WNBA Finals for the ages start tonight! Plus: Previewing the Trail Blazers and Bulls

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Remember back in the early ’90s, when EA Sports gave us the Bulls vs. Blazers video game for Super Nintendo and SEGA Genesis? Can you picture this? I played that game into the ground because it gave you a bunch of NBA teams (I believe just the playoff squads) and some ridiculous “signature moves.” Michael Jordan would do his “kiss the rim” dunk. Magic Johnson had a fake pass into a layup. Shawn Kemp threw it off the glass to himself. Karl Malone had that weak hand-behind-the-head dunk. And Billy Owens — yes, that Billy Owens — had an alley-oop signature.  

Well, today we’re previewing both the Blazers and the Bulls. Will it be a finals preview? Read to find out! First up, an actual finals preview:

WNBA Finals Are Here

Mercury and Aces will deliver a great battle

It’s going to be difficult to match what happened in the WNBA Finals last year, given the level of play between the Minnesota Lynx and the champion New York Liberty. Plus, we had an immense amount of controversy about the end of that series around … you guessed it … questionable officiating!

But starting tonight, the WNBA Finals tip off in Las Vegas as the Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces battle it out. These are two excellent, deep and talented teams. The Aces went back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. The Mercury haven’t been to the finals since 2021 and haven’t won since 2014. Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson is the reigning MVP (and a four-time winner). Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas is a triple-double threat who’s been top-five in MVP voting the past four years. And they both have excellent supporting casts to bring out a championship effort.

We’re destined for a great finals, as it moves to a best-of-seven format for the first time in league history. 

Don’t just take my word for it! I decided to bring in some WNBA experts to give us their knowledge. Sabreena Merchant and Ben Pickman were kind enough to answer some questions and offer their predictions.

On a scale of 1-10, how thrilled should the WNBA be that we have a Mercury-Aces finals matchup, and why? 

Sabreena: 7. This matchup features two MVP finalists, two great coaches and a ton of high-level talent, including nine 2024 Olympians. Even if these two teams don’t have a ton of history with each other, the players do — Thomas is still searching for her first WNBA title, and the last time she made it to the finals with Connecticut in 2022, she was stumped by Wilson and the Aces. (My guess is the league is privately a little disappointed because this is a very regional matchup, it isn’t a playoff rematch and the Fever aren’t involved.)Ben: 7. This is a series loaded with stars, including Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young headlining the Aces, and Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper leading the Mercury. Las Vegas is looking to become just the second WNBA franchise ever to win three titles in four seasons, while the Mercury, with an almost entirely overhauled roster, would join the Lynx, Comets and Storm as the only other teams to win four titles if they are victorious. An interesting wrinkle from the TV side to this series: It’s the first WNBA Finals that will be played entirely in the Pacific time zone.

Will it be harder for the Mercury to contain Wilson or for the Aces to contain Thomas?

Sabreena: At the risk of being reductive, Wilson is the MVP and DPOY, and Thomas isn’t. Containing Wilson is the bigger challenge. But the Mercury have had significantly better team defense during the postseason and are up for the challenge, especially if they can turn over the Aces.

Ben: Mercury to contain Wilson, if for no other reason than it appears that no one can actually slow down the WNBA’s first four-time MVP. Wilson has been effective against Phoenix this season, averaging 25 points and 15.7 rebounds on 45.1 percent shooting in the three matchups she played in (all Las Vegas wins). It wouldn’t be shocking if the Mercury almost accepted that Wilson is gonna end up with 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds and focus more on not letting others beat them.

Who wins Game 1 tonight, and who wins the series?

Sabreena: Las Vegas was a little flustered by Seattle’s physicality and even more so by Indiana’s. Phoenix will take that to another level with its frontcourt duo of Thomas and Sabally. The Mercury will overwhelm the Aces with their activity level and aggression, especially after nearly a week off. Phoenix strikes first and keeps home court to win the series.

Ben: Phoenix, both in Game 1 and in the series. I have the Mercury winning in six games. They have a rest advantage heading into the opener, as the Aces are just days removed from a hard-fought, grinding five-game series that required overtime. Thomas has been a force all playoffs, and Sabally could be the breakout star of the series. If she is as prolific as she can be, the Aces don’t have enough bigs who can disrupt the Mercury’s size.

My thoughts? Ben and Sabreena made their picks for the series — I’m going to join them! I’m going to roll with Vegas here. Even though the Aces struggled to get to the finals, I think they showed a resilience that is needed, plus they have the best player in Wilson.

Watch: Game 1 is tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN (stream it on Fubo — try for free!).

The Last 24

Do the Knicks or Cavs run the East?

➡️ East storylines! Fred Katz has all of the talking points for the East this season. How much of a difference does new coach Mike Brown make in New York?

