One of the things I love about the WNBA is the stylistic diversity across the league. If you like threes and layups and pick-and-roll, there is plenty. If you like post play and offensive rebounds, I’d argue you get more than in the NBA. While the NBA can often be a guard-centric league, the best WNBA players are almost always forwards. That alone changes what offenses teams can run and the defensive looks to try to slow them down.

That being said, there is no doubt that WNBA coaches oftentimes take what works at the NBA level (or internationally) and apply it to their teams. In fact, I believe we are seeing a more concerted effort to do that this offseason. I don’t think it's a coincidence that two of the three new head coaching hires had recent NBA experience. The Liberty are reportedly also prioritizing a coach with NBA or G-League experience in their coaching search. Most of the teams that couldn’t hire one of the best coaches in WNBA history, Sandy Brondello, are turning to coaches with diverse experience, including NBA experience.

That will almost certainly inform the product we see on WNBA courts next season. While I pass the time waiting for the WNBA and the WNBPA to reach a new collective bargaining agreement by watching NBA basketball, I can’t help but wonder if the trends we’re seeing in the men’s game will carry over to the WNBA. Here are five trends I expect to see in the WNBA next season.

1. Full Court Pressure

The Indiana Pacers used relentless pressure on defense to wear down opposing ballhandlers. Head coach Rick Carlisle used a deep guard rotation to allow his players to expend a lot of energy on defense while constantly rotating in fresh players to pick up where they left off. That, among other things, carried the Pacers to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. As many pundits expected, several teams have picked up the Pacers’ defensive strategy and run with it, chiefly the Portland Trail Blazers and their fifth-ranked defense.

The WNBA season was already well underway by the time the Pacers reached the NBA Finals, but I fully expect at least one or two teams to take notice and press teams far more often. I believe the strategy could be especially effective in a league that is rapidly expanding. As we have discussed often the last few months, I don’t think there are enough ball handlers to go around. The Sky basically played the entire season without a starting-caliber point guard, and you could argue Golden State did, as well. Even if teams have a high-level point guard, they may not have a quality backup. Or they may not have lineups with multiple ball handlers. I think some of the undersized point guards who don’t create efficient offense but are able to take care of the basketball could see a resurgence in this league as opposing coaches look to test guards with full-court pressure.

In a league that could see unprecedented player movement in the offseason, its difficult to know which teams could embrace this pressuring style of defense, but a few stand out. The Golden State Valkyries already had the third-ranked defense in the WNBA, but they ranked 10th in opponent turnover percentage. It may depend on how many of their players return, but last season they had a deep team without any real stars. When you’re already playing a lot of players for relatively few minutes, it is easier to ask those players to ramp up the defensive pressure.

Similar to Golden State this season, either of the expansion teams could try to pressure full court. I expect the Portland Fire to skew younger under new head coach Alex Sarama, and a pressing defense could take advantage of that youth and potentially paper over some of the mistakes young players inevitably make. On the flip side, Toronto could look to assemble a deep team of role players like Golden State did. The Chicago Sky could be another candidate, especially if general manager Jeff Pagliocca really is going to run it back with the same roster next season. Chicago needs to do something to get its defense out of the basement, and with the personnel on that roster, their options are limited.

If any teams do elect to pressure in the backcourt, we might get to see it in the preseason. I don’t usually put much stock in preseason WNBA games, but that could be one thing to watch for.

2. Faster Pace

The Pacers combined their pressure defense with a breakneck pace on offense. The Portland Trail Blazers are predictably third in pace this season, while the new-look Miami Heat are first. They are getting the ball up the floor very quickly off of makes and misses, often using hit-ahead passes to the wings to allow their players to go one-on-one before the help can arrive.

Miami is combining its fast pace with a read-and-react offense that de-emphasizes ball screens in favor of letting players attack one-on-one. It is very similar to the offense the Memphis Grizzlies ran last season until head coach Taylor Jenkins and now-Miami assistant coach Noah LaRoche were fired late in the season.

The Phoenix Mercury already played with the third-highest pace in the WNBA but if they bring back Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Copper, and Satou Sabally, I think they could go even faster. All three are very difficult to stop one-on-one, and Thomas’s lack of floor spacing is less of an issue if he’s barreling down the lane or throwing hit-ahead passes to get the offense started. Phoenix was seventh in offensive rating in the regular season despite that big three and DeWanna Bonner, Sami Whitcomb and Monique Akoa Makani spacing the floor. During the season and the playoffs, I actually thought there was too much one-on-one, but perhaps they just need to do it faster before the defense can load up.

The other team I thought of for this style is Las Vegas. The Aces were better in the second half of the season when they moved Jewell Loyd to the bench, but they still finished fourth in offensive rating and seventh in pace. I didn’t think they ran a ton of ball screens anyway, but with four All-Stars and NaLyssa Smith, they have the personnel to excel going one-on-one, especially with a spaced floor.

3. Crash the Offensive Boards

The Houston Rockets are first in offensive rating this season despite being 28th in turnover rate and dead last in three-point attempts per game, thanks to an insane 42.1 offensive rebounding rate. The Jazz are second in offensive rebounding rate, which has buoyed their offense to 21st in the league.

The Chicago Sky led the WNBA with a 35.5 offensive rebounding rate. I think they should lean into that identity even more, especially if they add 2025 first-round draft pick Ajsa Sivka to the mix. The Sky were actually second to Indiana in second-chance points, which just shows that they need to do a better job converting their opportunities when they do secure an offensive rebound.

The other team that could focus more on offensive rebounds if they bring back largely the same team is Seattle. Seattle frankly needed to focus on rebounding on both sides of the ball. I’ll never understand how a team with Nneka Ogwumike, Dominique Malonga, and Ezi Magbegor finished 12th in both defensive and offensive rebounding rate. Gabby Williams and Skylar Diggins should be good rebounders for their position as well.

Like the Rockets, Seattle didn’t shoot many threes, finishing ninth overall in three-point attempts but last among the eight teams that made the playoffs. Seattle was starting at a math advantage shooting so few threes, and while they tried to make that up by having the fewest turnovers in the league, I think they need to secure more of their misses to give themselves extra possessions.

4. Shoot More Threes

The success of the Rockets notwithstanding, we have generally seen more three-point attempts lead to better offense in both leagues. I don’t think it's a coincidence that the bottom four teams in three-point attempts per game all missed the WNBA playoffs last season. The Valkyries finished 11th out of 13 teams in three-point percentage but first in three-point attempts, and their offense was still good enough to get them into the playoffs as an expansion team. The Atlanta Dream were similarly second in three-point attempts and seventh in three-point percentage, though they finished second in offensive rating.

I hate to keep harping on my hometown Chicago Sky, but the whole point of the roster was to surround Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese with shooting, even if most of those shooters couldn’t defend. For that team to finish 12th in three-point attempts and ninth in three-point percentage is pretty sad. They probably would have gotten more open looks if Courtney Vandersloot had stayed healthy, but given their offensive struggles, they probably needed to just keep firing threes even if they weren’t particularly open.