Minnesota Lynx 2024 Season Preview
Minnesota Lynx has a leader in Naphessa Collier who helped Minnesota return to the WNBA Playoffs in 2023. Find out if the Lynx can build on their success in 2024.
Lisa Donovan Posted on 5/9/2024.
The Minnesota Lynx went 19-21 in 2023, but can they improve on that in 2024 with only three quality starters? The Minnesota Lynx have Kayla McBride at shooting guard, Diamond Miller their 2023 first round pick drafted second overall out of Maryland at small forward, and Napheesa Collier at power forward. Minnesota could also end up starting Alissa Pili at power forward and moving Napheesa Collier to center since Collier is versatile enough to play both power forward and center.
Kayla McBride had 14.3 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, and 2.2 assists per game at shooting guard in 2023. Diamond Miller had 12.1 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, and 2.5 assists per game as a rookie at small forward in 2023. Allissa Pili 20.7 points per game as Utah's power forward checking off every box offensively before posting 10 points in the preseason at power forward for the Minnesota Lynx. Naphessa Collier led Minnesota with 21.5 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, and 1.6 steals per game with the Minnesota Lynx in 2023. Minnesota still needs a point guard to facilitate things on offense, but the future looks bright for the Minnesota Lynx.
Minnesota has all four starters locked for the next two years with McBride and Collier under contract until 2026 with Minnesota having over $1,000,000 in cap space to spend if the Lynx want to extend McBride or Collier at that point. Diamond Miller is under contract until 2027 when she becomes an RFA. Allissa Pili is locked up until 2028. Minnesota feels like a team that will be just short of a playoff appearance in 2024 due to how competitive the Western Conference is, but this team could easily be back in 2025. In fact, if Minnesota ends up getting Paige Buekers out of Connecticut in the 2025 WNBA Draft, I can see them in the 2026 or 2027 WNBA Finals given how stable their contract situation is.
The Minnesota Lynx will have a stable situation with their starting lineup. The only question is can the Lynx overcome that once again given that the Western Conference has teams like the Las Vegas Aces, Dallas Wings, Seattle Storm, and Los Angeles Sparks that have good starting fives? That's the big question that Minnesota has to answer which is why I have the Lynx getting the fourth worst record, but if the Lynx get Paige Buekers look out as this team has the blueprint to return to the WNBA Finals in 2026 or 2027 if Buekers can stay healthy assuming she ends up on the Minnesota Lynx.
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