WNBA: Four of the toughest roster spot battles across training camp

Nearly two weeks into WNBA training camp, the painful process of making roster cuts has begun. While WNBA teams are allowed to carry up to 18 players in training camp, most of them have already cut their camp rosters down significantly as they prepare for their final preseason tune-ups.

Not every team’s situation is the same, of course. Some teams have several regular-season roster spots up for grabs, while others already have a good idea of what their final 11- or 12-player roster will look like. Thus, for many training camp invitees or recently-drafted players, their chances of making their respective teams can have more to do with the amount of training camp competition than their own individual level of talent.

The beginning of the 2025 WNBA regular season is just one week away, so there’s not much time left for training camp players to make good impressions on their coaches. Here are a few WNBA teams that have particularly tough calls to make as camp winds down.

Atlanta Dream: Wing players

After their most recent round of cuts, the only players on the bubble of the Dream’s roster are off-ball guards or wings. Maya Caldwell and Ashley Joens are both on training camp contracts, and they’re joined by 2025 draftees Shyanne Sellers and Taylor Thierry. As explained by Her Hoop Stats’ Richard Cohen, the Dream will only be able to roster 11 players to begin the regular season, so the last spot on the team will probably come down to one of those four.

Based on experience alone, Caldwell may have the best shot, having already spent two WNBA seasons in Atlanta (2022 and 2024). The rest of the group will have to depend on training camp and preseason performance to separate themselves; Joens can definitely shoot the basketball, as evidenced by an impressive career at Iowa State, but she’s overmatched athletically by Thierry, who, conversely, may struggle to score at the WNBA level. Then there’s Sellers, who was a widely projected to be a first-round draft pick but fell to the second round and was promptly waived by Golden State.

There’s also a scenario in which several of these players stick with the Dream and Haley Jones gets cut instead. Under Atlanta’s previous coaching regime, Jones was shoehorned into a backup point guard role, and while she excels as a passer, she hasn’t shown much improvement as a scorer since getting drafted in 2023. Jones shot 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) on 3-pointers in both her rookie and sophomore seasons, making her a questionable fit next to Atlanta’s major offseason acquisitions, centers Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. Depending on how bad the injury suffered by Jordin Canada in the Dream’s recent preseason game is, though, they may have to keep Jones and hope she turns a corner.

Chicago Sky: Stretch bigs

Chicago’s training camp situation is a fairly straightforward one. Assuming that first-round draftee Hailey Van Lith is a lock to make the Sky’s roster, they’re already set in 11 of their 12 spots, with just one frontcourt position yet to be filled.

Of the frontcourt players still on Chicago’s training camp roster, Maddy Westbeld and Morgan Bertsch seem like the best bets to fill that spot. The reason is simple: Both forwards can shoot the ball. Kamilla Cardoso, Angel Reese and Elizabeth Williams all operate primarily in the paint, so Sky head coach Tyler Marsh would probably like at least one of his bigs to be able to play on the perimeter and help space the floor, lest the Sky suffer through the same cramped scheme that made their offense so inefficient last year.

In terms of pure volume, Westbeld probably has the upper hand, having shot 128-for-367 (34.9 percent) on 3-pointers at Notre Dame. She’s also a 2025 draftee that the Sky seem to be high on. They don’t have as much invested in Bertsch, who is with the team on a training camp contract, though she is familiar with the franchise, having started her WNBA career there in 2023.

Indiana Fever: Guard or forward?

Like Atlanta, the Fever will only be able to carry 11 players, and they’ve already trimmed their training camp roster down to the point where there are only a couple of realistic remaining possibilities as to what that will look like. Forward Makayla Timpson, a 2025 draftee, and guard Jaelyn Brown, who appeared in 14 games for Dallas last season, are the two players who are still considered to be on the bubble.

It all depends on where the Fever think they need more depth. Does a team with a rock-solid wing rotation that includes DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull really need another off-ball scorer in Brown? Similarly, how much would the defensive-minded Timpson be relied upon in a frontcourt that already has Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard and Damiris Dantas?

The Fever could feasibly keep both Brown and Timpson if they end up waiving Brianna Turner, whose salary for 2025 is not guaranteed. At the end of the day, there’s no perfect answer, especially for a team that expects to compete for a championship this season; Indiana needs players who can contribute right away, and whoever earns the team’s final roster spot must be able to do that.

Washington Mystics: Rookie guards

The Mystics are in the middle of what could be a long and painful rebuild, and even though they made three selections in the first round of the 2025 WNBA Draft, things still might get worse in Washington before they get better.

Unfortunately, one of those first-round picks, point guard Georgia Amoore, suffered an ACL injury that ended her rookie season before it even began. The Mystics do have another talented young guard in Jade Melbourne, but even if she earns a bigger role than she had last season, they’ll still probably be taking into consideration which of their training camp invitees or 2025 draftees are best with the ball in their hands.

Washington has several options here, including Lucy Olsen and Zaay Green. Neither player is a true primary ball handler, but both led their respective collegiate teams in assists per game last season, so they’re certainly comfortable making plays for others. The Mystics also recently signed Lauren Jensen as an undrafted free agent, though she too profiles as a shoot-first guard who can also pass.

Regardless, Washington will likely be rostering at least one of these players. If Green makes the team, it will be because of her athleticism, while Olsen has the edge in overall floor game. Jensen may not have a great chance because of how late she signed with the Mystics, but she’s the best 3-point shooter of the group, and for a team that isn’t going to be very competitive this season, there’s not much that should be considered off the table.