When Let’s Fantasy Game invites you to Be in the Know, I take that as a challenge. It's not enough to simply discuss the latest news entertainingly; I want to provide insights you cannot find anywhere else. My favorite way to do that is to unearth players who may be under the radar but are about to make a big impact. Anyone can tell you why A’ja Wilson is great, and I will gladly do that too, but I really love finding lesser-known players who are really good. That was why I was so proud to highlight Julia Lopez Ramirez before she played in the final round at the U.S. Women’s Open and to tout rookie Te’Hina Paopao before the season started.

The WNBA’s announcement last week that they were adding three more expansion teams to bring the league to 18 teams by 2030 gives us another chance to find hidden gems. WNBA fans and media have been saying for years that the league needed to expand. Every season, very good players were relegated to bench roles or left off rosters altogether because the league’s 12 teams could only roster 12 players each, and often only 11. We have already seen the impact of the Valkyries joining and adding 12 new roster spots to the league this season. Journeyman forward Kayla Thornton, selected in the expansion draft from the New York Liberty, is averaging the most points, rebounds and steals of her 10-year WNBA career. Two weeks ago she scored a career-high 29 points, which almost certainly wouldn’t have happened if she had remained in a bench role for the Liberty or another team.

I also don’t think it is a coincidence that so many rookies are making an impact this season. Typically, only a handful of rookies play meaningful roles, and anyone selected outside of the first round is lucky to even secure a roster spot. This season, 23 rookies are averaging at least 10 minutes per game, and 20 of those have played at least eight games.

With as many as 60 roster spots opening up in the next five years, there will be plenty more opportunities for players languishing on benches or out of the league entirely to make an impact. With that in mind, I have identified nine players who I believe can take on a bigger role if given the chance. In some cases, expansion might not even be necessary. Some of these players could break out this season if their team suffers some injuries or if the coach decides they want a new look. No matter the circumstances, these are nine breakout players to watch out for.

Diamond Miller, F, Minnesota Lynx

Miller earned All-Rookie honors in 2023, starting all 32 games while averaging 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 26.1 minutes per game. She started three games in 2024 before suffering a right knee injury that caused her to miss a month. When she returned she was relegated to a bench role for a team that was cruising to the second-best record in the league.

I thought she would get a chance to play more this season, but the Lynx are as good as ever, and Miller is averaging a career-low 8.9 mpg. That being said, there are reasons to believe Miller can get back to the heights she achieved as a rookie, if not higher. She is up to 13.6 points per 36 minutes, up from 10.3 last season. She is shooting a career-high 43.8 percent from the field and 50 percent on 2.9 3-point attempts per 36. She probably needs to take even more threes, especially while she is playing off of Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams, but she looks as capable as ever of getting out in transition and attacking a closeout when she’s chased off the three-point line. I would love to see her get a chance to be a focal point for an expansion team, but I think it is more likely she sees her role expand with the Lynx as they lose more rotation players to expansion and/or free agency.

Aari McDonald, Guard, Indiana Fever

McDonald has been great filling in for the injured Caitlin Clark. The five-year vet is averaging a career-high 4.4 assists in 27.2 minutes per game, to go along with 10.3 points, 1.3 steals and just 1.4 turnovers. That being said, her strong play didn’t prevent McDonald from being cut when Clark rejoined the lineup the first time. I think McDonald has played well enough to earn herself a job for the rest of the season, either with Indiana or another team, but her 2025 season highlights one of the problems with having just 13 teams in the league. McDonald is an undersized point guard who is much better on the ball than off the ball. With only 13 starting point guard positions available, it is understandable she lost the league’s offseason game of musical chairs. For as well as the Valkyries have played this season, they still rank 10th in offensive rating. One of the expansion teams or a rebuilding team would do well to give McDonald the keys to their second unit, if nothing else.

