The WNBA experienced a massive surge in popularity in 2024. Now, all those new fans will have to acclimate themselves to an entirely different landscape across the league as the WNBA experienced its most dramatic offseason in history. Ten multi-time All-Stars changed teams, including six players who were All-Stars last season. Five players who had spent at least seven years with their teams moved to new destinations for the first time as pros.

Now that the majority of moves are complete, with Diana Taurasi’s potential retirement as the last major unresolved decision, let’s take an overarching look at how the league has changed, and who the biggest winners and losers are from this unprecedented offseason.

Winners

Phoenix Mercury

This is pretty straightforward. The Mercury landed the two best players changing teams: Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally. The duo fits well with one another given Thomas’ elite defense and playmaking and Sabally’s prolific scoring, and both should complement Kahleah Copper, who is somehow the franchise cornerstone in Phoenix after one season in the Valley. In the event this all blows up, the Mercury retained the rights to their 2027 first-round pick — in what is projected to be a historic draft — to potentially begin a rebuild. Phoenix isn’t the title favorite, but the Mercury have created a championship core that should contend in the near future.

Indiana Fever

The Fever have cornerstones in the backcourt and at center, and they needed to give themselves upgrades at forward. Although they inexplicably left Temi Fagbenle unprotected in the expansion draft, during the literal “offseason” period that is being evaluated here, Indiana added DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham and Natasha Howard. Bonner is one of the most accomplished scorers in league history, fourth overall in points, and has been an excellent defender to boot. Cunningham is an above-average 3-point shooter who plays hard and can guard up a position. Howard is a former defensive player of the year who runs the floor well. Coach Stephanie White will have her hands full, mixing and matching lineup combinations, but having options is a good problem.

Atlanta Dream

Perhaps the unlikeliest offseason winner, Atlanta emerged as a desirable destination for free agents this offseason, bringing in two multi-time All-Star centers Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. The Dream also brought in Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, a quietly useful bench guard. Although it’s hard to say that Atlanta has raised its ceiling to title contention, this is a significant win for the franchise’s reputation. Maybe the pairing of Griner and Jones doesn’t work out this season, but being a place free agents want to be will pay dividends down the line.

Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso

The Sky have a coherent roster that will allow Reese and Cardoso to develop in the proper context in their second pro seasons. They now have a veteran point guard in Courtney Vandersloot and shooting at multiple positions with the additions of Rebecca Allen and Kia Nurse and the return of Michaela Onyenwere. Chicago didn’t sacrifice any future equity to make improvements in the present, and the team isn’t good enough to really worry about avoiding the lottery this season. It’s an ideal middle ground.

Losers

League parity

Though the middle class of the WNBA (the No. 6-8 seeds in last year’s postseason: Indiana, Phoenix and Atlanta) made some sizable gains this offseason, some clear have-nots emerged this offseason. After years of competitiveness, Connecticut’s structural issues have finally come home to roost, as the Sun fell way behind in the arms race for player amenities. Two franchise stalwarts in Thomas and Jones are gone, and Connecticut has little to show for it. Similarly, Dallas was forced to move on from an All-WNBA player in Satou Sabally and got one late first-round pick and a couple of role players in exchange. Even the Sparks, who managed to acquire the best guard on the market, were squeezed for prime draft assets. After four years of missing the playoffs, they have no real backup plan if the Kelsey Plum experiment doesn’t work out and could be as stuck as the Sun and the Wings.

Golden State Valkyries

The Valkyries did not expect to be in that aforementioned bottom tier heading in 2025, but the offseason has not gone as planned for the league’s newest team. Although Golden State is in a major market with high-end facilities, the Valkyries couldn’t convince any noteworthy free agents to take a chance on an expansion squad, despite reportedly pursuing Plum, Jones and Vandersloot. It’s a result that further calls into question Golden State’s expansion draft strategy. The Valkyries selected players who could complement stars, but no one who could be an engine for their offense. It seemed curious at the time that the franchise wouldn’t try to secure more future assets from the expansion draft process, and the decision looks worse in hindsight.

The 2023 draft class

The 2024 draft class was pivotal in the arc of the league, but the one that preceded it has had a rough go. Aliyah Boston is poised to compete for a title with Indiana (if not this year, then very shortly), but beyond her, much of her class is struggling to even stay in the WNBA. No. 4 pick Stephanie Soares was waived on Jan. 4, No. 8 pick Laeticia Amihere and No. 10 pick Zia Cooke were cut on Feb. 1, and No. 7 pick Grace Berger followed suit on Feb. 2. The group wasn’t projected to be strong even before the draft as many seniors opted to use their pandemic-era bonus eligibility year and remain in college (including Rickea Jackson, Jacy Sheldon and Alissa Pili). Nevertheless, only eight players out of 36 remain on WNBA rosters, including players like Lou Lopez Sénéchal and Victaria Saxton who have barely seen any time on the court.

Incomplete

Washington Mystics

I promise that I am not bringing up the Mystics in the hopes of salvaging my ill-fated offseason predictions. Rather, I am genuinely confused why Washington — a team that announced its intentions to rebuild through the draft — has done nothing to turn its veterans into more draft picks. Ariel Atkins, Stefanie Dolson, Karlie Samuelson and Brittney Sykes would all be attractive to winning teams (the Atkins fit in Seattle is particularly interesting to me), and yet the Mystics are sitting on their best players as other teams around the league exhaust their best assets. Going into opening night with this roster would be colossal mismanagement, but there is still time for Washington to execute a fire sale. There is nothing wrong with deciding to start over — now, the Mystics have to actually do that.

2024 WNBA finalists

The actions New York has taken this offseason suggest that the Liberty were a juggernaut in 2024 and don’t need any improvements to repeat. That was decidedly not the case, as New York was a couple of bounces away from losing the title game. Yet, the Liberty have lost two rotation players from that championship team (Vandersloot and Kayla Thornton) and have only seriously attempted to replace Thornton with the combination of Rebekah Gardner and Kennedy Burke. Their offseason inactivity would be more glaring had Minnesota done anything of note. But all the Lynx have accomplished is re-signing Natisha Hiedeman and bringing in 30-year-old French center Marieme Badiane as a potential Myisha Hines-Allen replacement. There hasn’t been anything on the level of the Aces signing Candace Parker and Alysha Clark after their first title or Chicago signing Emma Meesseman after its 2021 championship.

In general, internal improvement has not been enough to repeat in the WNBA. The league is scouted too well to achieve anything through stasis.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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