With superstar A’ja Wilson, defending champion Aces go into new season both stable and reloaded

A’ja Wilson is coming off one of the best stretches in WNBA history, having led the Las Vegas Aces to a third title in four years and winning a fourth career Most Valuable Player award last season.

Relying primarily on the 29-year-old Wilson and asking everyone else on the Aces’ roster to play complementary roles is a proven championship formula. But it’s not the plan the Aces will carry into their title-defense season when it opens May 9 at T-Mobile Arena in a championship rematch against the Phoenix Mercury. 

“On certain nights, one person is going to have it going and we’ll let it roll,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “It’s going to be someone different every night.”

Las Vegas has the pieces to try a more egalitarian approach largely because it was able to maintain roster continuity despite an unprecedented level of possible player movement this offseason.

A prolonged labor dispute between the players and owners that threatened a strike ended right before the WNBA preseason and effectively made all the league’s veterans free agents.

But neither Wilson nor her pair of long-term standout running mates, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, gave any consideration to leaving the Aces.

“I’m thankful to be able to be a part of a franchise that people want to be a part of,” Wilson said. “People want to make history. People want to be a part of this legendary run that we’ve been on since I’ve been drafted in this league. I’m thankful that we do have our core back.”

The Aces return their top eight scorers by points per game, including last year’s sixth-woman star Jewell Loyd, trade-deadline acquired dynamo NaLyssa Smith and Wilson twin-tower option Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, who missed all but two games with injury in 2025. 

Their biggest loss is reserve wing Aaliyah Nye, whom the Toronto Tempo selected in the WNBA expansion draft after a promising rookie season.

But the Aces reloaded their depth too, most notably signing explosive scorer Chennedy Carter in free agency. Carter averaged 17.5 points per game with the Chicago Sky in 2024, her last season in the WNBA.

No one has ever doubted her ability to be a difference-maker in the WNBA, but several behavioral issues—most notoriously a cheap shot on Caitlin Clark that landed an indefinite suspension—helped lead to a one-year exile from the league.

“I got better every day just having to eat, sleep, wake up and think about basketball, being isolated in a sense,” Carter said of her time with the Wuhan Shengfan last season. “It really helped me take my game to the next level when that was all I had to focus on was basketball. Everything was taken care of. I wasn’t worried about anything. The noise was in the states. I was focused on me. I was grinding. I grew, and I’m back.”

A conversation with Hammon where the coach empowered and challenged her is what sold Carter on making her comeback with the Aces, who signed her to a one-year deal at the new league minimum $277,500 salary.

If Carter can avoid the controversies and locker-room clashes that have marred her three previous WNBA stops, her value should far exceed the contract. Hammon says all signs point positively so far, describing Carter in training camp as “great, very responsive.”

“I’m excited to have her,” Gray said. “I played against her even when she was in college with (Team USA). It’s nice to have her on this side and now I’m just like, ‘You go beat them.’ It’s cool. It’s a luxury. She belongs in the W, so I’m glad she’s here.”

One of the best games of Carter’s career came July 16, 2024, against the Aces when she outdueled Wilson with 34 points on 14-for-24 shooting to lead the Sky to an upset at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Both Wilson and Gray have alluded to the performance throughout training camp. But Carter is not the only former antagonist to join the team, as Las Vegas bolstered its front court by adding Australian forward Stephanie Talbot, who finished last season with the rival New York Liberty.

“A player that I’ve tried to get multiple times,” Hammon said with a laugh. “This time, she just said yes to me. She’s just been really solid. I think she’s a nice balancing piece for some of the other weapons that we have out there. She’s a player that doesn’t need the ball in order to impact the game. Those pieces that fit with our other big pieces are really important. I expect big things from her.”

Wilson missed a portion of training camp and the preseason with illness, inadvertently allowing the rest of the team to get comfortable with the idea of not overtaxing her with a disproportionate share of the load.

Wilson will remain the go-to piece, but this year’s Aces could be as well-rounded as they’ve been in years.

“I’m blessed and I’m lucky that we’re all here,” Wilson said.