Since the 2024 WNBA the Minnesota Lynx have been the first seed in the Western Conference. Yet even with this clear regular-season success, the Lynx have been led by their MVP frontrunner and 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, Napheesa Collier; they haven’t been able to get over the last obstacle and secure the franchise’s fifth WNBA championship(The last time they won being back in 2017).
And after a trade led to the Lynx getting the second pick in the 2026 WNBA draft, the already great Minnesota Lynx were looking for the player to help get them to the top; and with the second overall pick in the draft, the Lynx drafted Olivia Miles.
Olivia Miles, since joining the Minnesota Lynx, has been easily one of the most profound players in the WNBA as a whole. It’s common for players new to a team and franchise to have struggles, jitters, or even a slight lack of confidence; but not Olivia Miles in the slightest. She joined the Lynx and, from day one, has showcased nothing less than basketball excellence, becoming the spearhead piece of the Lynx following Napheesa Collier missing a major portion of the season.
As the star piece of the Lynx this season, Olivia Miles was named an All-Star, averaging 19.9 points, 6.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 stocks on elite 49/40/87 shooting splits; leading WNBA rookies in points and assists this season. Even with the stats alone not fully telling the story of her level of skill and play, the biggest components of her game come from her far-and-above-elite pace and the level of basketball IQ she plays with.
With the elite season Miles has put together thus far she has entered conversations with some of the greatest women basketball players of today just in her rookie season, already placed herself into conversations with greatest of women basketball players of today, already being placed in the race for the 2026 Most Valuable Player award with a clear and definitive case for the award even over arguably the one of the best athletes in the world in A’ja Wilson.
Whether Olivia Miles dethrones A’ja Wilson as MVP or helps the Lynx finally reclaim the WNBA championship is soon to see, but what I can tell you right now is that the future is already here and that Olivia Miles is not just in a class of her own already but will continue to get better and better, and that this is only the beginning of her clear dominant basketball career.
