What coaches have the most to prove next year?

In my opinion, the coaches with the most to prove (in order) are as follows

  1. Fever’s Stephanie White: White has gained a name for herself as a great defensive coach and will look to improve this mostly offensively minded team. However, her previous team, the Connecticut Sun failed to reach the highest level of success and was made into a great team by their previous coach, the now Dallas Wings’ GM, Curt Miller. If the Fever don’t reach the finals, many will begin to question if White is truly a championship caliber coach

  2. Aces’ Becky Hammon: With the Aces’ second round exit and failure to retain multiple key players, all eyes will be on Hammon to see if she can adjust. Hammon will be expected to get the most she can out of new players like Dana Evans and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus. Most importantly, Hammon will be expected to get the league’s best player in Aja Wilson back to finals.

  3. Dream’s Karl Smesko: The former college basketball coach known for his five out, 3 point shooting style will now be tasked with developing an offensive with two non-shooting bigs. Smesko has the opportunity to show those who questioned the hiring that he can take the underperforming Dream to the next level.

  4. Sky’s Tyler Marsh: This former Aces’ coach will be tasked with developing The Skyscrapers - Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso - and with molding The Sky into a 2026 free agent destination. If he can successfully do both, he can solve many of the Sky’s problems and help them work towards becoming the champions they previously were.

  5. Mystics’ Sydney Johnson: This new coach will be expected to capitalize on the team more than the previous one did. Despite being plagued by injuries, the Mystics nearly made a historical comeback to make the playoffs, but came one game short. Johnson will be expected to lead this team to the playoffs and capitalize on young talent like Aaliyah Edwards.

Edit: I completely forgot about Noelle Quin. I think I’d put her at either 2 or 3 on this list. The Storm haven’t won since 2018 and also haven’t had much success under Quin. Quin will be expected to capitalize on the aging SDS and Nneka Ogwumike, take her team back to its’ previous heights, and show the rest of the league that they can perform well without Jewell Loyd.