WNBA Power Rankings: Why the Caitlin Clark-less Fever are alarmingly bad

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2 days ago

WNBA Power Rankings: Why the Caitlin Clark-less Fever are alarmingly bad
The Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever are not a good basketball team right now, and it's alarming.
Welcome to the Week 3 edition of For The Win's 2025 WNBA power rankings. We took a small break last week with Memorial Day, but we're back, and we gotta say the quiet parts out loud. It's time to talk about how off-kilter the Fever look. On paper, Indiana has all the makings of a championship roster, but without its best player, things have gone downhill quickly.
Without Clark, it was fair to assume that the team would not be as dynamic as it usually is. That said, the Fever theoretically have enough to manage without her, right? Well, right now, they don't. Three consecutive losses later, a 2-4 record and a growing list of injuries, we're not sure we imagined it would be this bad. This isn't panic button levels yet, but Fever fans might need a hug if this gets any worse.
Here's For The Win's WNBA power rankings for Week 3:
13. Connecticut Sun (1-6)
There's no other way around it. The Connecticut Sun are the worst team in the league. They rank dead last in offensive and defensive rating, and Sunday's 48-point loss to the New York Liberty was a direct reflection of their current struggles. While New York was busy running a ball movement clinic (20 assists on 21 made baskets at one point), Connecticut was painfully slow on defense, and their shot selection left a lot to be desired.Their lone win of the season came against the Caitlin Clark-less Fever (who also lost Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham to injuries that game), and even that is starting to feel more about what Indiana couldn't do versus what the Sun did right. In all honesty, head coach Rachid Meziane has a tough task on his hands. His roster was gutted right before he arrived, and he's got to make the best of a rebuild. Godspeed.
12. Dallas Wings (1-6)
Judging the Wings without Paige Bueckers, who is in the concussion protocol, feels gross, but I'm not convinced even having Bueckers would change a whole lot for Dallas. The team lacks an identity right now, and it's apparent in their inconsistent play. The Wings are constantly playing from behind, and by the time they catch up, it's seemingly too late.
They have yet to figure out a starting lineup that works or how to get all five starters clicking. (Hint: Maddy Siegrist deserves a shot over NaLyssa Smith. She's averaging 10 points off the bench and has scored in double digits five times already. There I said it.) They get credit for at least getting themselves in the win column, but not much else.
11. Los Angeles Sparks (2-6)
Whew. The Los Angeles Sparks are a conundrum. The Sparks brought Kelsey Plum over in the offseason to be their floor general, and while she's fully capable of being the top scorer on the team, she shouldn't have to be. Plum has led the team in scoring in half of their matchups thus far this season, and if she isn't on fire, good luck guessing where the offense is going to come from. What's more, without players like Cameron Brink, Rae Burrell, or Rickea Jackson on the floor, Los Angeles leaves a lot to be desired defensively.
For example, they recently lost an 18-point lead (and the game) to a Phoenix Mercury team that did not have Kahleah Copper or Alyssa Thomas. They never recovered from a nine-point third quarter, despite Odyssey Sims going off for a game-high 32 points. Maddening stuff to watch. Also, do with this information what you will, but Los Angeles has a strange win-a-game, lose-three-games streak going on, and it feels oddly reflective of the team's state right now.
10. Chicago Sky (2-4)
The Chicago Sky finally started playing inside-out, with more touches for Kamilla Cardoso and more facilitation from Angel Reese, and good things happened. They were able to string together back-to-back wins, a sign that all hope is not lost. Now, if they could just figure out the ongoing spacing issues with Reese and Cardoso, plus the clear loss of production from not having Chennedy Carter ― swapping Rebecca Allen for Kia Nurse in the starting lineup might help ― they just might be on to something.
The other issue haunting them is turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. With nearly 22 percent of all offensive possessions resulting in a turnover, for an average of 18.2 giveaways a game, that's a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.
9. Indiana Fever (2-4)
The Caitlin Clark-less Fever are so much worse than I thought they'd be, and I believe the signs were there long before Clark's injury. Even when Clark was healthy, there was something that felt disjointed about the Fever's offense. At first, it felt like it was Natasha Howard's boom-or-bust production, but then the focus shifted to DeWanna Bonner's underwhelming stats in the starting lineup. Next, it was Kelsey Mitchell's shot selection, and after that, it was not having Cunningham's spark off the bench due to injury. You get it. There was always something.
The Fever couldn't quite get themselves fully clicking despite being able to play through it and mask a lot of their inefficiencies. When Clark went out, the offense not only took a step back, but it became painful to watch. The Mystics ran circles around Indiana, and Connecticut outlasted every adjustment Stephanie White made, including a late-game flurry of shots. (Just go back and punt the film from those games into the sun, Fever.) Now, the team is without Clark, Cunningham and Colson are also injured, and they had to pick up veteran Aari McDonald to help. The Fever will probably still make the playoffs (fans shouldn't panic), but a title feels like a tall ask.
How will Fever play differently during Caitlin Clark injury?
There will be a noticeable difference both offensively and defensively for the Indiana Fever while Caitlin Clark recovers from an injury.
8. Golden State Valkyries (2-4)
The Golden State Valkyries deserve a bit of grace. They just played the New York Liberty twice and the Minnesota Lynx this week, and made some real growth despite not having a true star on the team and not a ton of practice time. It's assumed that Tiffany Hayes is the de facto leader of the team, but truthfully, there are quite a few standout players who have helped this team slowly find its way.
