In 2019, the Washington Mystics won the WNBA championship after a memorable series with the Connecticut Sun went the full five games. Washington won on the injured back of Elena Delle Donne, with Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins making huge contributions to the Mystics’ win. While the Sun lost, Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas starred as Connecticut showed it was a team to watch.
Six years later, those two teams realized it was time for a rebuild. Delle Donne stepped away from the game; Cloud is now on New York’s roster after a year in Phoenix, and she’ll be playing with Jones. Atkins was traded to Chicago, and Thomas was traded to Phoenix. The Mystics and the Sun will make five of this year’s 12 first-round picks, hoping to find players to build their next championship-caliber squads.
Note: There are only 12 spots despite the league having 13 teams this season because the Las Vegas Aces lost their first-round draft pick because of rules violations in 2023.
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Also, one player no team will be able to draft is UConn’s Azzi Fudd. Though she was eligible for the draft, she announced on her Instagram this week that she’s electing to stay in Storrs for one more year.
Without further ado, here’s Yahoo Sports’ first-round projection ahead of the April 14 WNBA Draft:
1. Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers, UConn
In November, after Dallas won the WNBA Draft lottery, longtime Wings star Arike Ogunbowale posted just how happy she was on X.
Why was she so happy? With the first pick in the draft, Dallas has the right to select Paige Bueckers. She’s shown in the NCAA tournament that she is the kind of player teammates can count on. She scored 34 points in UConn’s second-round win over South Dakota State, and even paid for the tickets for 1,500 students to attend her final game in Storrs.
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The Wings, meanwhile, struggled last season as several players were injured, and remade much of their core in the offseason, with Satou Sabally now in Phoenix and Natasha Howard in Indiana. The team wants a special player to help change its fortunes. Bueckers is that player.
2. Seattle Storm: Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Seattle guard and Notre Dame alumna Skylar Diggins-Smith was in the crowd in South Bend on Friday as the Fighting Irish beat Stephen F. Austin in the first round. Though Olivia Miles left the game early due to an ankle injury, she still was able to show off skills that had to have Diggins-Smith dreaming about what could be. Miles’ ability to get her teammates the ball even in the tightest defense — while scoring plenty of her own points — would fit in well in Seattle.
3. Washington Mystics: Kiki Iriafen, USC
4. Washington Mystics: Sonia Citron, Notre Dame
The No. 3 pick originally belonged to the Chicago Sky, but Washington acquired it in the aforementioned Atkins trade, giving the Mystics a golden opportunity to acquire some top talent. What Iriafen and Citron have in common is an ability to deliver exactly what their teams need in high-pressure moments. Washington is starting fresh, and will need rookies who can handle the stress of WNBA games from the jump.
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On Monday night, when USC superstar Juju Watkins went down with an ACL tear early in the second-round game with Mississippi State, the Trojans could have fallen apart. But Iriafen would not let them, scoring 36 points in the win. She averaged 19.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season, and has the size to make an impact right now.
When Notre Dame needs a big shot, they put the ball in Citron’s hands. Her most recent memorable opportunity was a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Fighting Irish’s game against NC State into overtime on Feb. 23. She averaged 14.3 points and 5.8 rebounds during her career at Notre Dame, and could add a boost to Washington’s rebuild.
5. Golden State Valkyries: Dominique Malonga, France
Starting its roster from scratch, Golden State values the experience foreign players bring to the WNBA. Nine of the players on its current roster of 15 are from outside the U.S. There’s no reason to think they wouldn’t look for another international player in the draft. At 6-foot-6, Malonga already has an advantage with her size. She helped France win a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, and has the kind of potential most coaches would drool over. In 20 games with Lyon this past season, Malonga averaged 15.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
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6. Washington Mystics: Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
Assuming the above players go to Washington, they will join young players like Aaliyah Edwards and Shakira Austin to create a potent group on the court. But they still could use a top-notch facilitator and ball handler like Paopao, who’s been a key part of the Gamecocks’ recent success after transferring from Oregon. During South Carolina’s championship season last year, Paopao averaged 11.0 points and 3.7 assists.
7. Connecticut Sun: Aneesah Morrow, LSU
8. Connecticut Sun: Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
As the Sun work on figuring out their identity in 2025, they will need versatile players, and Morrow fits that role. She can score and rebound, leading the NCAA in rebounds per game and double-doubles. Morrow scored 26 points in LSU’s dominant second-round win over Florida State, and will continue to be a crucial piece of the Tigers’ run, however long it lasts. Meanwhile, Sellers has shown she can score and score and score. In Maryland’s epic double-overtime win over Alabama in the second round, Sellers scored 28 points. This season she’s averaged 14.5 points and 4.1 assists per game.
9. Los Angeles Sparks: Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
The Sparks were 10th in the league in 3-point percentage last season, and Amoore has been a 3-point sharpshooter (35.6 percent) for her entire college career, starting at Virginia Tech before heading to Kentucky. She could make an instant difference in their offense as new head coach Lynne Roberts helps the team find its identity alongside last year’s No. 2 pick Cameron Brink.
Will the Sky be looking to draft their PG of the future? TCU’s Hailey Van Lith could learn from a franchise legend while making an impact off the bench. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
(Ron Jenkins via Getty Images)
10. Chicago Sky: Hailey Van Lith, TCU
During free agency, the Chicago Sky signed Courtney Vandersloot, bringing back a point guard who was key to so many of the franchise’s successful moments. But Vandersloot is 36, and it would make sense for the Sky to draft a point guard like Van Lith, who can learn from Vandersloot and contribute meaningful minutes off the bench.
11. Minnesota Lynx: Saniya Rivers, NC State
If you’ve watched the NCAA tournament, you’ve seen what Rivers can accomplish on the court. She scored a double-double against Michigan State in the second round with 17 points and 11 assists, nearly notching a triple-double with eight rebounds. Rivers is flexible and can play different roles on the court, and that’s the exact kind of player Cheryl Reeve and the Lynx like.
12. Dallas Wings: Juste Jocyte, Lithuania
Coming from a basketball family, Jocyte has been playing high-level basketball since she was 13. Her club team is ASVEL Feminin in France, but she really stood out for the Lithuanian team as they played in the EuroBasket qualifiers. Jocyte averaged 17 points per game, including a 22-point game against Belgium, the reigning EuroBasket champions. There’s work she needs to do, but playing with Ogunbowale in Dallas could help her reach that next level.
