WNBA Power Rankings: DiJonai Carrington giving Lynx edge in title hunt

When the Minnesota Lynx traded for DiJonai Carrington ahead of the deadline, there were no concerns about how the 2024 All-Defensive First Team honoree would mesh with the league's best team on that side of the ball. There were, however, real questions about her fit on offense. 

The Lynx have been elite over the last two seasons because of their 3-point shooting and ball movement. They spend the majority of each game with five players on the court who can shoot, which spaces the floor, and make decisions with the ball in their hands, which allows them to capitalize on the spacing. 

Carrington has not done either throughout her career. She is a career 28.1% 3-point shooter and made 26% of her attempts with the Dallas Wings this season. She's also never had an assist rate higher than 12.9% and has had an assist-to-turnover ratio below one in four of her five seasons. In her 20 games with the Wings, she had 36 assists and 49 turnovers. 

Whether the trade was successful, it seemed, would hinge on whether Carrington could do enough on offense to stay on the floor so the Lynx could take advantage of her elite perimeter defense. 

Through three games with her new club, she's done more than enough. 

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Jack Maloney

Carrington had 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals on 6 of 10 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, in the Lynx's 83-71 win over the New York Liberty in a Finals rematch on Sunday. In her first three games, she's averaging 13.3 points, four rebounds, 1.7 assists and two steals on 62.5% shooting, both overall and from behind the arc. Notably, she's shot above 50% in all three games, marking just the second time in her career that she's shot 50% or better in three consecutive games. 

Even acknowledging that Carrington will not continue to shoot this well, the early signs suggest she'll be a major boost to the Lynx's title hopes. 

Here are CBS Sports' latest WNBA Power Rankings

WNBA Power Rankings

1	Lynx
Napheesa Collier was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain that will keep her out until mid-August at the earliest, but her absence has not stopped the Lynx's momentum. After a comfortable victory over the Liberty in another Finals rematch, they've now won five in a row to extend their lead in the race for the No. 1 seed to 6.5 games. DiJonai Carrington has been excellent to start her Lynx tenure: 13.3 points, four rebounds and two steals on 62.5% shooting.
2	Dream
The Dream picked up one of their most impressive victories of the season on Sunday on the road in Phoenix to extend their winning streak to five games and pull even with the Liberty at 20-11. However, they lost starting point guard Jordin Canada to a right leg injury in the process. Canada, who missed the first three weeks of the season with a right knee injury, had to be helped off the court.
3	Liberty
Prior to a sloppy loss to the Lynx on Sunday, which snapped their three-game winning streak, the Liberty got some clarity on Breanna Stewart's status. The seven-time All-Star told reporters that it's a "non-negotiable" to return from her right knee bone bruise before her birthday on Aug. 27. While it's encouraging that Stewart will be back well before the end of the regular season, that timeline means she'll miss at least seven more games, including two more Finals rematches with the Lynx.
4	Mercury
The Mercury hit a nice soft part of their schedule and racked up three comfortable wins over the Sky, Sun and shorthanded Fever. Alyssa Thomas recorded triple-doubles in all three victories to become the first player in league history to record three consecutive triple-doubles. Their winning ways came to an end against the Dream, however, in a crucial battle for playoff seeding. They haven't beaten a healthy team with a record above .500 since July 9.
5	Aces
Here come the Aces. A'ja Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to have a 30/20 game when she went off for 32 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and two steals in the Aces' win over the Sun, their fourth in a row and sixth in their last seven games. All of a sudden the Aces are in sixth place and closer to fourth than they are to seventh. A top-four seed and homecourt advantage in the first round is no longer out of the question.
6	Fever
The Fever's injury-plagued season continued this week when Sydney Colson (torn ACL) and Aari McDonald (broken foot) went down with season-ending injuries in a loss to the Mercury. In a corresponding move, the Fever have signed Odyssey Sims to a hardship contract. With Caitlin Clark still sidelined with a groin injury, Sims will be the Fever's only healthy point guard as they continue battling for playoff seeding.
7	Sparks
The Sparks' 59-point effort -- their lowest point total since 2022 -- in a loss to the Valkyries was shocking considering their recent form, and sure enough they proved it was a one-off by immediately putting together another brilliant offensive performance in a huge comeback victory over the Storm. Winners of 9 of their last 11, the Sparks are now just half a game out of the playoff picture. During this hot streak they have the second-best offensive rating (112.2) and third-best net rating (plus-4.7) in the league.
8	Valkyries
Every time it seems like the Valkyries' historic inaugural season is on the ropes, they manage to bounce back. This week, following back-to-back losses to the Aces, they held the red-hot Sparks to a season-low 59 points in a massive win. With that result, the Valkyries not only moved a full game ahead of the Sparks in the race for the No. 8 seed, but clinched the tiebreaker between the clubs.
9	Storm
There's an alternate universe where the Storm are 21-11, riding a six-game winning streak and feeling extremely positive heading into the final month of the season. Instead, they're 16-16, have lost five in a row and are suddenly in a dogfight just to stay in playoff position. Their five losses during this skid have come by a combined 17 points and none by more than four. The latest heartbreaker was on Sunday when they blew a 16-point lead to the Sparks despite 27 points and four steals from trade deadline acquisition Brittney Sykes.
10	Mystics
The Mystics traded All-Star guard Brittney Sykes to the Storm ahead of the deadline in exchange for a package headlined by a first-round pick. Washington now has three first-round picks -- their own, Minnesota's and Seattle's -- for the second year in a row. Trading Sykes should also help ensure that the Mystics sink into the lottery. Even after their win over the Wings on Sunday, the Mystics are 1.5 games behind the Valkyries for the final playoff spot.
11	Sky
The Sky's eight-game losing streak came to an end with a win over the Mystics, but they promptly returned to losing ways with blowout defeats to the Dream and Fever. It was a surprise to see the Sky stand pat at the deadline instead of moving some of their veterans for future assets. Angel Reese remains sidelined with a back injury and does not have a return timeline.
12	Wings
The Wings have lost five games in a row to fall to 8-24, and their frustrating season has everyone on edge. After their defeat to the Liberty on Aug. 8, Myisha Hines-Allen confronted a group of fans that was chanting "We want Nola" – a call for assistant coach Nola Henry to replace Chris Koclanes – as the team walked off the floor. "Chris is still our head coach, we still need him," Hines-Allen said.
13	Sun
Everyone expected the Sun to be sellers at the deadline, but instead of moving any of their veterans they swapped sophomores with the Mystics. In a depth for depth trade the Sun sent Jacy Sheldon to Washington for Aaliyah Edwards to bolster their frontcourt. That move won't do anything to help the 5-25 Sun -- on track for the eighth-worst winning percentage (.167) of all time -- but it will bolster their frontcourt for the future.