The Detroit Shock won three titles during a six-year span. The Tulsa Shock reached the playoffs for the first time in six seasons last year. Now, after stints in Michigan (1998-2009) and Oklahoma (2010-15), the franchise has moved south to Texas.

Introduced last November, the Wings head to Dallas with considerable momentum. They climbed to third in the West last season at 18-16 thanks an exciting young roster anchored by the experienced frontcourt of Courtney Paris and Plenette Pierson.

Third-year guard Odyssey Sims, 2015 No. 2 overall pick Amanda Zahui B. and returning All-Star Glory Johnson round out the playoff-caliber talent surrounding star Skylar Diggins on the new Wings squad.

12. Skylar Diggins is on the comeback trail.

The Shock were in the midst of their eighth straight win, improving to a league-best 8-1 to open 2015, when Diggins suffered a torn ACL. The timing of the season-ending injury could not have been worse.

Diggins, the third pick in the historic 2013 Draft that featured Griner and Delle Donne as the top two picks, emerged as one of the league’s most dynamic guards in 2014 and was primed to take one of its up-and-coming teams to new heights. Instead, that rise was put on hold.

This could be the year the franchise joins the elite.

13. Candace Parker has become a triple-double waiting to happen.

After resting for the first half of last season, two-time MVP Candace Parker emerged as a triple threat the likes of which the WNBA has never seen.

No player had ever averaged 10-plus rebounds and at least four assists, let alone six. Parker put up an incredible 19.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks – numbers that would place her in the top five in all five categories had she played enough games to qualify for the 2015 leaderboard.

Can that 16-game stretch carry through a full 34-game season? If so, Parker will be back in the MVP conversation and the Sparks back in the title contender mix. L.A. has five former All-Stars on its roster – Parker, guards Kristi Toliver and Alana Beard, and forwards Jantel Lavender and Nneka Ogwumike – to go with a championship-caliber coach in Brian Agler who is heading into his second season with the team.

14. Look to Washington for the most promising young frontcourt tandem in the league.

Stefanie Dolson is 24 years old. Emma Meesseman turns 23 in May. That equals a bright future for the Washington Mystics.

Both made their All-Star debuts in 2015, when the Mystics made their third straight playoff appearance. Unfortunately they’ve endured first-round exits in all three years.

They will turn to Dolson, the No. 6 pick in the 2014 Draft, and Meesseman, a Euro competition veteran from Belgium, to progress and get over the hump.