WNBA Betting Futures, Sleepers & Predictions For 2023 Season

WNBA Season Preview

The WNBA is back! The season tips off on Friday with a four-game slate. There were a number of high-profile moves made in the offseason that make the futures market extremely top-heavy. After winning the WNBA championship last season, the Las Vegas Aces are once again the favorite to take home the title at +125 on DraftKings. Sitting not far behind at +135 are the New York Liberty who made the playoffs last year but were bounced in the first round by the Chicago Sky. Outside of the Aces and Liberty, the next shortest odds are on the Washington Mystics at +1500. Let's take a look at why the Aces and Liberty are so heavily favored against the rest of the league and which team could make a good sleeper pick.

2023 WNBA Championship Odds

Las Vegas Aces (+125, DraftKings)

With a stacked roster, the Aces are the favorites to win the WNBA championship for the second straight year. That's not surprising considering they return their core of reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year A'ja Wilson as well as Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. They also added Candace Parker, who won a championship with the Chicago Sky and is one of the best players of all time, and Alysha Clark who will come off the bench and provide much-needed depth. Las Vegas played with an extremely short rotation last season and for the most part, everyone was able to stay healthy so that wasn't much of an issue, but Clark gives head coach Becky Hammon another body to work with. Speaking of Hammon, she's in her second season as a head coach in this league after winning Coach of the Year last season.

The Aces led the league in scoring in 2022, averaging 90.4 points per game, and were the best defensive rebounding team. They finished fourth in overall rebounding, but with their new frontcourt of Wilson and Parker, I wouldn't be surprised if they climb the ranks in that category. Shooting-wise, Vegas finished Top 3 in field goal percentage (46.0%), free throw percentage (82.3%) and three-point percentage (36.1)%) with Plum leading the league in threes made.

The only major threat to the Aces' hopes of a repeat title is the New York Liberty who sit just behind them in the market at +135.

New York Liberty (+135, DraftKings)

The Liberty finished last season with a 16-20 record, barely squeaking into the playoffs. Expectations for this season are exponentially higher because not only do they return their franchise player, Sabrina Ionescu, but they've essentially created a super team around her. Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot, both of whom have won WNBA championships, decided to sign with the Liberty in free agency. After losing in the Finals last season, Jonquel Jones comes to New York after requesting a trade from the Connecticut Sun. Those three players have all played overseas together which will help speed up the process of learning to play with this new group and creating chemistry on the floor. The Liberty also return Betnijah Laney, who is a constant shooting threat, and bench players Marine Johannes, Stefanie Dolson and Han Xu.

Being this roster is so different from last season, it's going to take this time some time for this team to gel. And since we're not getting a great price on them to win the title at +135, I would recommend waiting to bet this. If they lose a few games early while sorting out rotations and such, and the Aces get off to a hot start, we're likely to get a better price on a team that certainly has the talent to compete for a title.

Phoenix Mercury (+2500, FanDuel)

It feels a little funny to call Phoenix my sleeper pick to win the title being it has the fourth-best odds, but with how top-heavy the league is this year, we're getting the Mercury at the solid price of +2500. This has the makings of a special year in The Valley with Brittney Griner returning to play after missing last season while being detained in Russia. She re-joins all-time great Dianna Taurasi, sharp-shooter Sophie Cunningham and point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who will start the season out on maternity leave.

On paper, Phoenix was supposed to be a really good team last year, however, there were a number of issues that stemmed from a lack of chemistry. Diggins-Smith had tension with both first-year head coach Vanessa Nygaard and Taurasi. The situation surrounding Griner understandably also brought added stress. But with Griner back on the floor this season, I expect this team to rally around her and for her to be the piece that brings this team together. If the Mercury can figure their chemistry issues out, they certainly have the talent to make a deep postseason run.