Aussies tipping off the 2026 WNBA season

Everything from supermax contracts to rookie deals, to trades and waivers; Aussies have did it all this WNBA season, before opening night.

There was about a day, or two, or maybe even three, where Alanna Smith was the most well-paid player in WNBA history. It was a great marker for her and the league with her exponential improvement drawing many parallels to the new CBA. She was the early headline in the WNBA’s hyper-condensed offseason as she moved from the Minnesota Lynx to the Dallas Wings.

The Wings picked Azzi Fudd first overall in the 2026 WNBA draft, a year after they selected Paige Bueckers with the same pick. Bueckers has already proven herself at the next level and answered any questions about how her game would translate within the first month. This was so much so that she has been named the player most general manager's would want to start a franchise with, edging out Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson who were equal second. Bueckers has a 33% approval rating from GMs for this criteria which is no small feat considering the play, age and popularity of the players in second.

In the same GM survey, Dallas also received 47% of the vote for the question which team made the best overall moves this offseason?, which Smith is at the front of. They’ve hit the ground running, gaining respect amongst their peers before opening night. Dallas might still be rising for one more year but they have all of the right pieces in place. It could already be safe to say they’ve built a sustainable contender to see out the 2020’s. Perhaps, they’ve laid out the blueprint to build a sustainable contender if they retain a core that is already there. That sounds a bit more fair to a team that picked first overall in the past two drafts, which could also be a sign of a championship to come.

In 2001 and 2002, the Seattle Storm drafted Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird and the two won rings together in Seattle. The Storm, again, drafted Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart back-to-back, and the two won rings together in Seattle. The Las Vegas Aces, with Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young, are well chronicled with their postseason success and continue to be the strongest team in the WNBA. All three of those players were drafted in connecting years, with Plum technically being selected by the San Antonio Stars before they relocated. The Indiana Fever picked Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston in the two drafts preceding Bueckers and Fudd. While these two franchises are pending championship, the Fever’s championship window is wide open and the Wings could be in close pursuit.

Dallas have rerouted with supreme agility and Alanna Smith will be holding things down in the middle as they continue to build their roster. Her co-anchor for the Australian Opals, Ezi Magbegor, is in a similar situation. Magbegor hasn’t jumped ship, however, as she’s docked in the Storm.

Seattle finally took a pulse check and ended one of the worst experiments in the modern WNBA; what happens if you add Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike to a team one year into a rebuild after it lost one of the league’s most historic players (Sue Bird) and a 28-year-old MVP (Breanna Stewart). The answer to that question is the same in 2026 as it was before Diggins and Ogwumike signed in Seattle in 2024; bad things happen.

Diggins and Ogwumike are stalwarts of the WNBA, but they joined the Storm when they were each aged 33 and definitely over the hump. They’re still great contributors, but add them both to a team’s starting lineup and the cracks will start to show, and they did, immediately. It was also a peculiar signal from the franchise to its existing roster that they were going to compete, disrupting the development of their prospects.

Now in 2026 they have a new youth cohort, headlined by 6’6 French phenom Dominique Malonga. Fellow 6’6 European Awa Fam was the second overall pick behind Fudd this year and the Spaniard is one of three first round picks in Seattle this season. Flau’jae Johnson and Taina Mair bolster the prospect pool with WNBL26 import Mackenzie Holmes entering her second stanza in the WNBA. Stefanie Dolson and Natisha Heideman are the type of vet signings you want to make to usher a young team forward.

Jordan Horston provides a connective thread to the team pre-Diggins and Ogwumike, as well as Magbegor. Melbourne’s return to the franchise coincides with Katie Lou Samuelson, with the pair playing in Seattle in 2023. After all the dust has settled, they’re in a very good position, much like Smith’s Wings. At 26 and 23, Magbegor and Melbourne are nowhere near the halfway mark of their professional careers. A mass exodus was threatening in Seattle and losing a core piece like Gabby Williams is a mistake they won’t want to be repeating any time soon. Now, they can plan for the now and the future. It seems like it would be fun to be a part of the Storm locker room right now.

Williams has moved to the Golden State Valkyries with recent fan favourite WNBL imports in Veronica Burton, Laeticia Amihere and Kayla Thornton. They might have taken a step back from their debut season last year, but could have a long term vision in mind. They also had homegrown hero Miela Sowah on a training camp contract, waived her and then picked her up as a development player. The fit for her all the way through the organisation and to the fanbase is undeniable. She could turn some heads with her dynamism at the guard position and realistically establish herself within the rotation as the Valkyries become more familiar with her ability to fill holes and fit alongside any lineup.

Townsville Fire teammate Alex Fowler also found herself at the New York Liberty training camp with Perth Lynx duo Anneli Maley and Han Xu. Heading in to the season, only Xu remains from that trio, yet Bec Allen was an early signing to a guaranteed contract in the big apple. New York took an immediate liking to Maley but the Liberty decided against her.

