- Minnesota holds the WNBA’s best record at 22-6 and a seven-game winning streak into the All-Star break.
- Napheesa Collier scored 24 points with 10 rebounds in her season debut Wednesday after offseason ankle surgery.
- Minnesota tops the championship board at +135 at Bovada, ahead of the Las Vegas Aces at +360.
- Rookie Olivia Miles has driven the Lynx all season and is a runaway Rookie of the Year favorite.
MINNEAPOLIS – Napheesa Collier returned from ankle surgery Wednesday to give the WNBA’s clear title favorite, the Minnesota Lynx, its franchise cornerstone back for the stretch run. The Lynx carry the league’s best record, 22-6, and a seven-game winning streak into the All-Star break, and sit atop the championship board at +135 odds.
Collier’s Return Changes The Math
Collier had not played a minute this season before Wednesday. A torn ligament in her left ankle, suffered in a playoff game last September, cost her the opening months, and she underwent offseason surgery on both ankles. Minnesota built the league’s best record without its franchise cornerstone.
In her first game back she went for 24 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-20 shooting in 24 minutes, and hit three free throws late to help close out an 86-76 win over the Seattle Storm, the Lynx’s seventh straight and the best record at the break.
The read for bettors is not the 24 points; it is that a 22-6 team just added a two-way All-Star to a lineup that was already winning without her. A roster that was thin at the top now runs deeper, the difference between a first-half overachiever and a team built to hold its number into October.
Lynx Atop The Futures Board
At +135, the Lynx are the only team on the board priced shorter than 3-to-1. That number is the payout, not a probability. It implies roughly a 43% title chance, and the bet is whether Minnesota’s real odds of lifting the trophy beat that figure. Everything else sits a full tier back.
| Team | WNBA Title Odds |
|---|---|
| Minnesota Lynx | +135 |
| Las Vegas Aces | +360 |
| New York Liberty | +400 |
| Golden State Valkyries | +850 |
| Atlanta Dream | +1100 |
The defending-champion Aces and the Liberty form the chase pack a full tier back, and the expansion Golden State Valkyries have climbed from a preseason longshot into the top five on the back of a strong first half. None of them are priced within reach of the Lynx.
That is a sharp turn from May’s breakdown of the 2026 WNBA futures odds, when New York was the outright favorite and Minnesota sat fifth at +900.
Olivia Miles Carried Them There
The Lynx were never supposed to be this good this early without Collier, and the reason they were is rookie Olivia Miles, the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite whose production held the offense together through the winning streak. With Collier back alongside her, Minnesota has two lineup-defining scorers instead of one, the exact upgrade a +135 price is paying for.
The favorite tag comes with the usual caveat: a short futures number returns little for the risk, and a 22-6 record in July is not a banner. But the Lynx are the safest read on the board, and the case for anyone else starts with a longer number. Anyone shopping the title market can weigh it against the rest of the online sports betting board.
Minnesota resumes the second half after the All-Star break with the cushion, the health and the shortest price in the league, and a full slate left to prove the number right.
