Swish City: Midseason Review
Six weeks in and we only have five more weeks until the playoffs! The WNBA fantasy season truly is a sprint and the regular season will be over by the beginning of August. Let’s take a look at how every team has fared so far, from number one to the dregs at the bottom! Reminder: the top six teams make the playoffs and byes are earned by the first and second seeds. [ Preview 2026 | Draft 2026 ]
Usually a team that’s bottom-three in Games Played is lingering near the bottom of the standings. Usually the team that drafts a starting center who immediately retires is cause for concern. Usually someone who purports to know nothing about the WNBA gets kicked around once or twice. This is not usual.
RCEJ are undefeated and has been smashing everyone in their way, recording wins of 6, 6, 7, 6, 5, and 6 categories. How are they doing this? Honestly, I’m not sure either!
The hole in the middle has been ably plugged in by rookie Awa Fam. There’s even offensive spark plug Megan Gustafson providing a punch off the bench as a center. Natasha Howard and Marine Johannes were supposed to be early season success stories until more heralded teammates returned, but Howard and Johannes are still contributing--dominating in Howard’s case.
The core of Rhyne Howard, Chelsea Gray, and Angel Reese all do exactly as advertised, with Howard lifting her defensive stats up even higher than last season. Heck, rookie Kiki Rice was making a case for Rookie of the Year until she suffered an injury. In short, this whole team clicks, even with fluctuating injuries and less Games Played than most of the league.
RCEJ are stellar in four categories—STL, FG%, REB, 3PT—and are only bad from the free throw line as their only true weakness. They have faced a bit of a soft schedule early on, with four straight tough matchups coming up, but even if they go 2-2 in those, their ticket to the playoffs is already punched and Rice Enjoyers are looking like the class of Swish City. Who would’ve guessed?!
2. AURA Aurora Abyss (5-1)
Is the guy making the rules also near the top of the standings? We smell collusion! While projected as a good defense, it has actually been offense that has been carrying AURA through, as they are top-ranked in AST and FT%, and third in PTS. They also boast decent STL and BLK numbers, but their outside shooting and rebounding seems weaker than expected.
Breanna Stewart has been excellent, and the instant impact of rookie Olivia Miles—plus the sweet passing of Jackie Young and Carla Leite—have given this guard dominant team an intriguing identity. While Brittney Garner has barely played in half the season, she has flashed signs of consistency lately, making up for the absolute zero that is Alanna Smith (RD4.3), last year’s co-Defensive Player of the Year. A little more 3PT and REB could take this team up another level, so we’ll see if that’s within the realm of possibility. So far, so good though!
Aurora does face off against four straight 0.500 or better teams to close out the year, so we’ll find out soon if they are actually championship material.
Welcome to your best scoring and best shooting team, 6666666666! With a powerful offense that doesn’t miss much—except from the free throw line—SIXS has the look of a contender...if defense doesn’t matter that much. How do you win at basketball? Score more points than the other team!!!
With rock-solid Aliyah Boston and Kiki Iriafen in the frontcourt, SIXS has the luxury of having score-first options like Kelsey Plum, Chennedy Carter, and Jordin Canada running circles around the competition. However, the fantasy gods can be finicky, as getting the super value of Satou Sabally at RD3.7 has also meant a wave of injuries to 6666666666's roster.
Carter, the likely frontrunner for Sixth Woman of the Year, has only played ten games, Sabally has been in and out herself, and now Plum will be gone for at least a month. Injuries can decimate even the best teams, and for SIXS to fend off the teams nipping at their heels, they’ll really have to dig deep and find some reserve magic. However, with such a strong category of PTS, maybe this team will be just fine without Plum’s 23.9 points per game if SIXS can keep finding waiver gems like Sydney Taylor. Note: SIXS also leads the league in Games Played, which means they are squeezing every last drop out of their talent.
4. SBMB Spongebob Me Boy (3-3)
Powering through an ultra-difficult schedule early on with a 3-1 record is no small feat. SBMB has already beat two of the three teams ahead of them in the standings, and they’ve secured at least four category wins in each of their matchups aside from WK1.
