No Cap Space Presents: The Midseason WNBA Awards. MVP, Rookie of the Year, All-WNBA Teams and more...

Heading into the All-Star and Olympic break, the No Cap Space crew is handing out awards at the midway point of the WNBA season.

, and 2 others

Jul 18, 2024

As the WNBA heads into the All-Star and Olympic break, it signals the halfway point of the regular season. That means No Cap Space is here to present our award projections halfway through the year. Each member of our team picked a different honor and gave their selection. A little further down the list are our cumulative votes for All-WNBA 1st Team and 2nd Team, All-Rookie, All-Defensive and what we call the ‘Ball Out’ Team. Essentially the five players that we think have been the most exciting, fun, surprising or outstanding that may not make an awards list at the end of the year. Feel free to comment, share, and start your own conversation!

And while pro ball is on break until August 15th, there’s plenty of content still to come.

MVP: A’ja Wilson

Voter: Tyler

I mean…come on. Very early on in this season it seemed like we might have a race on our hands between A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier. It had felt that Phee had taken that next step and leveled up. One problem, so did A’ja. It became clear around the third week in this season that A’ja had once again managed to come back even better.

Even with the early struggles of the Aces as a team win/loss wise, the stats and impact were still there. There have been several games where an Aces win has come down to “we have A’ja Wilson and you don’t.” Wilson has even found ways to make new history for herself by putting up her first 20-20 game of her career. She has elevated her offensive game by increasing her bag both below the three point line and adding the three point shot to her arsenal. The defense is still top tier. There have been debates for years now around who is the best player in the world. Now it is undeniable.

A’ja Wilson is the greatest player in the world. An M’VP should be headed her way. Another ring might force the need to start engraving her face in some Mt. Rushmore’s. And the rest of the WNBA has a 4th place voter to thank for it all. A’ja Wilson is undisputedly my pick for WNBA MVP.

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Defensive Player of the Year: DiJonai Carrington

Voter: Chauny

This year's DPOY has to go to Dijonai Carrington off the strength of how she defends her relationship on Twitter. No in all seriousness, Carrington has upped her defensive numbers from a season ago and has emerged as the Sun’s go-to guard stopper this year.

The league hasn't seen a guard win DPOY since Alana Beard went back to back in 2017 and 2018. For context, Beard recorded 44 steals and six blocks in that 2018 campaign and as of right now Carrington has 24 steals and nine blocks, all of which have been extremely disrespectful, with 16 games left in the season.

We can also see the numbers of opposing guards when guarded by Carrington, most famously the electric rookie Caitlin Clark. The Sun are holding opponents to a league low 72.9 points per game and Carrington is a big reason why.

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Rookie of the Year: Caitlin Clark

Voter: Andrew

I know that this might be somewhat controversial but there’s plenty of numbers and eye test to suggest the number one overall pick is the top rookie in the WNBA this year.

While Angel Reese owns a double-double record and is closing in on a variety of rebounding records as well, Clark has her own milestones that she is on pace to break. She leads the league in assists and likely to beat Ticha Penichiero’s WNBA record 279 assists in a season. As of Wednesday night, she owns the league single-game assist record with 19. Yes, the turnovers are an egregious statistic. But she’s also the first rookie to post 400 points, 150 assists and 100 rebounds in a season. She’s the first *player* ever to record at least 25 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 three pointers in a single game. She’s the first WNBA rookie to record a triple double and only the second player in league history to register 150+ points, 50+ rebounds and 50+ assists in her first ten games. Then there’s the matter of her own double-double record. She has the most by a rookie guard in WNBA history. All that while being blitzed regularly, game-planned around and relied upon to be one of the sole distributors of her team as just a rookie.

Since the infamous Jim Trotter press availability on June 14th, Clark has put together the following averages. 18.8 points per game, 10.7 assists per game, 6.9 rebounds per game. Whatever the aftermath of that week was in terms of locker room discussions or some reflection within Clark herself, she’s been playing at a level that statistically would have her in the MVP race if her name was, say, Alyssa Thomas. While Angel Reese is only behind by a hair, Clark is my rookie of the year at this juncture. There’s a good argument for both, I just think there’s a slightly better one for the Fever’s franchise cornerstone.

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6th Woman of the Year: Kayla Thornton

Voter: Greer

In a season full of 6WOTY candidacies impacted by injuries, lineup changes, and tanking teams, choosing the most impactful bench player on the league’s best team would appear to be the safest choice. This season that’s none other than New York Liberty veteran forward Kayla Thornton.

The 10th year pro is doing it all for Liberty, shooting a career high 38% from 3 and using her versatility to defend multiple positions. Affectionately known as Ka-three-la, she’s also provided a steadying presence for the Liberty during Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s absence and is an additive player whenever her number is called.

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Most Improved Player: Dearica Hamby

Voter: Rashard

There’s no denying the improvement in Dearica Hamby’s level of play in just her second season since giving birth to her second child. As we head into the Olympic break (where Hamby will be suiting up for the 3x3 team), she’s become the clear frontrunner for the Most Improved Player award. She has made multiple areas of improvement in her game compared to last season:

2023: 2024:

24.8 MPG -> 35.4 MPG

8.9 PPG -> 19.4 PPG

5.9 RPG -> 10.0 RPG

1.8 APG -> 3.6 APG

43.1 FG% -> 52.3 FG%

22.0 3PT% -> 41.8 3PT%

Need I say more?!?

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NCS All-WNBA First Team:

A’ja Wilson
Napheesa Collier
Dearica Hamby
Sabrina Ionescu
Kahleah Copper

NCS All-WNBA Second Team:

Alyssa Thomas
Breanna Stewart
DeWanna Bonner
Jackie Young
Caitlin Clark
Edit: Initial vote counts were wrong here. Clark and Carter tied with two 2nd team votes. Clark had a sole first team vote that placed her above Carter. Full vote tally is below.