2025 WNBA Finals: Ranking the 10 starters for the Aces and Mercury, from A’ja Wilson to Kierstan Bell

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The 2025 WNBA Finals will feature A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces against Alyssa Thomas and the Phoenix Mercury. While those two, who finished first and third, respectively, in the MVP race, are the best players in this series, they’re not the only stars. 

Ahead of Game 1 on Friday, let’s take a look at how the talent is divided between these two teams by ranking the 10 starters. 

2025 WNBA Finals: Aces vs. Mercury schedule, prediction, players to watch

Jack Maloney

1. A’ja Wilson, Aces

Wilson isn’t even 30 years old and already has a strong case as the best player in league history. She won her fourth MVP and third Defensive Player of the Year award this season, as well as her second consecutive scoring title, and will almost certainly add All-WNBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team honors later this month. 

While Wilson has had a few shaky games this postseason, she’s otherwise been incredible. Her 26 points per game lead all players in the playoffs, and in the winner-take-all Game 5 against the Fever, she put up 35 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks. She was the first player in playoff history to have a 35/5/5 game, never mind the steals and blocks. 

The Aces will need a huge series from Wilson if they want to win it all. They are 4-1 when she scores 25-plus points this postseason and 1-2 when she does not. 

2. Alyssa Thomas, Mercury

Thomas finished third in MVP voting and fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, but even though she once again came up short for a major trophy, she recorded another historic season. Notably, she led the league in assists at 9.2 per game — the second-highest single-season average ever — and set a single-season record with eight triple-doubles. 

In the playoffs, Thomas has been just as dominant while leading the Mercury to the Finals for the first time since 2021. She had another triple-double in the winner-take-all Game 3 victory over the reigning champion Liberty and is averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 9.1 assists and two steals; the only other player in WNBA history to average 18/8/8 during a playoff run was Thomas herself in 2023. 

Thomas has only sat for 33 minutes the entire postseason, and 14 of them were during the Mercury’s blowout win over the New York Liberty in Game 2 of the first round. 

Young has long been the most reliable, yet overlooked member of this Aces core. She may not always be in highlights or headlines, but she goes about her business at a high level. That was no different this season, as she made her fourth consecutive All-Star appearance and finished eighth in MVP voting. 

During the playoffs, Young has been awesome. Her 20.5 points per game are a career-high in the postseason and rank fourth among all players, and in the Aces’ Game 5 win over the Fever in the semifinals she went off for 32 points and 10 assists. In that game she not only set playoff career-highs in scoring and assists, but became the second player ever, and first in the playoffs, to have a 30-point, 10-assist, zero-turnover game. 

Young will have her hands full with the Mercury’s tough, physical defense, and how she fares may determine who wins this series. 

After spending the first five seasons of her career with the Dallas Wings, Sabally was traded to the Mercury last winter. She arrived alongside Thomas to form a new Big Three with Kahleah Copper, and was everything the Mercury hoped she would be. 

Sabally’s postseason got off to a horrid start when she shot 2 of 17 in the Mercury’s Game 1 loss to the Liberty in the first round, but since then she has largely been excellent. She scored at least 20 points in the last three games of the semifinals, as the Mercury won three straight to eliminate the top-seeded Lynx. 

Sabally’s athleticism and versatility makes her a matchup nightmare for opponents, and it will be interesting to see how the Aces try to deal with her. 

5. Kahleah Copper, Mercury

The Mercury traded for Copper ahead of the 2024 season, and the four-time All-Star was one of two players they brought back this season. She was limited to 28 games due to injury, and, as expected, her numbers took a hit across the board with the arrival of Thomas and Sabally. 

Copper remains one of the best downhill drivers and individual shot creators in the league, but has been very inconsistent in the playoffs. In particular, she has not been able to find her 3-point shot. After making 37.7% of her attempts in the regular season, she is 9 of 31 (29%) in the postseason. 

The Mercury have been able to get away with some so-so performances thus far from Copper, but may not be so lucky in the Finals. 

Gray has never really looked the same since suffering a fractured foot in the 2023 Finals, and while she was better this season than she was in 2024, she was up-and-down. That trend has continued into the playoffs, but even so there are still few players you’d rather have with the ball in their hands in a big moment. 

Game 5 against the Fever was a perfect example. Gray, who tweaked her ankle early in the second half, delivered the biggest shots of the night in overtime, including a ridiculous leaning 3-pointer to beat the shot clock. She finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals to give Wilson and Young enough of a boost to get over the line. 

If the Aces want to win their third title in four years, they’ll need Gray to turn back the clock and be a consistent third option on the offensive end. 

Smith started the season with the Wings and was, frankly, terrible. When the Aces gave up a 2027 first-round pick to acquire her in June, there was a lot of head-scratching going on around the league. Smith wound up being a huge part of the Aces’ late-season turnaround, however, and it’s safe to say they would not be in the Finals without her. 

During the semifinals against the Fever, Smith had two of the best performances of her career, and she’s averaging 8.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on 62% shooting. Her production will ebb and flow, but she’s been a major upgrade over Kiah Stokes and will play a big role in this series against the Mercury’s talented frontcourt. 

The Mercury brought in a number of players without WNBA experience during their unique offseason, including Akoa Makani. The 24-year-old Cameroonian point guard has previously only played professionally in France, where her family moved when she was young. 

She not only made the Mercury’s roster, but earned the starting point guard role and was one of the best rookies in the league this season. During the playoffs, however, Akoa Makani has looked a bit overwhelmed at times. She’s shooting just 33.3% overall, including 27.8% from 3-point range, and the Mercury have gone to veteran Sami Whitcomb to close games. Expect that trend to continue in the Finals. 

Mack is a great story. After being out of the league for a few years, she earned a spot with the Mercury last season and was one of only two players from the 2024 team that they kept around. She’s a strong interior defender and rim protector, and will have a role to play in this series as an option against Wilson. However, she doesn’t offer much on the offensive end, and as the playoffs have gone along her minutes have decreased so the Mercury can get more shooting on the floor. Through the first two rounds, the Mercury’s offensive rating is 83.4 with Mack on the court and 104.2 when she sits. 

Bell is only nominally a starter at this point. She’ll play the first few minutes of each half and that’s it unless it turns into a blowout. She has 19 total points in the playoffs and didn’t record a single stat in Game 5 against the Fever. 

This news was originally published on this post .

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