The 2025 WNBA season tips off in just one week. Coming off a historic 2024 season, the anticipation for Friday’s tip-off is sky high.

Here are five of the things I’m most excited to see in season No. 29, and when you can see them play during the free preview of WNBA League Pass 

1. Caitlin Clark with new roster additions in Indy

• Free Preview: Clark and the Fever visited the Dream in a preseason matchup on Saturday, May 10 at 3 p.m. ET

Clark’s rookie season was filled with record-breaking moments on the court and record numbers in terms of attendance and viewership as she exceeded the already lofty expectations when she was selected first overall by Indiana after her historic college career at Iowa.

After transitioning in immediately from college to the WNBA last year, Clark had an offseason to recharge her mind and body – showing signs of added strength in training camp – in preparation for her sophomore season.

The Fever made a seven-win improvement and snapped a seven-year playoff drought in Clark’s rookie year but were not satisfied to simply run it back. Stephanie White returns to the sidelines after coaching the team in 2016 and 2017, and a new crop of veterans with championship experience have been added to complement the young core of Clark and Aaliyah Boston.

Clark, who set the WNBA single-season record with 334 assists, now has DeWanna Bonner – a two-time champion who is seven points shy of being the WNBA’s 3rd all-time leading scorer – to dish to each night.

She also has former Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard – a three-time champion who returns to the team that drafted her 5th overall in 2014 when White was an assistant coach – as a rim runner and defensive anchor next to Boston.

And don’t sleep on two-time champ Sydney Colson as well as Sophie Cunningham and Brianna Turner, who both made multiple playoff runs in Phoenix. This combination of youth, veterans and a new coach may take some time to mesh, but the ceiling is high once they do.

2. Paige Bueckers and the new-look Wings

• Free Preview: Bueckers and the Wings hosted the Toyota Antelopes in a preseason game on Saturday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET

For the second straight year there was no drama at the top of the WNBA Draft as Paige Bueckers was the consensus choice to go No. 1 to Dallas after her storied career at UConn.

No school has produced more draft picks (50), No. 1 picks (6) and Rookie of the Year winners (6) than UConn. And who holds the highest career scoring average in the history of that program? Bueckers at 19.8 ppg.

Fresh off leading the Huskies to the 2025 NCAA championship, Bueckers is set to begin her professional career in Dallas. She won’t be the only new face in Dallas this season as new GM Curt Miller has overhauled the roster since his arrival.

DiJonai Carrington is coming off a breakout season in which she was named Most Improved Player and First-Team All-Defense in 2024. Texas native NaLyssa Smith has been an elite rebounder since entering the WNBA as the No. 2 pick in the 2022 Draft and is a nightly double-double threat.

Myisha Hines-Allen won the 2019 WNBA title in DC and earned All-WNBA Second Team honors the following year. Tyasha Harris returns to where she played her first two WNBA seasons after being taken 7th overall in the 2020 Draft.

And don’t forget about the returning players in Arike Ogunbowale – one of the WNBA’s elite scoring guards – and Teaira McCowan in the middle. Seeing Bueckers in the backcourt alongside Ogunbowale should be fun for everyone to watch – except for opposing coaches trying to scheme against them. 

3. Liberty’s first title defense with new PG in Natasha Cloud

• Free Preview: The Liberty hosted the Sun in a preseason matchup on Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. ET

After 28 seasons of being the hunters, the New York Liberty are about to begin their first season as the hunted – the team with the target on their back, the team that will get everyone’s best shot, trying to see how they measure up to the defending champions.

One player who’s used to this feeling is Breanna Stewart – a three-time WNBA champion and four-time NCAA champion. While she successfully defended the NCAA title three times, Stewart has yet to repeat as champion in the WNBA. That’s one of the few accolades left for Stewart to check off her resume.

With Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones all back in Brooklyn, most of the Liberty’s championship core is intact. They didn’t make many moves in the offseason, but did add Natasha Cloud to replace Courtney Vandersloot at the point. Cloud is a 2019 champion and 2022 WNBA assists leader from her time with Washington and finished 3rd in assists last season in Phoenix. Beyond her playmaking, Cloud is known as an elite on-ball defender, earning three All-Defensive Team honors over her career.

New York also added Isabelle Harrison on the frontline and welcomed back French sharpshooter Marine Johannes, who spent three seasons with New York (2019, 2022-23) but was not part of the championship breakthrough. However, she can be part of the title defense as the Liberty try to run it back.

4. Aces with A’ja Wilson coming off MVP season and addition of Jewell Loyd

What could A’ja Wilson possibly have coming to follow up her historic 2024 WNBA season?

Here’s a quick review in case you need a refresher: 26.9 points per game (highest scoring average in league history), 11.9 rebounds per game (2nd in WNBA), 2.58 blocks per game (1st), 1.79 steals per game (5th) and 51.8% shooting (7th).

The end result? Becoming the first unanimous choice for MVP since Cynthia Cooper in the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997 and joining Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson as the only three-time MVPs in league history. At 28 years old, Wilson has a chance to enter a class of her own with another MVP run.

Despite Wilson’s incredible season, the Aces were unable to join the 1997-2000 Comets as the only teams to successfully three-peat in WNBA history. The Aces fell to the eventual champion Liberty in the Semifinal round in four games. With back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, Wilson and the Aces got used to the view at the perch of the WNBA landscape and now have motivation to get back to that spot again.

And they’ll do so with a new guard in Jewell Loyd, who also has two WNBA titles under her belt. Loyd, a six-time All-Star and 2023 scoring champ, replaces the departing Kelsey Plum, who is now in Los Angeles as part of a massive six-team trade from February.

5. Year 1 of the Golden State Valkyries

• Free Preview: The Valkyries visited the Mercury in a preseason match on Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. ET

The WNBA’s first new franchise since the Atlanta Dream in 2008, the Golden State Valkyries are the first of three new teams joining the league over the next two seasons, with the Toronto Tempo and the yet-to-be-named Portland team set to debut in 2026.

As the first WNBA team in the Bay Area, the buzz surrounding the Valkyries has been loud since the team was first announced on Oct. 5, 2023 with merch flying off the shelves and over 15,000 season-ticket deposits before a single game was played.

That first game – a preseason loss to the Sparks on Tuesday, May 6, nearly 19 months to the day from the team announcement – was played in front of a sellout crowd at Chase Center eager to cheer on this squad for 22 home games this season.

The biggest question surrounding any expansion team is how quickly can a squad formed via the expansion draft and college draft come together under a new coach, new front office, and, really just new everything?

Let’s look back at the last expansion team. The Dream went just 4-30 in their inaugural season, but won the 2009 Draft lottery and selected Angel McCoughtry first overall. They were a Playoff team the very next season and a Finals team by season three, vying for the championship in 2010, 2011 and 2013

Whether the Valkyries can match that quick launch into title contention, or blaze their own path, seeing a new squad take shape and find its identity this season will be fun to watch.

Longtime WNBA reporter Brian Martin writes articles on WNBA.com throughout the season. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its clubs.