This year’s WNBA, Women’s National Basketball Association, draft occurred on Monday, April 18, 2025. The WNBA draft is the night when female college basketball players from all over the globe get drafted into the WNBA. Currently, there are 13 teams in the WNBA, with more supposedly on the way. This year, 38 new players were drafted to the WNBA, meaning roughly 3 players were drafted to each team.
This year, the WNBA draft was highly anticipated by fans around the world. The projected list had been out for months before the draft started, but some decisions were made by college athletes that had the list in a scramble. Azzi Fudd, a guard from UConn, was a player that the WNBA was wanting desperately, but with one more year of eligibility, Fudd decided to remain at UConn instead of entering the 2025 draft. Fudd is now who a lot of people think will be the number one draft pick in the 2026 WNBA draft. Another player’s decision that threw people for a loop was Notre Dame’s point guard, Olivia Miles. Not only did Miles not enter the 2025 WNBA draft, but she also entered the transfer portal. Miles talked to many schools but officially ended up transferring to TCU with the expectation of being their starting point guard.
At the top of this year’s projected draft list was UConn’s point guard, Paige Bueckers. Bueckers is a two-time gold medalist with USA basketball, she’s won numerous National Player of the Year awards, she is a three-time All-American, but most importantly, she was a part of the team that took home the national championship title in the Women’s College NCAA Tournament this year. Draft night was finally here, and the Dallas Wings had the first pick of the draft. With the first pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, the Dallas Wings select… Paige Bueckers: University of Connecticut. There is no doubt that Paige Bueckers deserved the be the first pick in the draft. Not only is she a beast on the court, but also a positive influence on girls and boys all around the world.
The second pick in the draft was 6’6” forward Dominique Malonga, from France. Malonga has been in everyone’s mouth because she can dunk with ease. Malonga even laid down a dunk in her first practice with the Seattle Storm. Some other top picks were Sonia Citron from Notre Dame, who was drafted to the Washington Mystics; Kiki Iriafin from USC, who was also drafted by the Mystics; and Justė Jocytė from Lithuania, who was drafted by the newest team in the WNBA, the Golden State Valkyries.
Though the beginning of the draft was exciting and intense. I think that the third round of the draft is
even more exciting. The third round of the draft is usually filled with players who aren’t directly invited to the draft. These picks, in my opinion, are so much more exciting because they’re unexpected. A fan-favorite third-round pick in this year’s draft was UConn guard Kaitlyn Chen, who was drafted to the Golden State Valkyries. Kaitlyn originally played for the Ivy League school, Princeton, but transferred to UConn for her last season.
After the draft, players are almost immediately beginning at their team’s training camp and starting their preseason games. However, just because you are drafted to a certain team doesn’t mean you will make the official roster. WNBA rosters only have a max of 12 players compared to the NBA’s 15. One major surprise was when the 17th pick in the draft, Shyanne Sellers, was waived by Golden State. Just because you are waived from 
one team doesn’t mean you’re completely out of the conversation. For example, Sellers was soon picked up by the Atlanta Dream, and hopefully, they will make her an official member of their team.
Just as the pre-season started, many players started to get injured. I believe this is because female basketball players have no break compared to men. Most women’s teams end their college seasons in late March/early April, and with the draft happening in mid-April and the season starting almost immediately after, female athletes don’t get a chance to rest their bodies. If you compare this to the men’s side, you’d see that the NBA draft isn’t until mid-to-late June, but their college seasons end at the same time as the women’s. These male athletes are getting a 2-3 month break compared to the women’s week-long to month-long break. If women got the same breaks as men, maybe there would be fewer injuries seen in the WNBA.
Overall, this year’s draft was full of exciting and unexpected picks. People all over the world, including myself, can’t wait to see what is in store for this season as well as next year’s draft. Who will win the WNBA final? Who will be the first overall pick next year? Stay tuned to all things WNBA to find out.
