SQWAD WNBA Player Rankings

5 min readApr 15, 2016

Thanks to everyone who tuned in on Periscope to follow our WNBA Player Rankings Show. We appreciate the love and following and the video is above for those who missed it. (Sorry for the quality from the Periscope video. Clear images below.)

With SQWAD fans have the ability to buy players for the season, 5 games, or 3 games in our free agency feature. Just like in real sports free agency you will want to buy players that can help you win at the lowest price/best value.

Our rankings were based on the 2015 per game stats in points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks. We won’t tell you our secret formula but we weigh those stats to get our SQWAD Score.

SQWAD score is what we use to price those players, and the SQWAD score is based on stats from game-to-game. The numbers will change dynamically throughout the season. If a player starts to slump mid-season, their SQWAD score and price will drop. If they go on a hot streak the rank and price goes up.

The SQWAD staff didn’t rank the players. There was no bias here in these selections, only stats. We let the numbers speak in our rankings and let you decide who is undervalued or overvalued to make decisions in our free agency.

Without further ado……

2016 SQWAD Score Top 50

Our top five starts with the reigning WNBA MVP for the Chicago Sky Elena Delle Donne. At 23 Pts and 8 Rebs a game she tops our list at the #1 ranked WNBA player. Her versatility in scoring and rebounding will garner major points for you throughout the game and season. Definitely the player you hope to land on your SQWAD but will be a major investment.

Maya Moore ranks out 2nd with McCoughtry 3rd to round out the top players who averaged 20+ Pts a game last season. Both are elite scorers capable of big games night in and night out.

Tina Charles’ 8 Reb a game helped secure the 4th spot surpassing Skylar Diggins who ranked 5th. Skylar will look to light up the stat sheet in her new city of Dallas as she is a player who plays every possession like it is her last. Both are can’t misses for your team if you can get them.

Players 6–10 is full of PHX Mercury starters with Bonner, Griner, and Taurasi filling the 7–9 spots. Taurasi returns from her year off and will be looking to prove she still has what it takes to be an elite player ( like anyone needed convincing). Griner is an interesting player averaging 4 blocks per game, which with her point total can be a huge additive during games. Looking forward to a full season look for her usual dominant self this season with more games.

The Ogwumike twins bookend 6–10, both putting up impressive Pts and Reb averages last season. Chiney and Nneka both are stars for their teams, Connecticut and Los Angeles, and will put up great rebound numbers throughout the season. Nneka holds the Ast advantage while Chiney puts up more blocks of you want to build a more defensive minded team.

11–30 are where we see the value picks start to rise. Candice Parker at 16 is an intriguing pick as she ranks so low due to only playing part of the 2015 season. 2016 could be an MVP year for her.

Seimone Augustus and Tiffany Hayes at 20 and 28 could prove to be solid low cost pick ups who put up major stats this season.

31–50 is where the true value picks come into play. Like any free agency winning comes down to the getting great players at low prices.

Sue Bird at 31 is my overall value pick of the season. With Loyd and Stewart joining her in Seattle we could see a major push in her productivity and numbers (scary to think about as she posts solid numbers). Plus ask her about Coffee Naps and see if that will play a role.

Lindsay Whalen is another pick likely to drive numbers in key games this season for the Lynx along side Maya Moore. Ranked at 32 she could be a steal in the early part of 2016 SQWAD free agency.

At 34 and 35 Stefanie Dolson of the Mystics and Crystal Langhorne of the Storm are also solid value picks in this area as both are scoring machines and are capable of having breakout performances. With the addition of Stewart look for Langhorne to open up more in the post to rack up points and rebounds.

Dolson had her stats drop last season with double teams, but a strong candidate for a late season push as the Mystics open up the offense.

Then there is the 2015 ROY Jewell Loyd at 39. She really came into her own at the end of the season in Seattle. Averaging over 10 pts per game last season, look for her to climb up the rankings through the 2016 season.

Players ranked 11–50 are, in my opinion, the best start to building a solid roster. While players ranked 1–10 are vital to get you wins, these players will get you the championship by the end of the season.

So which player will you be? Do you buy Maya Moore at a high price because you know night in night out she will put up points? Or are you a buy low and bet on a hot streak kind of a player?

Pick your strategy and build your SQWAD.

Written by Nick Lawson. SQWAD co-founder and avid Oakland sports fan. Nick is in charge of player ranking and game data for SQWAD.

To sign up for the SQWAD go to www.sqwadapp.co