Bullet point summary by AI
- Despite Napheesa Collier’s season-long ankle injury, the dominant Minnesota Lynx have surged to an impressive 10-2 start.
- Rookie star Olivia Miles and veteran center Natasha Howard have stepped up to command the league’s top-ranked offensive and defensive units.
- A title run remains achievable without Collier, proving the elite roster depth can match up with the best teams in the WNBA.
The Minnesota Lynx have been without their best player all season. Despite that, the team sits at 10-2 and looks like it will be a huge WNBA title threat once Napheesa Collier is back on the court.
But, hypothetically, what if Collier didn’t come back this season from her ankle injury? Sure, the best bet is that she’ll play at some point, but if she doesn’t…how far can Minnesota go without her?
The case for the Lynx as contenders without Collier
The argument for why the Lynx are title contenders without Collier is pretty simple: they’re the best team in the WNBA right now — record-wise, at least — without her.
In fact, advanced stats show just how thoroughly dominant this Lynx team has been so far in 2026.
|
Stat |
League Rank |
|---|---|
|
Offensive Rating |
1st |
|
Defensive Rating |
1st |
|
Net Rating |
1st |
Rookie Olivia Miles should probably be viewed not just as the runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year but as the best contender to take MVP away from A’ja Wilson. She’s been that good as a first-year player, providing the team with backcourt playmaking that it sorely needed. Miles has been the engine running this Lynx team.
But Natasha Howard deserves a ton of credit as well. Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard both signed in Dallas this offseason. Collier and Dorka Juhász have yet to play. The frontcourt was supposed to be a huge issue for this team, but Howard is playing like she’s found a way to turn the clock back. She’s been one of the WNBA’s best centers and is deserving of a starting role in the All-Star Game based on her level of play.
The team has adapted to the frontcourt issues by playing small, something that having a center as versatile as Howard allows them to do. While there might be some long-term concerns with this approach — more on that in a second — it’s clearly working right now for Minnesota. The Miles-Howard duo is basically the perfect combo to make a full-time small-ball approach work.
Why Minnesota needs Collier to win a title
Here’s the big concern: the Lynx are really, really shallow up front, and as the season goes along, the wear and tear of having to play small for so many minutes could become a problem. And what happens in a playoff series against the Aces? Howard would stick to Wilson full-time, but that would leave a fairly big mismatch with Nia Coffey guarding NaLyssa Smith. That’s a situation where getting one of the league’s best defenders back would be huge.
A hypothetical matchup with a full-strength New York Liberty team? Also a time where you really need Collier (or at least Juhász) back. If you have to guard both Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones with this current lineup, there might be a problem.
Even though one of Minnesota’s only losses was to Atlanta, the Dream might be the team that a Collier-less Lynx have their best chance against, though if Brionna Jones returns, a Jones and Angel Reese frontcourt can cause issues for the Lynx.
Do the Lynx have a shot at the title without Collier?
Short answer? Yes.
Long answer? Yes, but things really need to break their way.
If Collier doesn’t return, you at least need Juhász to help you with matchups against bigger teams. If you don’t pay attention to international play, you might think, “Why is this player who averaged just 16.1 minutes per game in her last WNBA season back in 2024 so important?” The answer is that she really broke out over the past year, and she’s a big reason people weren’t too worried when Minnesota lost Smith and Shepard.
In that scenario, maybe things are fine. You’re still counting on Miles to not hit the rookie wall—that would be a disaster, as Minnesota’s net rating improves by 21.3 points per 100 possessions when she’s on the floor vs. off the floor—and Courtney Williams to keep shooting like she has been, but there’s a path. Not the widest one, but the Lynx have somewhat of a chance. I’d probably rank a Collier-less Lynx team fourth in terms of title chances at this point, and crazier things have happened than the fourth-best playoff team winning a title.
Getting Collier back obviously changes the math — only Vegas would really be favored in that scenario — but the Lynx can take comfort in the fact that they’re one of the league’s elite teams even with one of the league’s elite players sidelined.
More WNBA news and analysis:
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
