2025 was a difficult season for the Sun. They lost their entire starting five in the offseason, and only Marina Mabrey remained of the core that was supposed to bring Connecticut a championship. On top of that, talks about the team being sold and relocated dominated the season.
Connecticut had one of the youngest rosters in the 2025 season and was widely expected to be the worst team. The Sun managed to finish with a better record than the Sky and Wings, but were still far away from playoff contention—something that won’t even be rewarded with a lottery pick because Chicago owns that pick. One of the few bright spots in the season was the Sun’s young core of Saniya Rivers, Leila Lacan, and Aneesah Morrow. Rivers already has big plans for the 2026 season and made a bold prediction when she appeared on WNBA on NBC.
“I think a lot of people are excited to see the Connecticut Sun in another playoff run, and I think we’re going to go right back there next year immediately,” Rivers said.
A playoff appearance will be difficult to reach in 2026, barring some wild free agency moves or offseason trades, but that may not be the worst thing for the Sun.
There will be a lot of competition for the playoffs
The WNBA is full of strong teams. While almost every veteran will hit free agency once a new CBA is signed, fans can expect to see most teams re-sign their key players and keep cores together.
The Aces just won a championship, and A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray have given no indication that they want to be anywhere else. So, the Aces are basically a lock for a playoff spot. The Lynx, Dream, Mercury, Liberty, and Fever should also be able to retain their cores and build strong rosters around them. They will all be in the mix for playoff spots and title contention. With just those teams, six playoff spots are already seemingly spoken for, and that’s not even counting all the other teams that will have their eyes on the postseason.
Golden State made the playoffs last season in a historic run. While the roster may undergo some significant changes, the Valkyries will want nothing other than another, hopefully more successful, trip to the playoffs. With a core of Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, Cameron Brink, and Rickea Jackson, the Sparks also don’t want to fall short of making the playoffs again. Chicago has to build a competitive roster and go to the playoffs or risk deepening the rift between the front office and Angel Reese.
Seattle is a wild card. If Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams return in free agency, they will want to make the playoffs again. Between all of those teams, it will be difficult for the Sun to secure a playoff spot unless they make some very big moves in the offseason to significantly improve the roster.
Missing the playoffs wouldn’t be the worst thing for Connecticut
While Connecticut has an interesting pool of young talent, it doesn’t have a young superstar to build around yet. Those usually come out of the lottery. The Sun still own all of their 2027 draft picks. Missing the playoffs in 2026 would set them up well for a high draft pick.
The 2027 WNBA Draft would be a great year to have a lottery pick. College stars JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, Milaysia Fulwiley, Mikaylah Williams, and Audi Crooks, Chinese teenager Zhang Ziyu, and many more will be draft eligible.
If the Sun finished with one of the worst records in the league for a second year in a row, their chances of landing a franchise-altering player are pretty good. So, missing the playoffs in 2026 would be disappointing for all the players already on the roster, but it really wouldn’t be the worst thing for the team’s future.