Chennedy Carter, Guard, Adelitas de Chihuahua

Much of what I wrote about McDonald applies to Carter. Carter nearly single-handedly carried the Chicago Sky’s offense last season, averaging a career-high 17.5 points on 48.7 percent shooting from the field. The Sky chose not to extend a qualifying offer after the season, and no WNBA team signed her in unrestricted free agency. Carter is putting up decent numbers in Mexico, averaging 15.6 points and 3.7 assists per game. Unlike McDonald, Carter has more to prove to WNBA teams off the court than on it. If she can keep her name out of the headlines, one of these new front offices might be inclined to give her a chance. With several teams in need of lead ball-handlers, Carter could fill that role.

Raquel Carrera, Forward, Valencia

Carrera is a free agent after the Liberty renounced her draft rights, which they had acquired from Atlanta in the AD Durr trade. Carrera is fresh off trading Spain to the Silver medal at EuroBasket, where she was named to the All-Star First Team. The 23-year-old more than held her own against several WNBA players, including Emma Meesseeman in the championship game. Carrera was a second-round pick of Atlanta despite the fact that she was not guaranteed to join the league anytime soon. Carrera doesn’t space the floor, which could make her a tricky fit with some teams, but she has nice touch around the rim, and she is a menace rolling to the basket. I would love to see her on a team that gets out and runs like Phoenix or Los Angeles. I think she is fast enough to beat a lot of guards down the floor.

Awak Kuier, Center, Dallas Wings

Kuier hasn’t quite lived up to her billing as a second overall pick in the WNBA draft, but there is still time. She was a big-time rim protector across three WNBA seasons, averaging 2.45 blocks per 36 minutes. After playing year-round between the WNBA and Europe, she took off the last two WNBA seasons first to rest and then to represent Finland at Eurobasket. Kuier was named Italian League Finals MVP in 2024, and she averaged 20.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.2 blocks at Eurobasket. Nearly Dallas’s entire frontcourt will enter free agency after the season, so Kuier should be in line for a significant role in 2026.

Isabelle Harrison, Forward, New York Liberty

Harrison ostensibly replaced Kayla Thornton with the Liberty this year, averaging 9.2 minutes off the bench. Like Thornton, Harrison has been a capable starter in the past, starting 102 games across eight WNBA seasons. Harrison has averaged at least 11.6 points per 36 minutes in every season, and she is averaging a career-high 11.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.0 steals per 36 minutes this season. As I have alluded to above, I believe the hardest thing for expansion teams to find is reliable offense, and Harrison is still capable of providing that.

Chloe Bibby, Forward, Free Agent

Bibby leads the league with 10.4 three-point attempts per 36 minutes, just ahead of Rhyne Howard. Unlike Howard, Bibby shot exceptionally well, hitting 42.1 percent of her threes. Bibby played just five games for the Valkyries while half their team played in Eurobasket, but I think she showed enough to get a chance somewhere next season. Bibby shot 35.5 percent on threes in college, and while she needs to expand the rest of her game, she has one ready-made WNBA skill right now. She has a quick release and is comfortable coming off screens off the ball, pulling up in transition, or picking and popping. Bibby has shown the ability to attack closeouts and shoot over shorter players on switches in the NBL. If she can do that in the WNBA, she will be a handful.

Dorka Juhasz, Center, Minnesota Lynx

Much like Awak Kuier, Juhasz sat out this season after playing year-round the last two years. She made the All-Rookie team in 2023 alongside Diamond Miller, but saw her minutes drop last season. Even so, Juhasz was just as efficient in her sophomore season, shooting 47.9 percent from the field, averaging 10.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. Even with Juhasz out, the Lynx have the deepest frontcourt in the league with rookie Anastasiia Olairi Kosu joining Napheesa Collier, Bridget Carleton, Alanna Smith, Jessica Shepard, Alissa Pili and Maria Kliundikova. Juhasz was out of the rotation at times last season but she has played well enough to be a backup center at the very least, either for the Lynx or someone else.

Haley Jones, Wing, Free Agent

Like Chloe Bibby, Jones excelled in a short stint while on a hardship contract during Eurobasket. Jones is sixth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, just behind Aari McDonald, among others. Jones averaged over three turnovers per 36 minutes in each of her first two seasons in Atlanta, but if she has learned to take care of the ball, she could very well stick with a team next season.