WNBA Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (5/16)
The 2025 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) regular season gets underway with six teams on the slate Friday night. The entire tripleheader will be broadcast on ION, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics or the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings. At 10:00 p.m. ET, the slate wraps up with the Los Angeles Sparks taking on the league’s newest entry, the Golden State Valkyries.
Let’s build our bankroll with our best WNBA bets for Friday, May 16th.
Friday’s Best WNBA Picks
WNBA odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All picks are for 1 unit
Minnesota Lynx (-250) at Dallas Wings (+198) | O/U 164 (-106/-114)
The Lynx and Wings lock horns at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, in the regular season opener. All eyes will be on rookie Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. She is another new face of the league and looks to make a splash in her debut.
The Lynx continues to be a very dangerous team, especially as long as superstar Napheesa Collier is in the Twin Cities. The MVP of Unrivaled and the defending Western Conference champs are a tough draw for Bueckers and the Wings, as this team is hungry for a championship.
Minnesota has all five starters back from last season’s team, which came up just short of the New York Liberty for the 2024 title. While Collier and the other four returning starters get a lot of credit for offense, this was a lockdown defense last season, too, limiting foes to just a 41% defensive field-goal percentage, tops in the league.
These teams split a four-game regular-season series in 2024, with Dallas going 3-1 against the spread (ATS). However, we’ll back the defending Western Conference champs to stand tall, firing out of the chute with a road win and cover as favorites, while going with the over. The total has gone high at a 7-1-1 clip in the past nine meetings in this series since July 14th, 2022.
Picks: Lynx -5.5 (-110) & Over 164 Points (-106)
Atlanta Dream (-290) at Washington Mystics (+235) | O/U 156 (-112/-108)
The Dream and Mystics do battle in the nation’s capital, and Atlanta looks to take that next step in 2025.
Atlanta picked up WNBA veterans Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones to give the team a little panache and veteran experience. The team also had a coaching change, looking to go from a team that just makes the playoffs to a championship contender.
The Dream struggled to score points last season, and Jordin Canada remains sidelined due to injury, so Atlanta could stumble out of the chute.
However, the Mystics are likely going to be one of the worst - if not the worst - teams in the WNBA. Washington was bitten by the injury bug before the season even started, as No. 6 overall pick Georgia Amoore suffered a torn ACL in practice and is done for the season. The good news is that the team has Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, the No. 3 and No. 4 overall picks in this latest draft. Sure, the rookies will be green, and they’ll each make mistakes at times, but this could be an exciting team to watch develop this season.
Atlanta should get the job done on the road, but Washington catching nearly four buckets is quite a bit. Go with the points, and let’s go low on the total, based on the Dream’s defensive success last season.
Picks: Mystics +5.5 (-110) & Under 156 Points (-108)
The Valkyries make their WNBA debut on Friday night against potential in-state rival Los Angeles.
What do we know about Golden State? Well, veteran Tiffany Hayes is going to be a huge part of the offense, giving the newest entry a solid veteran presence. Juste Jocyte was added via the 2025 WNBA Draft, but unfortunately, she will not play in 2025. She elected to play for her native Lithuania, and there is no official timeline on when she might opt to go to San Francisco
Golden State could be better defensively than your average expansion team, and that figures to be its calling card. Veronica Burton, Temi Fagbenle and Kayla Thornton give the team a nice defensive base. They’ll be a tough team to play at times. However, Friday won’t be one of those times.
Los Angeles is on the come-up, looking to turn things around after a dismal 2024. The Sparks added some shine with Kelsey Plum coming over from the Las Vegas Aces, while also adding Aari McDonald and Odyssey Sims to the backcourt. With the likes of Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens, this team could be surprisingly effective, and a steal for bettors. The biggest question is when will Lexie Brown and Cameron Brink return and contribute? Brown missed a huge chunk of the season due to Crohn’s disease, while Brink is making her way back from a torn ACL.
The Sparks should be able to pull away in the second half, led by Plum and the new-look offense. The Valkyries could be surprisingly effective on defense, though, so we’ll side with the under.
Picks: Sparks -7 (-110) & Under 162.5 Points (-112)