Guard Veronica Burton has an early case for Most Improved Player of the year, Janelle Salaün might find herself on the All-Rookie team and Kayla Thornton has been a pest on on both sides of the ball. All three players currently lead the team in point per game and are the sole leader in other categories like steals and rebounds. If the Valkyries can close the gap in late game situations, they're very close to putting together a win streak.
7. Washington Mystics (3-4)
Washington has a dynamic rookie duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron who seem poised to help the Mystics build for the future. Iriafen already has four double-doubles while averaging 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds and has played against some of the league's best post players like A'ja Wilson, Tina Charles and Brittney Griner. She's also third in the league in total rebounds. Citron averages 14.3 points a contest along with four rebounds. Moreover, she's shooting a staggering 40 percent from 3-point range. Silly stuff as rookies.
Still, while what Washington is getting from its rookies is impressive, I fear it only buries what is the true story with the Mystics: Brittney Sykes is doing entirely too much to carry the team. Sykes leads the Mystics in virtually every major category, and that's a shame for a team that also has Shakira Austin and Aaliyah Edwards, plus Stefanie Dolson. Somebody else has to step up, or else Washington's ceiling will be severely limited.
6. Seattle Storm (3-4)
The Seattle Storm are a lot better than their record indicates, but three straight losses is hard to overlook. If Nneka Ogwumike isn't cooking immediately, the Storm go downhill quickly. They get overly aggressive on defense and then get themselves into foul trouble that they can't overcome. The team is currently riding a three-game losing streak ― that's a common theme for this week, isn't it? ― and the most painful loss has to be a matchup against Atlanta.
Seattle contolled the tempo for a good portion of the game and was even up by as much as 17 points before disaster struck. They never recovered and those bad habits found its way into a rematch with the Aces, where late-game heroics could not save them. Put Seattle on the early title pretenders list. At the moment, they aren't serious.
5. Las Vegas Aces (4-2)
The Aces also don't quite look like a championship team yet, and if they had to play the Liberty or the Lynx in a five-game playoff series, they might lose because of stiffer competition. The Aces don't have enough production from their bench and even some of their starters. To be frank, I'm concerned about Jewell Loyd in Vegas' system.
Loyd is averaging career lows in points per game (10.2) and field goal percentage (30.6). There's still plenty of time for Loyd to get back to her usual production, but it's a bit head-turning that the dropoff has been so steep. Also, I'm not quite sure how long Vegas can escape not getting more from center Kiah Stokes. Stokes is a helpful rim presence, but her offensive output (around 1.5 points per matchup the last two seasons) won't cut it the deeper Vegas goes into the season, much less the postseason.
4. Atlanta Dream (5-2)
I'll admit, the Atlanta Dream looked pretty gross coming out of their first game of the season. It was a meltdown to the Washington Mystics, and it screamed everything but a top-four team. However, two weeks later, Karl Smesko has something special brewing with his squad. Atlanta leads the league in rebounds per game, is fourth in assists per game and ranks third in made 3-pointers. Hello, offense.
Smesko's unlocked some next-level tier in Allisha Gray's game that I'm not sure many people saw coming. Gray's averaging 21.4 points and five rebounds on 49.5 percent shooting from the field, including 43.5 percent from 3-point land. That's Smeskoball, folks. Also, for the first time in nearly two years, the Dream's head coach seemingly figured out how to unlock production from Gray and Rhyne Howard at the same time, and Dream fans everywhere probably just fell to their knees weeping.
3. Phoenix Mercury (5-2)
The Phoenix Mercury have yet to play a game with Satou Sabally, Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas all on the court at the same time, and are 5-2. Read that again. Sabally, Copper and Thomas haven't played any regular-season minutes together as a trio, and the Mercury only have two losses without some of its best players. For all the chatter about their lack of depth beyond the starting lineup, they've more than stepped up to the plate.
Phoenix is on fire defensively, with a defensive rating (93.4) second only to the New York Liberty, and they're getting great contributions from their role players. Rookies Monique Akoa Makani, Kathryn Westbeld and Kitija Laksa haven't missed a beat with Copper and Thomas out due to injuries. They've been consistently plugging in the gaps offensively with timely buckets and helping out on the defensive end, too. Once Phoenix is at full strength, it could be a very dangerous team.
2. Minnesota Lynx (7-0)
The Minnesota Lynx are proving once again why they were in the WNBA Finals last season. Napheesa Collier has an MVP-caliber campaign (26.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks) going on right now that's in lockstep with only A'ja Wilson, and the Lynx are following her lead. They've managed to get themselves out of several late-game jams by doing one of the things they do best: spreading out teams defensively by attacking the paint and then dropping 3-balls on headtops.
Truthfully, there aren't many teams who can go toe-to-toe with the Lynx, and the one team that could, they haven't played yet. (Circle July 30 against the New York Liberty on your calendars). The largest question for the Lynx this early in the season becomes if their bench has enough juice to get them back to the WNBA Finals.
1. New York Liberty (7-0)
The New York Liberty look like a well-oiled machine. They recently dropped 100 points on the Connecticut Sun, including 19 shots from beyond the arc, and they barely broke a sweat. If that wasn't enough, five of their seven wins have been by double-digits, including three by 25 points or more.
It's not just their starters that are getting it done; it's their bench, too. Kennedy Burke has seen an increased role this season and taken advantage of it. Marine Johannes is terrorizing people again with one-legged 3-pointers. Izzy Harrison and Rebekah Gardner are also dropping buckets. Still not convinced? The Liberty currently lead the league in offensive and defensive rating, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, assists per game, blocks per game ― the list goes on
New York isn't showing any signs of slowing down.