After the trade deadline wrapped up on Sunday, the WNBA landscape didn’t feel all that shifted. The largest trade from this year was the Los Angeles Sparks’ decision to part ways with Kelsey Plum amid an extremely disappointing 2026 campaign, sending her to the Phoenix Mercury for Monique Akoa Makani and draft compensation. 

This shakes up the postseason picture a bit, with Phoenix now with extra help on offense to try and boost their chances of getting into the top-8 of the league standings with just over a month and some change left in the regular season. Aside from that move, the league stayed relatively firmly set, and we still got some fantastic basketball out of the week despite that silence on the trade front. 

These were five moments from Week 10 of the WNBA season that stood out to me as the deadline came and went. 

Miles and Collier’s Two-Man Game Heating Up

As if the Minnesota Lynx, the top-seeded team in the league through ten weeks, needed any more help, it looks like the two-man game between Miles and Collier is beginning to really gel. That’s terrifying. 

Miles has been on a tear as of late, averaging 22.7 points per game along with 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds over her last three games. Collier has also begun to pick things up since returning from her ankle injury, posting 16.3 points per game along with 6.3 rebounds, four assists, 1.3 blocks, and 50 percent shooting from three. 

In their back-and-forth win against the Indiana Fever on August 2, the two players were constantly leveraging their own gravity to assist the other. Miles could constantly drive to the basket with Collier trailing, and defenders would have to essentially pick their poison between two players with very efficient rim-finishing numbers. They’re also both respected away from the rim, adding more of an issue for defenses trying to get the ball out of either player’s hands. 

Double-teaming is not enough to slow the Lynx down with Collier healthy. Even if you can shut both of their waters off, you still have to deal with a potent guard in Courtney Williams, or a sharpshooter in Kayla McBride, or a veteran forward in Natasha Howard who has been thriving as Collier’s running mate in the frontcourt so far since her return. 

It’s just becoming unfair, in the best sense of the word.

Sydney Taylor’s Loud All-Rookie Push

Sydney Taylor #12 of the Chicago Sky celebrates after scoring the game winning basket against the Las Vegas Aces

While Miles might have ROTY wrapped up after helping to keep a contender like the Lynx afloat during Collier’s absence, Taylor is trying to squeeze her way into that conversation regardless. The Chicago Sky undrafted rookie has been sensational for the squad up to this point, averaging 21.5 points, four assists, a steal, and a block over her last two games with the Sky. And, of course, she really helped to shake the table this past week with a huge game-winning three against the Las Vegas Aces. 

What really speaks to how grounded she is for a rookie is the fact that veteran Natasha Cloud actually ran up to Taylor to celebrate her game-winner, while Taylor was trying to focus on stopping Las Vegas from getting off one final shot at the buzzer. She didn’t celebrate until that whistle blew. 

Taylor has been collecting these moments all season long, giving Chicago something to root for as they’ve struggled to find their footing due to injuries and a very tough schedule. At 11-19, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that they can make a push for that final 8 seed by the end of the season, but Taylor has to be a huge part of that. The Sky have been desperately missing a shooter and driver of her caliber, and if they don’t emphasize her role in this offense, they’re looking at another lost season. 

She’s beginning to feel like a shoo-in for All-Rookie, as well.

Potent Mystics Frontcourt Shocks Wings

While the Dallas Wings have been sensational this year, one aspect of their team that fans might’ve hoped to have seen addressed at the trade deadline was their lack of rim protection. Jessica Shepard and Awak Kuier are really solid frontcourt players on offense, but they don’t provide a ton of help defensively at the rim. 

The Washington Mystics fully exposed that issue in their win over the Wings from over the weekend. Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen were dominant over Dallas, finishing up with 22 and 28 points, respectively, along with a combined 19 rebounds. Only Shepard came close to matching Washington’s production on the boards with six rebounds, and that’s quite underwhelming for her amid a career-best season. 

The Mystics have now won four in a row and are staving off late-year pushes from a few teams under them trying to kick them out of the 8 seed. If you have any doubts about your frontcourt depth or defense headed into the postseason, you do not want to deal with this young Mystics team.

Aces Snag Huge Win Over Liberty

Chelsea Gray #12 of the Las Vegas Aces looks to pass under pressure from Marine Fauthoux #4 of the New York Liberty

Ahead of Rivals Week, which kicks off on August 8, we got a taste of one rivalry between Las Vegas and New York. It was a battle between these two teams, who were meeting for the first time since their Commissioner’s Cup game. New York won that championship, but they dropped this game to the Aces behind a monstrous performance from A’ja Wilson. She and Breanna Stewart were clashing in this one, leading their teams in scoring and rebounding overall. It was simply impossible for the Liberty to stop the Aces’ core three of Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young from catching fire, which led to a fourth-quarter collapse. Young did a good job of hitting clutch free throws down the stretch to ice the game for Las Vegas, while New York struggled to generate turnovers or stop Young from charging to the basket in clutch time. 

These two teams meet again on Sunday, August 9, as part of Rivals Week. While both are in vastly different positions in the current standings – the Aces are nipping at the Lynx’s heels, while the Liberty are just trying to find their footing again as they sit as the 7 seed – they’re still contenders with a lot of overlap in talent. These games offer a good glimpse into how they’ll manage their rosters and lineups in the postseason, with a potential meeting in the first round getting set up.

Dream Storm Back Against Wings

This entire column was not devised to hit back against the Wings’ ascension, I promise, but they did have a tough week in the WNBA. Before losing against the Mystics, they also dropped the ball in a big way against the Dream, who they had a double-digit lead against on July 29 before completely collapsing. A game-winning shot from Allisha Gray was the dagger for Atlanta after they overcame that deficit. 

The Dream may not be shooting the ball very well – just hitting 26.2 percent of their three-point shots, and hitting a fourth-worst 43.3 percent of their shots from the field overall – but their rebounding and second-chance point opportunities are almost infinite thanks to their newly healthy frontcourt of Bri Jones and Angel Reese. They lead the league in that category with 14.7 second-chance point opportunities per game. 

Those are the back-breaking shot opportunities that will keep Atlanta afloat while they wait for their shots to fall again.