The Liberty may have won the WNBA Finals in 2024, but the league's general manager survey released ahead of the regular season didn't suggest there's a unanimous expectation for them to repeat.
Instead, the Lynx dominated the voting for predicting this season's champions, with last year's runners-up collecting 60 percent of the votes, the Liberty collecting 20 percent and the Fever and the Aces tying for third with 10 percent each.
The results came from a 40-question survey in which the Liberty -- despite returning most of their core from the title team in Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu -- didn't fare well as defending champions, from forecasts for the MVP and best defensive player to the team that'll be the "most fun to watch" and who the GMs would want if they "were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the WNBA."
That doesn't mean the Liberty think they'll be flying under the radar this year, though. It doesn't mean they're being overlooked.