Down the stretch of this WNBA season, teams are living and dying with each win and loss. The Washington Mystics, still clinging on to playoff hopes, are one such team. But the Connecticut Sun are already focused on the future.
After trading away Brittney Sykes at the deadline, the message was clear for Washington: the youth are the future. When they dealt away their eldest All-Star, it felt like waving the white flag on the season. Yet they remain 1.5 games out of the eighth seed and have a reasonable chance of sneaking into the playoffs if teams above them continue to fall.
The fall already happened for the Sun. Amid a league-worst season that won’t even net them a lottery pick (headed to Chicago), they’re also navigating a very messy sale of the franchise. Sooner or later, they may not even be playing in Connecticut. It’s all up in the air for this squad, and the individual games feel like a secondary concern.
The Mystics are three-point favorites on the road and hold -142 odds on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The total is set at 157 points. Let’s look at the best bets and predictions for this Mystics-Sun contest.
Mystics vs. Sun prediction, pick
The Brittney Sykes move undoubtedly puts a cap on Washington’s game-to-game ceiling. But it doesn’t put them on the level that Connecticut has been at all season long.
They still have Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, two excellent rookies who made the All-Star team. Shakira Austin continues to improve as a passer and defender in her fourth season. Jade Melbourne isn’t the flashiest player, but looks like a rotation piece. Getting Jacy Sheldon at the deadline was a shrewd bit of business. And all five of those players are 24 years old or younger.
It’s not the prettiest formula right now. That group still needs an extra dash of perimeter creation and defensive consistency, but it’s a great start. And with 1-2 lottery picks on the way next year depending on Seattle’s finish, they’re in a great spot for this rebuild. It also places them miles ahead of the Sun.
In fairness to Connecticut, it’s hard to be good after things get ripped down to the studs. Only two rotation pieces remain from last year’s team. And without their pick under their control, there’s little motivation to make big swings during this season. Hey, at least Leïla Lacan looks like a player. But things are too dire in the Mohegan Sun to believe in the Sun winning any given game.
