Eight hot takes for the final month of the WNBA regular season - ESPN

With four weeks left in the WNBA regular season, it's easy to predict the Minnesota Lynx will be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and that Napheesa Collier continues to be the MVP favorite. But there's still a lot to be determined.

And the hot takes we might have made in May — such as the expansion Golden State Valkyries will make the 2025 playoffs — don't seem much like going out on a limb now.

By the same token, because of injuries and player movement, some of the lineups on court recently couldn't have been predicted but now seem pragmatic, if nothing else. Getting to the end of a 44-game schedule with your team intact? Likely not going to happen. Making it to the postseason as healthy and cohesive as possible is the goal, but in some cases just getting there at all will be a success.

A few more twists, turns and surprises are likely on the way. In the meantime, ESPN's Kendra Andrews, Kevin Pelton and Michael Voepel offer eight hot takes on the WNBA season.

For much of the season, the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty looked like the top team or No. 2 team in the league. But on Wednesday, the Atlanta Dream's win over the Seattle Storm, combined with the Liberty's loss to the Las Vegas Aces, moved Atlanta to a half-game lead over New York in the standings. The Liberty have a 2-1 edge over the Dream in their regular-season series, but the two meet again in Atlanta in 10 days.

According to ESPN Analytics, the Dream have the easiest remaining schedule in the WNBA. Though they face the Storm, Valkyries, Aces and Lynx heading into their matchup against the Liberty, Atlanta then will play the Connecticut Sun three times, the Los Angeles Sparks twice and Dallas Wings before the regular season ends.

New York, meanwhile,