The Las Vegas Aces' 2025 WNBA campaign has not gone anything according to plan. Just two years after claiming a second consecutive championship, Becky Hammon's team has sputtered out to a 14-13 record entering August.
After years of dominating the league, the Aces rank near the middle of the league with just over one month remaining until the 2025 WNBA playoffs. They have not looked right all year, but many believed that an elite team led by an elite coach would figure itself out by now. Las Vegas' offense has been substandard, but its defense has been the true demise of its season.
The Aces shook up their roster over the offseason by trading longtime guard Kelsey Plum for former WNBA scoring leader Jewell Loyd. The three-team deal sent Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks and gave the Seattle Storm the No. 2 pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft that ended up becoming French prodigy Dominique Malonga.
The trade was supposed to boost the Aces' offense, given Loyd's pedigree as an elite scorer. Yet, Loyd has not been able to find a groove in Las Vegas, averaging a career-low 10.7 points through her first 27 games with the team. But as poorly as the trade has worked out offensively, it has been even more damaging to the Aces' defense.
With just one month left in the regular season, the Aces are in danger of entirely missing out on the playoffs. The top eight teams qualify for the WNBA postseason, and the competition has intensified, with the No. 3 and No. 10 seeds separated by just six games. Time is quickly running out on Hammon, who has to fix the Aces' defense during the final stretch of the 2025 regular season.
Becky Hammon needs to fix Aces' defense to end 2025 season
The Aces' defense is not just bad; it is borderline atrocious. Any hopes that the team would simply “figure it out” after a rough start are long gone. Las Vegas currently ranks ninth in opponent points per game and defensive rating, the lowest of teams currently projected to make the playoffs.
For a team struggling to defend all areas of the court, it is difficult to pinpoint one specific area of improvement. However, the Aces have been particularly poor defending the paint, where they allow 36.8 points per game, the fifth-most in the league. They also allow the fourth-most offensive rebounds and second-chance points per game. A team that boasts a center like A'ja Wilson, who averages a league-leading 2.3 blocks per contest, should not be struggling as much to defend the interior.
Although the Aces' interior defensive issues are transparent, they struggle to defend anywhere within the three-point arc. Las Vegas allows 22.7 two-point field goals per game, by far the most in the league. Their interior struggles are so poor that it convinces teams to attack the rim at will, despite Becky Hammon's team also allowing opponents to hit three-pointers at the fourth-highest rate.
The Aces are acutely aware of their struggles; they just have not been able to adequately address them. The situation has only worsened since they acquired NaLyssa Smith in a trade with the Dallas Wings. Smith improves their offense on paper, but she is a subpar defender who frequently finds herself in foul trouble.
If any coach is equipped to handle the challenge, it is Hammon, a defensive-minded coach who grew up in Gregg Popovich's system with the San Antonio Spurs. There is just not a lot of time to turn the ship around if the Aces want to legitimately contend for their third WNBA title in the last four years.
How Becky Hammon can address defensive woes
With the 2025 WNBA trade deadline approaching, the Aces would be wise to shop around the market. They missed out on a potential chance to add defensive ace DiJonai Carrington, whom the Wings recently traded to the Minnesota Lynx, but they need to look at other available veterans.
The Aces might not be successful, but they should consider inquiring about physical, defensive-minded forwards like the Connecticut Sun's Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who is on an expiring contract, or the Chicago Sky's Michaela Onyenwere. Both players are key contributors to their current teams, but neither the Sun nor the Sky is currently in a position to make a playoff push.
Las Vegas could also benefit from adding gritty perimeter defenders like Washington Mystics guard Jade Melbourne or Sun guard Jacy Sheldon. There are not a lot of elite perimeter defenders who fit within the Aces' budget, but both would be valuable additions to Hammon's rotation.
Even if they are not active at the trade deadline, the Aces need to shake up their current rotation. They could benefit from re-inserting Kiah Stokes in the starting lineup for Smith, who might find more offensive opportunities off the bench. Stokes' impact is never noticed in the box score, but she played a key role on the Aces' 2022 and 2023 championship teams. Her sheer size is immediately noticeable on defense and on the glass — the two areas Las Vegas is struggling in the most.
There is no immediate fix to what the Aces are currently struggling with, but something needs to change over the final month of the 2025 WNBA regular season.
