WNBA Mock Draft after the second weekend of March Madness

The 2026 WNBA Draft is fast approaching, part of a jam-packed offseason. Because of the long delay in getting a CBA signed, we’re fitting the entire WNBA offseason into about a month, which the WNBA Draft itself scheduled for April 13.

The Dallas Wings hold the No. 1 overall pick for the second season in a row, and the big question is what the Wings will do with that pick. We’ll also see what the two new expansions teams do to start off their franchises.

1. Dallas Wings: Awa Fam

Look, would pairing Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd be a great story? Sure, but basketball teams don’t need to be in the business of telling great stories. They need to be in the business of putting together winning basketball teams, and for the Wings, taking Spanish center Awa Fam here is the best move to build a winning basketball team.

The 6-foot-4 center would fill an immediate need for the Wings, who spent the entire 2025 season with a revolving door as far as bigs go. The 19-year-old might not have broken out quite as much this season at Valencia as people hoped, but she still has the most intriguing skillset in this class: size mixed with the ball skills and speed to make a major impact.

2. Minnesota Lynx – Olivia Miles

Texas Christian University Horned Frogs guard Olivia Miles | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Olivia Miles transferred to TCU and immediately had the best scoring season of her career, and while her 3-point percentage dropped a bit, she proved she can create her own shot and that she won’t be a liability as a scorer at the next level.

Add in her expertise as a playmaker and there’s no reason for Minnesota to pass on Miles here. She’s not quite the scoring threat that Fudd is, but point guard is a very important position and Miles is by far the best point guard prospect in this class.

3. Seattle Storm: Azzi Fudd

Over the past two seasons, Fudd has proven to be one of the best shooting prospects in years, shooting over 40 percent from deep in each of the past two seasons. While I worry about how the rest of her game might translate to the pros, the shooting ability is too good to ignore.

We don’t know how free agency will reshape rosters yet, but the Storm should be able to offer Fudd a chance to learn from veteran guards, as the roster at the end of last season featured Skylar Diggins, Brittney Sykes and Erica Wheeler.

4. Washington Mystics: Lauren Betts

I’ve kind of ping-ponged back and forth on how I view Lauren Betts as a pro. Paint-bound centers are a dying breed, but Betts might have the talent to succeed despite that. Is Washington the best fit? The team does still have Shakira Austin, but Betts is the best player available at this spot.

Ultimately, I’m more confident that Betts goes fourth than I am that Betts goes fourth to Washington. This is a prime spot to see the first trade of this WNBA Draft, and one of the expansion teams moving up wouldn’t shock me at all.

5. Chicago Sky: Kiki Rice

Kiki Rice was pretty high on draft boards a year ago, but slipped for awhile. Now, as we approach the 2026 WNBA Draft, her stock is back up where it originally was, and she’ll offer the Chicago Sky a solution to their point guard woes.

Rice is in that tier of players that you know won’t be a star, but that offers a high floor thanks to the things she does well. In her case, it’s shooting the ball from deep and passing. She can be a second-tier starting point guard in the WNBA.

6. Toronto Tempo: Flau’Jae Johnson

It feels like no one’s draft stock has fallen more than Flau’Jae Johnson. The LSU star seemed like she was being held back at times by Kim Mulkey’s system, which has led to much of the discussion about her path to WNBA stardom being speculative.

But even if her stock is down, the Tempo are in a spot where they have to be willing to take a risk. While there’s a chance Johnson never reaches her potential as a floor-running, offensive nightmare, the possibility that she does makes her the right pick for the Tempo.

7. Portland Fire: Ta’Niya Latson

A lot of the hype around Ta’Niya Latson has faded now that she’s no longer the nation’s leading scorer, but that was never going to be sustainable when she went to South Carolina. What interests me is that in a lower-usage role, Latson’s field goal percentage almost hit 50 percent for the first time, and she cut down her turnover issues immensely.

I’m still concerned by her lack of a consistent 3-pointer, but Latson has appeal as a lead guard who can take over a game offensively. She should be a more well-rounded player after a year under Dawn Staley.

