Editor’s note: After this story was published, Julie Allemand was placed on the Fever’s suspension list for the 2021 season because of commitments with the Belgian national team this summer.

With the 25th anniversary season of the WNBA set to tip off Friday, Just Women’s Sports has been previewing everything you need to know.

There has been plenty of talk about the league’s stars. Candace Parker faces high expectations in her first season with the Chicago Sky. The Seattle Storm are looking to repeat behind Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. Sabrina Ionescu is primed to build upon her injury-shortened rookie season, while rookie Charli Collier will begin to cement her legacy.

But what about the players who are waiting in the wings, ready to make an impact? The ones you don’t hear about in the headlines? After all, teams need their role players to step up in order to succeed. We’ve delivered our preseason power rankings and laid out our five storylines that will define the season.

Now we’re back, with the five players who have the most breakout potential this season.

Bridget Carleton

The Canadian national teamer has had quite the journey to the WNBA. After being drafted 21st overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2019 WNBA Draft, she was released after just four games. The Minnesota Lynx then signed her to a seven-day contract which turned into a season-long commitment.

Starting out as a fringe player for the Lynx, Carleton quickly gained the trust of the coaching staff during the bubble season. In her first WNBA start, the 6-foot-1 guard went 11-for-16 from the floor and made all 3-pointers she took, scoring 25 points. She became just the third player in WNBA history with at least 25 points and five rebounds in their first league start.

The others? Carleton’s teammate Napheesa Collier and five-time WNBA All-Star Candace Parker.

Through the rest of the 2020 season, Carleton hit 52 percent of her shots from the field and 45.7 percent of her 3-pointers, averaging 6.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Carleton should see even more time at guard this season for Minnesota, especially as Kayla McBride works her way back from overseas play. Carleton no longer has to prove that she belongs in the WNBA, which should take some pressure off as she looks to build on her impressive 2020 campaign.

Ezi Magbegor

The Storm will be looking to get even more out of their young center this season. Magbegor, who was considered for the All-Rookie team last season, averaged 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds and shot 56.9 percent from the floor as a reserve. While she averaged just 13.3 minutes per game last year, that number should increase after the Storm lost two starters — Natasha Howard and Alysha Clark — in the offseason.

Seattle is also waiting on several players to join them from overseas play. Breanna Stewart reported to training camp Tuesday, but head coach Dan Hughes doesn’t expect guard Epiphanny Prince, center Mercedes Russell or forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan to be available to play in the opener Saturday against Las Vegas.

Magbegor has room to improve defensively after averaging 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game last season. The 6-4 Australian has also been working on her 3-point shot in the offseason, averaging 41.7 percent with the Melbourne Boomers late in 2020. Since then, she’s had an additional four months to improve her game and come into her second WNBA season ready to make an impact for the reigning champions.

T’ea Cooper

T’ea Cooper’s WNBA story is similar to Carleton’s. Taken with the 18th pick in the 2020 draft, the Mercury cut her before the season to meet roster expectations. The Los Angeles Sparks then picked Cooper up after point guard Kristi Toliver opted out of the 2020 season.

The point guard averaged 7.3 points and 2.0 assists per game in the bubble, finishing the season seventh in points per game and eighth in assists per game among all rookies. If Cooper can become a more consistent shooter from 3, after ranking 29th among guards with at least 30 attempts last season, coach Derek Fisher will have even more reason to keep her on the floor.

The Sparks lost three of their top five players in total minutes this past offseason and are embarking on a new era without Candace Parker. That turnover creates an opportunity for Cooper to expand her role with the team. If Cooper continues to improve her game, the ceiling is high for the energetic player.

Julie Allemand

The Indiana Fever finished the 2020 season in second-to-last place, helping them land No. 4 overall pick Kysre Gondrezick. While many eyes will be on Gondrezick, the Fever will run through second-year guard Julie Allemand.

It’s hard to imagine now that Allemand was the 33rd pick in the 2016 WNBA draft and didn’t play in the league until last year, but the Belgian has quickly filled the role of high-level playmaker for a team that lacked one. She finished second in the league in assists per game last season at 5.8 while averaging 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. She also shot 47.8 percent from beyond the arc, which ranked third in the league.

While Gondrezick should help lighten Allemand’s load, look for them to play off each other and maximize Allemand’s potential.

Brionna Jones

The Connecticut Sun center is on the rise. In 2020, Jones improved her career-best scoring average from 7.7 points per game to 11.2, as well as her rebounding average from 2.2 rebounds per game to 5.6. Jones also shot a ridiculous 60.5 percent from the field. Prior to the 2020 season, Jones never exceeded nine minutes per game. In the Wubble, that number increased to 26.1.

She also went off in the Sun’s final preseason game this month, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds to lead the team. That type of performance suggests Jones’ ceiling is only getting higher as time goes on.

For a team that lacks depth, Jones will be pivotal alongside Jonquel Jones and DeWanna Bonner. With star forward Alyssa Thomas likely out for the season with a torn Achilles, the expectations for Jones only increase.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.