Three championships in four years. An MVP who seems to get better every season. A coaching staff that has turned continuity into a competitive weapon. Heading into the 2026 WNBA season, the Las Vegas Aces aren't just defending champions — they're chasing something historic. With training camp officially underway as of April 19, 2026, the organization has made clear that a fourth title in five years isn't a fantasy. It's the plan.
Photos from the opening of training camp tell the story before a single stat does: A'ja Wilson, all smiles, running drills with teammates who've played alongside her long enough to anticipate her next move. That familiarity — rare in a league defined by player movement — is precisely why Las Vegas enters 2026 as the team to beat. Again.
The Dynasty That Keeps Building: A Championship Foundation
Context matters when evaluating what the Aces have accomplished. WNBA dynasties are uncommon, and three-peats essentially don't happen — until Las Vegas made them routine. The Aces claimed the 2025 WNBA Championship, their third title in four years, cementing their place among the most dominant runs in league history.
The engine of that run is A'ja Wilson, who won both MVP and Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2025. Wilson has evolved from a transcendent scorer into arguably the most complete player in women's professional basketball — a perimeter threat, a post anchor, and a defensive disruptor who shapes the game on both ends. For a team built around her, the ceiling rises as long as she does.
Head coach Becky Hammon and president/general manager Nikki Fargas have constructed an organization that mirrors Wilson's relentlessness. Hammon, who took over and immediately led the team to championships, runs a system demanding both individual excellence and collective unselfishness. Fargas, holding both president and GM titles, has proven adept at retention — a skill that matters enormously in a league where roster instability can derail contenders in a single offseason.
Free Agency Wins: How Las Vegas Rebuilt Without Tearing Anything Down
The best offseason move a championship team can make is keeping what works. Las Vegas did exactly that, and then added depth on top of continuity. The Aces confirmed Jewell Loyd's three-year deal — structured with escalating salaries of $800,000 in 2026, $840,000 in 2027, and $860,000 in 2028 — alongside a flurry of other signings that reshaped their depth chart for the better.
Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, NaLyssa Smith, and Dana Evans all re-signed with Las Vegas, ensuring that the playoff rotation that delivered a championship stays largely intact. The Aces locked in these key free agents ahead of the 2026 WNBA Draft, giving the front office leverage to address specific needs rather than scrambling to fill holes in their starting lineup.
The Aces are one of only two 2025 playoff teams to retain every starter from their postseason run. That distinction isn't just trivia — it's a competitive advantage. Chemistry compounds over time. Playoff experience compounds over time. When rosters stay together, players don't just know what their teammates will do. They know when they'll do it.
Want to rep the dynasty? Las Vegas Aces jerseys are among the most popular in the WNBA, and Las Vegas Aces merchandise has expanded significantly with the team's championship success.
Training Camp 2026: Stars, Depth, and One Significant Concern
Las Vegas opened training camp on April 19 with a 13-player roster that includes both familiar faces and new additions. The early tone was exactly what you'd expect from a defending champion: competitive, focused, and calibrated toward October rather than April.
The major injury concern entering camp is Dana Evans, who is sidelined indefinitely with a left leg injury. Evans had re-signed with the team but begins the season unavailable, which creates real rotation questions in the backcourt. Evans is a high-energy guard whose defensive intensity and clutch shooting have made her a valued contributor off the bench. Her absence — however long it lasts — will require Hammon to deploy other players in expanded roles earlier than planned.
New additions Stephanie Talbot and Brianna Turner bring defensive versatility and frontcourt depth respectively. Turner, a proven center with WNBA experience, provides insurance behind Wilson in the post and gives Hammon a legitimate rotation option without sacrificing size or effort. Talbot's length and defensive instincts fit the Aces' identity well.
The draft haul includes rookies Janiah Barker and Jordan Obi, both of whom will compete for minutes in a training camp environment that won't hand them anything. For Barker and Obi, the challenge is the privilege: learning from Wilson, Gray, and Young every day is an accelerant for development that most rookies don't get.
The Chennedy Carter Factor: Scoring Punch and Competitive Fire
Of all the new additions, Chennedy Carter carries the most intrigue — and the most upside. Carter averaged 17.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game with the Chicago Sky in 2024 before playing overseas in 2025. That scoring volume, added to a roster that already features Wilson, Loyd, and Gray, gives Las Vegas a genuine sixth-man option capable of taking over games.
Carter's signing immediately drew comparisons to matchups with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever — and for good reason. Carter is a physical, aggressive guard who plays with an edge that raises the competitive temperature of any game she's in. On a team that already wins, that kind of chip-on-the-shoulder energy from a secondary scorer is a legitimately dangerous combination.
The role definition will be critical. Carter has been a primary option for most of her career, and integrating that offensive instinct within a system where Wilson is the first, second, and sometimes third option requires buy-in. If Hammon can channel Carter's scoring into high-leverage moments — late-game situations, run-stopping bursts off the bench — Las Vegas gains the kind of firepower multiplier that separates good teams from great ones in a playoff series.