All of the top comments on the Liberty’s Instagram post for their roster heading into season 2026, barring none, make mention of one player missing; Maley. Some fans are missing “Malley,” but we’ll let that slide.

It’s more of the same excellence in New York with their core of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu. Emma Meesseman departed but there’s an upgrade in Satou Sabally. Steph Talbot moves to the rival Las Vegas Aces and Bec Allen comes in. The team parted ways with Sandy Brondello who moved to a new franchise and rookie head coach Chris DeMarco enters. Sure, these are the sliding doors all sports teams are faced with, but the Liberty take everything in stride.

Allen could be a huge contributor in the postseason for New York. She is a natural fit next to Ionescu, Stewart and Jones and can share the court with Sabally. Aussies are well familiar with her game and her optionality and variability, while also being an elite shooter and defender will enamour her to Liberty fans throughout the season. This could very well be the 2026 WNBA champions.

As for Maley, she was picked up on the waiver wire by the Phoenix Mercury, joining Sami Whitcomb. The Mercury made it to the WNBA Finals last season but the absence of Satou Sabally will be felt. She’s a dynamic player with a skillset that will need to be replaced by the team as a whole. The Mercury bring back Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas who carry an underdog status with them wherever they go. Maley’s grit will fit that well and make her a natural culture piece in the desert.

Whitcomb seems to be getting better. Actually, a lot of Aussies seem to be finding a second wind in their late 30’s which is great for an Opals team that has players in their prime and early 20’s. We’ll chat about that a bit more in Berlin this September.

It’s her second season in Phoenix with the franchise investing a sizeable chunk of their 2027 payroll into her as well. She shot 36% from deep on two makes a night in 2025 after a dismal start to the season by anyone’s standards, let alone one of the greatest shooters of all time. She was a starter in the first 11 games of last season, making 13 total three’s on 53 attempts, a 24.5% hit rate. In a move to the bench, she shone, shooting a 39.5% clip from then on. Like a corny movie, this Australian odd couple is so crazy it just might work, landing the Mercury another Finals berth and shot at a championship.

In the driver’s seat for that conversation is Steph Talbot’s Las Vegas Aces. Talbot enters a franchise that’s perennially the team to beat. She’ll slide right in to a role that head coach Becky Hammon has placed a lot of value in. In the past, Alysha Clark has filled this role as the 6’0 wing that’s required to play the four next to A’ja Wilson when called upon. Talbot has a propensity to get the job done, is a perfect fit for the roster and the way Hammon likes to coach. It might not always look nice on the stat sheet, but Talbot will be someone Hammon can trust and rely on to do the dirty work while Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus and NaLyssa Smith provide the offence. Recent WNBL imports Brianna Turner and Kierstan Bell provide depth, further illustrating the talent on this team.

Wilson might not just be putting together a GOAT career, but the GOAT career. At 29, she’s a three-time champion, four-time MVP and three-time DPOY. The fact that her All-WNBA, All-Defensive and All-Star selections don’t even make the top line for her tell you all you need to know. Basketball careers are going into players 40s with some regularity now, meaning we could have another decade of Wilson, who knows what’s going to be added to her resume. With Talbot’s move, hopefully it’s another championship this year.

That’s plenty of time at the top of the mountain, lets move towards a more future looking team who is becoming a bit of an Australian hub to contend with Seattle. The Washington Mystics are finally debuting Georgia Amoore, as well as rookie Ally Wilson. They have Lucy Olsen who was a rotation piece last year and looking like she’ll add more consistency to her game in year two after a championship with the Townsville Fire. That makes up the bulk of their guard contingent with a strong influence from down under. Add in that their head coach is named Sydney Johnson for that extra Aussie flavour.

The Mystics are a wait and see team with a very promising proof of concept. With the top of the league as strong as it is, having the ability to see the field will pay off long term. All three of their top six picks from the 2025 draft are looking like they will be strong starters in a few years time in Amoore, Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron. While they’re on rookie deals, it’s the time to throw money at Shakira Austin.

Now in year five and aged just 25, Austin brings a unique bag of skills and experiences. At 6’5, she moves like a guard even after a few years disrupted by injury. She started her career playing with Washington’s championship core including Elena Delle Donne, Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins and 2023 WNBL champion Tianna Hawkins. Austin is still entering her prime, is a connective culture piece for the franchise and has had enough experiences in different scenarios while being a steady figure both on the court as a defensive anchor and in the locker room. As much as she’s just getting started, she also provides the qualities of a vet. The word intersectional gets tossed around a lot these days, Austin is the intersection.

She can match with any guard’s play style, whether that’s in the ilk of Amoore or Wilson. With Melbourne playing in the US capital over the last two years, there seems to be a substantial trend that multiple Aussies and WNBL imports will make up Washington’s core through the rest of the decade, even if that does end up being their draftees in Amoore and Olsen. Wilson could well be a veteran and depth piece on the roster now and in the future, which would work well for all parties. She might also be one and done with the Mystics if they go in a different direction. The takeaway on her season more broadly will likely be that she belongs in the WNBA and she’ll have a gig there for the foreseeable future.