⬅️ West Coast too! Fred also lets us know what the West has in store for this season. Can Denver get back on top?

🤝 Continuity matters. The Cavs were forced to make some changes this summer. But the core stuck together. 

👴 Perfect addition. The Warriors added 39-year-old Al Horford to the mix. He’s their perfect big man. 

🗣️ Fever guards weigh in. Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham backed Napheesa Collier’s recent critique of WNBA leadership. Strong words.

Trail Blazers Preview

Time for Portland to make a leap

There was a point in the middle of last season when the Portland Trail Blazers looked like they’d finally figured things out. And, as importantly, Scoot Henderson really started to play inspiring basketball on both ends of the floor. This team was good defensively, and it won 15 out of 21 games during that stretch.

Then things fell apart a bit, and while the Blazers made a decent push toward the Play-In Tournament, they fell really short. Going into this season, they should have expectations of competing for the Play-In all season long. Coach Chauncey Billups found something, and they’ve added the exciting rookie center Yang Hansen to the mix while swapping out Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday. And the Blazers welcome Damian Lillard back, but he’s recovering from an Achilles rupture. There’s a lot to dissect here, so let’s dive into our Portland preview:

Drama Meter: Maybe Henderson’s hamstring injury to start the season adds some drama and pressure on the 21-year-old to come out of the gates playing great ball when he’s finally back. But the Blazers don’t have coaching drama, don’t have the pressure of working Dame back in and the team is still a good mix of young guys and veterans. New ownership could change some things, but this should be relatively drama-free, aside from needing to consistently compete.

Hot Seat Meter: The Blazers just extended Billups through 2028, so this hot seat is ice cold. Like Mr. Big Shot’s veins in the clutch.

Offseason question: Bringing in veterans like Holiday and Lillard should help the young guys answer that question. Even with Dame not playing, his wisdom and mentorship could be huge. Holiday will be able to make more noise on the court as long as he’s healthy. But they still have to see the youth they’ve invested in leap forward for an entire season.

2026 free agents: Robert Williams III | Matisse Thybulle | Shaedon Sharpe (restricted) | Blake Wesley | Rayan Rupert (restricted) | Duop Reath (restricted)

Sharpe’s restricted free agency might be avoided with an extension before the start of the season. Williams III could be an interesting trade chip if Hansen and Donovan Clingan can be reliable.

Expectation for this season: I do believe this team should and will compete for a Play-In spot. I don’t think they get it, but this should be around 40 wins. They need Henderson to take a leap. They need Sharpe to take a leap. And Yang flashing some greatness as the big man prospect would be awesome.

Bulls Preview

Can Chicago actually rebuild?

I wonder how many years we’re going to wait for this Bulls team to actually rebuild. This may not be a thing Jerry Reinsdorf actually allows. You might remember him going full tank mode with Tim Floyd and a bunch of also-rans, piecing together lineups post-Jordan in the late ’90s. It wasn’t pretty, and it showed how wrong management was about breaking up a dynasty. You’re not breaking up a dynasty in this Chicago era, but it doesn’t mean you’re not shy to do it.

The Bulls are now retooling instead of rebuilding, but that potential detonation of the roster seems to get closer and closer. Chicago has invested more in acquiring younger talent, but it still doesn’t have a next star. The Bulls also became really good at comebacks last season, hurting their lottery odds. So what does that mean for them, with one foot in and one foot out heading into this season? Let’s preview the Bulls and try to figure out their next step!

Drama Meter: Even though this Bulls squad doesn’t have a definitive direction or future, I don’t think there’s much drama. This team was really fun last season, so I don’t think Bulls fans or the organization are too pressed to expect more out of them. We’ll see what they decide to do with their veterans before the trade deadline.

Hot Seat Meter: Billy Donovan was one of several coaches to get a contract extension this summer. That seat is ice cold.

Offseason question: I do think it’s time for a heavier rebuild. Maybe not a full-on rebuild, but I don’t believe the Bulls are doing themselves favors by being just a Play-In team with this roster. They need a main guy, and they haven’t attracted a free agent like that in a really long time. Might have to get rid of the veterans and get some more lottery balls.

2026 free agents: Nikola Vučević | Zach Collins | Kevin Huerter | Coby White | Ayo Dosunmu | Jevon Carter | Dalen Terry (restricted)

I’m very interested to see if Vuc or Collins gets moved by the deadline. White has a big payday coming to him. Huerter could be used in a trade at the deadline, as well. The Bulls can easily gut this roster if they want to rebuild.

Expectation for this season: I’m not confident the Bulls will actually send the veterans away, so I’d expect them to compete for a Play-In spot most of the season. They’ll be in the mix with Toronto and Indiana and Miami. But Chicago probably falls short with the East being a little compacted for those final spots.

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(Top photo of A’ja Wilson: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images)

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