While SBMB doesn’t have the balance of certain other teams, they do have some very defined strengths and weaknesses. Spongebob Me Boy are very good at REB, AST, and BLK, while suffering from terrible 3PT and FT%. Led by Alyssa Thomas, Spongebob has a whole cast of mid-level scorers who also excel at other things. Like Thomas, Skyler Diggins does a little bit of everything, rookie Azzi Fudd is starting to turn it up from downtown, Nyara Sabally and Isabelle Harrison are perfect depth forwards, and Aneesah Morrow has been a double-double machine. Add in Kamilla Cardoso in the middle and this is a bruising team that can grind with anyone.
Perhaps a bit more offense could take SBMB up a level, but maybe they don’t even need it to contend! With three upcoming games against weaker teams ahead of them, SBMB should be all but assured a slot in the playoffs.
By ODE rating, Ninetales is the top rated offensive team, the second rated defense, and own the fourth best efficiency rating. Somehow all that resulted in a 0-3 start to the season. However, using the power of math, we knew a juggernaut could be lying in wait and since June, NINT has ripped off three straight wins and will have a “who’s really real” matchup against TILT in WK7.
The only categories NINT aren’t at least league average in are FG% and TOS, and they are top of the league in PTS, 3PT, REB, AST, and STL. If you’re counting at home, that’s five categories! They are also second in Games Played, so the coaching is on point as well.
Led by the Wings duo of Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard, NINT has everything you could possibly want in a well-balanced team, including Kayla McBride and Natisha Hiedeman in the backcourt, along with Jonquel Jones, Azura Stevens, and Emily Engstler in the frontcourt. Between Shepard, Hiedeman, and Engstler, that’s three Most Improved Player candidates on one team alone!
A very tough end of season stretch versus RCEJ, AURA, and SIXS could the time for NINT to show up or show themselves out, so we’ll see if Ninetales is really title worthy or not!
6. TLTP Tilted Pups (3-3)
These Pups started the season on fire, winning three of their first four games, but have fallen to back-to-back matchups against RCEJ and AURA in recent weeks. No matter, there’s a much softer schedule coming around the corner and this team’s ready to run-and-gun to a playoff berth.
TLTP makes the most threes in the league—they’ve never lost that category—and have an above average PTS and a surprisingly excellent TOS for such an offensive forward team. The issue is that Tilted Pups don’t really pass and they don’t really rebound. Missing shots comes with the territory, but TLTP need to either start stiffening up their defense or collecting their misses to rise to true contender status.
The Toronto Tempo duo of Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes super charge this team, and Allisha Gray as a third option seems luxurious. The frontcourt of Janelle Salaun, Leonie Fiebich, and Nneka Ogwumike—eligible at center—drop in an outrageous amount of threes as well. If some sort of defensive answer can be found in the middle—Luisa Geiselsoder, Elizabeth Williams, and Li Yueru are all part timers—this team could really take off. Maybe moving some excess shooting for defense or playmaking could give them the edge to get out of the middle of the pack as well? Either way, TLTP are a dangerous team for the back half of the season.
A hearty congrats to Giorgos, who has had a lot to celebrate in his personal life lately, meaning that his early season has been a bit of a hit and miss affair as he’s been quite busy. Still, being 0.500 isn’t terrible and they are through the rough patch of their season, and could easily gear up to have a huge second half.
DELD is excellent at four things: FG%, FT%, BLK, and TOS. They are top-two or top-three in all four of those categories, and if they can just pick up one more consistent category, they could grab a lot more wins. Their best chance at that is to boost their rebounding, which is already about league average. What they won’t be able to do is to rely on their scoring, as they are second-to-last in PTS so far. Or can they?...
The return of Sabrina Ionescu could start to change some of DELD’s statistical profile. Ionescu is capable of running super hot and single-handedly taking over in 3PT for example. There are some good scorers on this team too, as Kelsey Mitchell, Courtney Williams, Shakira Austin, and Veronica Burton are all averaging pretty decent points. Can a first half weakness become a second half strength?