8. Golden State Valkyries: Nell Angloma

Drafting a 19-year-old international player would be a forward-thinking move by this Valkyries front office, and based on how 2025 went, I trust this staff to make that kind of move.

Nell Angloma is an athletic wing who already understands how to attack defenses. She uses her explosiveness to navigate to the hoop, though for her long-term development, she’ll need to focus on fixing her jump shot. Golden State could let her stay overseas for a year to continue working on her game before bringing her over.

9. Washington Mystics: Gianna Kneepkens

One of the most controversial prospects in this class, Gianna Kneepkens is an elite 3-point shooter, but analysts worry that there isn’t really much else to her game beyond the shooting. It’s a concern I very much get. How effective can Kneepkens be if she’s fully reliant on other players to create shot attempts for her?

Then again, you don’t find shooters like this growing on trees. Kneepkens’ worst season as a 3-point shooter saw her knock down 38.4 percent of her looks as a freshman. Taking her ninth feels like the right spot as far as risk vs. reward goes.

10. Indiana Fever: Raven Johnson

It can sometimes be hard to figure out what to think of South Carolina players simply because Staley is so good at recruiting that the lineup is always stacked, so individual players don’t stand out as much. It can also be tough to judge players who have late breakouts. Raven Johnson is extra tough as she is both.

Johnson averaged double-digit points for the first time this season and shot 50 percent from the floor, a big jump from 35 percent last year. The 2025-26 version of Johnson looks like a WNBA contributor, maybe as a third guard off the bench, but the risk is that this is the first time she’s really looked like this.

11. Washington Mystics: Iyana Martin

Iyana Martin was expected by many to end up as an early first-round pick, but the 19-year-old Spanish guard has struggled defensively, which has limited her appeal and has dropped her in the rankings.

Still, she has an excellent feel for the game offensively, and a lot of room to grow, and the Mystics have three first-round picks, so the team has the luxury of using one on an international player who won’t come over immediately.

12. Connecticut Sun: Gabriela Jaquez

The future Houston Comets don’t have a selection until Pick 12 despite having a poor record last season, so there’s no game-changing talent available here. What is available is a very enticing role player in UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez.

While I don’t think Jaquez will be great at creating her own shot in the pro game, she can operate as an off-ball weapon who can put the ball on the floor when needed, and she’ll bring hard-nosed defense to the court. Jaquez can be really solid as a third or, ideally, fourth option.

13. Atlanta Dream: Cotie McMahon

Cotie McMahon is one of the more intriguing players in this class for me because she’s an objectively good basketball player, but her reliance on physicality in college is a risky bet when discussing how her game will adapt to the pro game.

The problem is McMahon’s shooting 27.8 percent on above-the-break 3s won’t cut it in the WNBA, and while she’s an above-average shooter from the major zones inside the arc, I’m not sure it’s by a wide-enough margin to make up for concerns with her jump shooting.

14. Seattle Storm: Madina Okot

The Storm don’t need another big, in theory, but it’d be hard to pass up the upside of South Carolina’s Madina Okot at this spot. The 6-foot-6 center flashed a lot of potential in her lone season with the Gamecocks, and while her shooting efficiency dropped a bit from the previous season at Mississippi State, she’s still a strong finisher who has teased a little jump-shooting upside.

She’s also still a fairly raw prospect, though. Okot comes with turnover and fouling concerns, and while she has the physical talent to be a monster on the defensive end with blocks and rebounds, she has to make sure she can actually stay out on the floor for extended periods.

15. Connecticut Sun: Charlisse Leger-Walker

Lot of ways the Sun can go here, as the roster has a significant number of holes, but I like the idea of taking the best point guard prospect left on the board: Charlisse Leger-Walker.

Leger-Walker’s numbers took a hit this season on a loaded UCLA team, but she actually had the most efficient season of her career both overall and from 3-point range. Her 5.8 assists per game were also the most of her career, and her 2.1 turnovers were the fewest. Leger-Walker is a skilled ball-handler, but shooting concerns as well as injury issues present some big question marks to WNBA teams.

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This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as WNBA Mock Draft after the second weekend of March Madness.

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