What Las Vegas Lost — and Why the Losses Are Manageable
No offseason is cost-free. The Aces lost Kiah Stokes to the Golden State Valkyries, Megan Gustafson to the Portland Fire, and Aaliyah Nye, who was selected by the Toronto Tempo in the expansion draft. These aren't inconsequential departures — Stokes brought physicality and veteran leadership, Gustafson was an efficient post scorer, and Nye was a promising young player.
But the losses need to be evaluated against what was retained. When you keep Wilson, Loyd, Gray, Young, Smith, and Evans — and add Carter, Talbot, and Turner — the departures represent depth rotation changes, not structural damage. The Aces didn't lose a starter. They didn't lose a co-star. They lost complementary pieces and replaced them with comparable or superior complementary pieces.
Yahoo Sports' in-depth 2026 roster analysis frames it precisely: Las Vegas is counting on star power and continuity. That's not a strategy born of limited options — it's a deliberate approach that acknowledges what championship rosters actually look like. You build around immovable pillars and fill the edges with depth. The pillars here are among the best in the sport.
The expansion of the league — Toronto Tempo is one of several new franchises — also slightly dilutes opposition depth, which benefits established contenders with deep talent pools disproportionately. Las Vegas enters 2026 with more proven experience than any expansion or rebuilding team can match.
What a Fourth Title Would Actually Mean
Four championships in five years would place the Las Vegas Aces in a conversation reserved for the most dominant franchises in professional basketball history. The Houston Comets won four consecutive WNBA titles from 1997–2000, a record that has stood for over two decades. Las Vegas winning in 2026 wouldn't match that streak in consecutive terms, but it would represent an era of sustained dominance unlike anything the modern WNBA has seen.
The implications extend beyond hardware. A prolonged Las Vegas dynasty shapes the entire league — it establishes the organizational template that others will study and attempt to replicate, it locks premium free agents into gravitating toward established winners, and it elevates individual brands (Wilson's in particular) into the rare tier of athlete whose sport-defining greatness generates cultural reach well beyond casual fandom.
The Aces will have the fourth-most nationally televised games in the 2026 season, a scheduling choice that reflects both their championship status and the league's investment in showcasing its premier franchise. More eyeballs mean more scrutiny, but for a team this experienced under pressure, scrutiny is just fuel.
Hammon, already one of the most accomplished coaches in WNBA history, would cement a legacy that transcends comparison. A four-title run in five years as head coach — without the benefit of reinvention, just disciplined execution of a proven system — would make her argument for greatest coach in league history essentially unanswerable.
For broader sports context, the 2026 season features competitive storylines across leagues — check out how playoff dynamics are playing out in the NBA Playoffs with Celtics vs. 76ers, where star power and roster continuity matter just as much.
Frequently Asked Questions: Las Vegas Aces 2026
When did the Las Vegas Aces start their 2026 training camp?
The Aces officially tipped off training camp on April 19, 2026, with a 13-player roster that includes A'ja Wilson, Jewell Loyd, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and new additions Chennedy Carter, Stephanie Talbot, and Brianna Turner, among others.
Who is injured on the Las Vegas Aces entering the 2026 season?
Dana Evans is sidelined indefinitely with a left leg injury. Evans had re-signed with the team this offseason but begins training camp unavailable, creating a void in the backcourt rotation that will require other guards to absorb additional minutes early in the season.
What is Jewell Loyd's contract with the Aces?
Jewell Loyd signed a three-year deal with escalating salaries: $800,000 in 2026, $840,000 in 2027, and $860,000 in 2028. The deal was officially confirmed on April 13, 2026, as part of a broader free agency push that also secured Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, NaLyssa Smith, and Dana Evans.
How many WNBA championships have the Las Vegas Aces won?
The Aces have won three WNBA Championships — in 2022, 2023, and 2025. A 2026 title would give the franchise four championships in five seasons. The team won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, then claimed the 2025 crown after a gap year.
Who coaches the Las Vegas Aces?
Becky Hammon serves as head coach. Hammon has been the driving force behind Las Vegas's dynasty, implementing a system that maximizes A'ja Wilson's capabilities while maintaining the collective discipline necessary to win under playoff pressure. Nikki Fargas holds the dual role of team president and general manager.
The Bottom Line: Las Vegas Enters 2026 as the Team to Beat
The case for Las Vegas in 2026 isn't complicated, and it doesn't need to be. They have the best player in the league. They have the most experienced roster in the league. They have a coaching staff that has solved the hardest problem in team sports — sustaining excellence — not once or twice, but three times running.
The addition of Chennedy Carter gives them a scoring option that can punish opponents in transition and create off-the-dribble mayhem in half-court sets. The continuity of their starting five means chemistry concerns that plague rival rosters simply don't apply. And the frontcourt depth provided by Brianna Turner means Wilson can be managed through a long regular season without the kind of wear that comes from carrying every defensive assignment alone.
Dana Evans's injury is real. The expansion of the league creates new competitive uncertainty. And any team that goes to battle expecting to coast will get humbled. But Las Vegas isn't built to coast — they're built to compete at maximum intensity when it matters most.
Four titles in five years. That's the goal. Based on everything the 2026 roster suggests, it's not overreach. It's trajectory.