Delle Donne Domination is poised to have a good next few weeks as their roster is also dotted with multi-faceted quiet contributors such as Natasha Mack and Nia Coffey that synergize well with their league leading efficiency. Let’s see if DELD can transfer that good life karma to the court!
8. GWFC Gabby Williams Fan Club (2-4)
Coming off a win versus SBMB in WK6, GWFC is at a crossroads. Their only other victory was versus Heatles—and they’ve been crushed in their WK3-5 games—but they could use this week’s momentum to climb, or they’ll face sliding out of the playoff picture entirely.
GWFC’s roster is not without assets, as A’ja Wilson, Dominique Malonga, and Gabby Williams were the envy of all when they were drafted. All three have played to pre-draft expectation, which makes the punchless season GWFC have had even more confusing. For example, with their big three, they are ranked fifth in PTS and fourth in STL, while not being abjectly horrible in AST and FT%. Heck, they are even first in blocks! In addition, the coaching has been there, as GWFC are fine on Games Played, so what gives?
A fluttery FG%, which is ranked second-to-last in the league, is their biggest weakness. Williams is at 41.4 FG% on 13.3 FGA, but both Wilson and Malonga are plus shooters. Perhaps the trio of Leila Lacan, Saniya Rivers, and rookie Flau’jae Johnson are to blame? While it’s true that Rivers is at a putrid 34.5 FG%, she doesn’t even get up more than eight shots a game. There has to be closer look at where the shooting is coming from on this team, and if a better redistribution can happen.
Gabby Williams Fan Club also turns over the ball a lo for a team that doesn’t have a huge amount of assists. And their three point shooting is also a weakness. Still, with that top three, anything can happen and GWFC can’t be counted out quite yet.
Are time zones messing with Clarktillery? Long range bombing is difficult if the sun is down when it should be up, and vice versa right? CLRK ranks last in Games Played, and have hit the games cap limit early in half of their games so far. They are not just missing the basket with their 40.2 FG%, they are also shooting themselves in the foot. 🎯 All those long distance shots are turning into a top-three ranking in 3PT but other than that, Clarktillery is misfiring in every other category save from the free throw line.
At first glance, it would seem like main culprit for this team’s failures is Caitlin Clark, who is shooting 42.5 FG%—while chipping in 8.2 AST and 2.6 3PT. However, the real issue seems to be Kahleah Copper, who is only at 37.3 FG% over 16.1 FGA—0.1 more attempts than Clark. And even worse, Arike Ogunbowale is at 36.0 FG% as well—on 12.5 FGA—and Kayla Thornton is at 35.0 FG% on her 7.7 FGA. If you’re counting at home, that’s 36.3 FGA on sub 37.0 FG%. Ouch.
With centers Brionna Jones and Eli Magbegor yet to see the floor, there’s no interior presence on this team at all. Olivia Nelson-Ododa can work the tunnel, but she can’t be expected to hold down the middle.
Clarktillery does have two wins to their name, so they aren’t out of the playoff race, but there are definitely some strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed so they can climb out of the cellar. What can this team do to move one of those (poor) shooters for some balance elsewhere?
10. HTLS Heatles (0-6)
We knew it would be a rough first half of the season for Heatles without Napheesa Collier, but nobody expected a winless season to start. Losing Rickea Jackson for the season was another blow, and it’s been an uphill battle from day one.
The bright spot on the roster is um, Sonia Citron having a solid sophomore year and Dearica Hamby mostly doing Hamby stuff, although her scoring is down a bit from last season.
Unfortunately, coaching has not helped HTLS much either, as they have the second worst Games Played ranking so far this season, and are basically last in every category save the two percentages. Heatles have only gotten to four category wins once—in WK1 versus Clarktillery—and have been an easy win versus every other team. But we believe!!!
Maybe Collier will return soon and HTLS can play playoff spoiler over the back half of the season as they are facing off against some beatable teams, and hopefully Heatles can get at least one win this year! Fight, fight, fight!