Where Ionescu, Sabally fall in ESPN's preseason top 50 WNBA rankings
Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally are joining forces in the Big Apple, and ESPN ranked both former Oregon stars among the best the WNBA has to offer.
Ahead of the WNBA's milestone 30th regular season, ESPN dropped its annual preseason ranking of the top 50 players in the league heading into the 2026 season. The Oregon Ducks have had a pair of former stars crack the list before, and now Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally will play together once again after reuniting with the New York Liberty. Ionescu moved up one spot from No.
7 last year to No. 6 in this year's edition of the preseason top 50 rankings. While battling multiple injuries, the former Oregon superstar scored 18.
2 points and 5. 7 assists per game en route to her fourth All-Star nomination. She did post some of the worst shooting numbers of her career, connecting on just 40.
1% of her shots from the field and a measly 29. 9% from distance, but some of that could be attributed to the health struggles that forced her to miss some time. "Despite foot, toe and neck injuries that lingered all season and forced Ionescu to sit out six games, she equaled the career-high scoring average she posted during the Liberty's 2024 championship run," ESPN's Charlie Creme wrote.