WNBA preview: Angel Reese, Napheesa Collier among top players to watch this season

WNBA fans are still abuzz about Fever star Caitlin Clark, but there are others who could grab the spotlight this season.

A face of the WNBA for two decades, Diana Taurasi, has retired. A new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players union — one that could bring higher salaries — is under negotiation. And while the WNBA Finals in four of the last five years have featured either the Las Vegas Aces or the New York Liberty, that’s no guarantee their hold on the league will continue.

Into this moment of transition arrives a new WNBA season, which begins Friday with no shortage of intriguing players. NBC News breaks down who to watch.

Having earned Rookie of the Year and led Indiana to the postseason, Clark has firmly established she can guide a high-powered offense. Now, Clark won’t have as heavy of an offensive burden to carry in her second season, with the offseason additions of DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham and Natasha Howard to an offense that was one of the league’s absolute best during the final half. With the ball constantly in her hands, Clark will have to sort out the best ways to involve her teammates while still playing her trademark aggressive style.

The seventh-year guard has finished in the top 10 of MVP voting every season of her career but one and has never averaged less than 18 points per game. Criticized at times as an inefficient scorer, the career 39% shooter is nonetheless still a top option for creating her own shot off the dribble.

Her challenge this season is building chemistry with a new running mate after an offseason in which Dallas traded away Satou Sabally and drafted former Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers first overall. A backcourt of Ogunbowale and Bueckers is dangerous in theory. How will it work in practice?