That just leaves the Atlanta Dream’s 2024 draftees in Isobel Borlase and Nyadiew Puoch. Borlase remains with the team that drafted the two, while Puoch was selected by the Portland Fire in the expansion draft and swiftly signed. It’s time to pick a team to start with here so lets go with the Fire. No! The Dream, the Dream.

Atlanta finished the 2025 season with the second best record, tied with Las Vegas at 30-14. They built a team around new additions in the middle with Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner joining in the last offseason. The guards very quickly commandeered the offence and the cards seemed to deal themselves. There were questions to be answered for Atlanta, but while a team’s performance usually dips figuring this out, Atlanta was winning.

This might be the case for a team that has had success atop the standings and with continuity, but the Dream had neither. Heck, they even had a rookie head coach in Karl Smesko. The franchise has now established itself and brought back their core, including WNBL imports Jordin Canada and Naz Hillmon, as well as Izzy. Canada and Borlase make up two of the last three WNBL MVP’s, while Hillmon made the All-WNBL First Team in their off year. Hillmon won Sixth Player of the Year honours in the WNBA last year as she was eligible before eventually making her way into the starting lineup.

Potential Brisbane WNBL team owner Angel Reese bolsters the Aussie connection, having been traded from the Chicago Sky. Reese provides a very interesting wrinkle to the team as she can share the front court with Hillmon or Jones and provide the team with extra possessions on the glass. Her offence won’t be as relied upon in Atlanta and she could have a serious uptick in efficiency. 45.8% from the field last year isn’t a great result from a big who doesn’t shoot threes, but that number could easily jump up 10 percentage points.

The Dream played team ball last year, third in the league for assists at 21.4 with Canada leading the charge dishing out 5.7. This lends itself to Reese and Borlase with the former as a finisher and the latter as a playmaker and finisher. Although Borlase is on a three year deal with Atlanta, and was the MVP of the WNBL last year, her role in the upcoming WNBA season is unknown. She could be a rotation piece, but Smesko might start the season with her getting spot minutes here and there. A back court with Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray and Canada is excellent, it’s unbelievable.

Te-Hina PaoPao was a reliable shooter in her rookie season and fit into this teams egalitarian offence with 2.4 assists a night, playing all games but one. With her play and development last year, she’s the heir apparent to their three-headed guard monster. As the season progresses Smesko could start to call on Borlase more. Right now, PaoPao is a more proven commodity, but the minutes could be there to take for the young Aussie. That’s something Smesko proved in his rookie year - he’ll go with whatever’s working.

Entering the year, this might look all over the place in the first 10 games, and Borlase might not play, or she might even find herself in the starting lineup for a game or two. The view on her WNBA career isn’t the first 10 games of this season, or even the year more broadly, it’s a lot longer than that. Her play internationally and in the WNBL has shown enough that a WNBA team wants to invest in her long term. The Atlanta Dream are one of the best environments to enter if you’re a player that’s developing.

Puoch’s opportunity is a different side of the same coin. She might not have as much talent at Portland’s practices, but it looks like she’ll be getting her reps in-game. She started both of the Fire’s preseason games yet could move to the bench as their star player in Bridget Carleton has joined the team after finishing her season in Europe. Puoch should be seeing consistent play around the 20 minute mark. As has been the case in her young career, she continues to amass experiences. Aged 21, she’s gone through all of the ups and downs of a professional basketball career, still younger than most players who enter the WNBA.

At some point, Puoch is going to put it all together and make sense of everything. In the meantime, all these notches on her belt are a good thing. Her last two seasons with the Canberra Capitals have shown the start of this journey and the maturation of her game. If this is the launching pad, she could be a future MVP in the WNBL and a starter in the WNBA. She’s accompanied by a long list of former WNBL imports including Carleton, Karlie Samuelson, Haley Jones and Sug Sutton. Portland selected Chloe Bibby in the expansion draft before trading her to Phoenix where she was waived.

Sandy Brondello made a foray outside of the United States to be the inaugural head coach of the Toronto Tempo. They signed Maddy Rocci and Kristy Wallace to training camp contracts, yet both players were waived. The Australian flavour in Canada is somewhat present, not only in the coaching staff but on the court with former WNBL imports Marina Mabrey, Brittney Sykes and Kia Nurse.

Aussie will leave their mark all over this season, and they already have. With the amount of them in the league and on the periphery, there’s every chance players who were cut during training camp find their way on to a roster as teams are faced with injury issues. There are 12 currently in the league, by season’s end that number will likely grow. Nine of the league’s 15 teams, or 60%, are home to Australians. They’re star players, starters, solid rotation pieces, prospects and development players. If you made up a roster of all of the Aussies in the WNBA you’d probably make the playoffs.

The regular season will now run until late September with a break for the World Cup. With the postseason slated for October and Australians scattered throughout the contenders, could we see someone come home with a medal and a ring?