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The 2025 WNBA Draft is in the books, and the Dallas Wings hope it will be another transformative event in the league’s history, much like the 2024 draft was for the Indiana Fever. As expected, Paige Bueckers was the top selection — though, perhaps unexpectedly, walking the stage in her second outfit of the evening — and there weren’t many surprises until the third round.With the obvious caveat that the legacy of this draft will require much longer than 12 hours to determine, here are some early winners and losers from Monday.
Winners
Dallas Wings
The Wings have been a winner since they won the draft lottery on Nov. 17. Paige Bueckers is a superstar who will elevate the basketball and the business in Dallas immediately. Even if she doesn’t have the same immediate impact as Caitlin Clark, she is still more than capable of helping the Wings get back into the playoff picture and competing for an All-Star berth as a rookie. The Wings said they never entertained the possibility of trading the top pick, and Bueckers has seemingly rewarded their faith by committing to join Dallas this season. Championships are won with great players, and the Wings have one in Bueckers, who will be part of their next great team.
With only seven players guaranteed to make the Dallas roster prior to the draft, the other players the Wings selected are also big winners. Aziaha James (NC State) and Madison Scott (Ole Miss) each have a good chance of seeing the floor on opening night, and JJ Quinerly (West Virginia) and Aaronette Vonleh (Baylor) could both have strong showings in training camp. Dallas lost significant talent during the offseason, but the Wings have done well to recoup some of those losses with all-conference players.
UConn players
Bueckers stumped for her Huskies teammates in her interview with Holly Rowe right after being drafted, and WNBA general managers were listening. The Golden State Valkyries selected Kaitlyn Chen with the 30th pick, uniting Chen with the first Asian-American coach in league history, Natalie Nakase. Then, Minnesota drafted Aubrey Griffin at No. 37, sending the UConn players — and the entire crowd in New York — into a tizzy.
Griffin was No. 22 on my first big board for the 2025 draft, and though she has struggled with an injury, she has the athleticism to stick in the WNBA if given a chance. The Lynx have a pretty crowded roster, compounded by the acquisition of Karlie Samuelson, but they know better than anyone how productive Huskies can be, from stars like Maya Moore and Napheesa Collier to role players like Dorka Juhász.
Kaitlyn Chen's UConn teammates were hype after she got draftedpic.twitter.com/dgcc3AN4rt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 15, 2025
Seattle Storm
In time, Dominique Malonga could be the best player in this draft, and the Storm didn’t have to think twice about taking her second overall. Though only 19, she is already a productive player in Europe, and for all of the concerns about the availability of internationals — especially French players — during the WNBA season, Malonga has sincerely expressed her desire to be in the WNBA. She unites with her French teammate Gabby Williams, who should help her acclimate to playing abroad. She also gets to learn from one of the most skilled bigs in the league in Nneka Ogwumike. Malonga can play both the four and the five for Seattle, but the Storm also have enough frontcourt depth to let her develop at her own pace.
The Storm picked up some interesting players in the third round, each of whom has the one skill the team lacked in 2024: shooting. Seattle shot 28.8 percent from 3-point range last season. The career shooting percentages of Serena Sundell, Madison Conner and Jordan Hobbs are: 33.5, 40.4 and 34.9. Conner led the country in total made 3s during 2024-25, giving her an outside chance to make the roster despite being selected 29th. The Storm could realistically keep three players from this draft (due to torn ACLs to both Jordan Horston and Nika Mühl), and they found rotation players who can provide an impact right away.
Aaliyah Nye and Makayla Timpson
Rebecca Lobo said it again and again on the ESPN broadcast. Past the first round, it isn’t about when a player gets drafted, but where. Fit is of the utmost importance.
The Las Vegas Aces created a hole on the wing by leaving Kate Martin unprotected in the expansion draft, and then losing Tiffany Hayes and Alysha Clark in free agency. Nye (Alabama) has the opportunity to prove she can play that position in the W. She’s been a 3-and-D player in college, making 42 percent of her 3s and defending the best opposing guard. There is a risk in drafting a specialist, but the Aces clearly identified Nye as a missing piece. She couldn’t have asked for a more clearly defined role to start her W career.
Timpson (Florida State) also landed in an ideal spot. Indiana stocked up on bigs during the offseason, but Timpson most closely resembles Temi Fagbenle, who is now on the Valkyries. Clark loved having a rim-running big on the floor with her, and that is one of Timpson’s best skills.
Losers
Sedona Prince
In interviews conducted before the NCAA Tournament, several general managers expected Prince to be drafted. A history of injury and a seven-year college career as well as domestic abuse allegations, which she and her attorney have denied, followed her.
Her ability to protect the rim and stretch the floor to the midrange intrigued general managers. It’s unclear how front offices felt about her off-court issues after being able to talk to Prince during the pre-draft process. However, Prince’s NCAA Tournament performance certainly didn’t do her any favors. Her four-point effort for TCU against Texas in the Elite Eight — a game in which Prince fouled out — provided enough doubt about her on-court production, leaving Prince as the highest-profile undrafted player in 2025.
Teams that passed on Serena Sundell
Sundell was the final invitee to be drafted, waiting until the 26th pick to hear her name called. The Kansas State product landed in an ideal situation, however. Seattle needs guards, and it’s also the city where her brother Jalen, who plays for the NFL’s Seahawks, lives. On the other hand, teams that selected different players in the second round will rue the missed opportunity for a disciplined distributor who can create for herself and has WNBA size. Watch the tape of Sundell’s performance against Kentucky in the second round (when she went toe-to-toe with the No. 6 pick Georgia Amoore) or USC in the Sweet 16, and it’s unclear how she fell this far.
Los Angeles Sparks
Speaking of a team that passed on Sundell, Los Angeles has been bound for this designation since missing out on the No. 1 pick despite having the best odds. I also didn’t like how the Sparks ended up using their picks. Sarah Ashlee Barker (Alabama) had a phenomenal NCAA Tournament — her 45-point double-overtime masterpiece against Maryland helped her stock — and a strong senior season, but it’s worrisome when a player only starts to put up numbers when she’s older than everyone else in college. There is a lot less tape on Sania Feagin (South Carolina), who had to wait her turn at South Carolina behind some dominant post players, but she seems to be a strange long-term fit next to Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. She isn’t a great rebounder and doesn’t space the floor, and her best defensive skills duplicate Brink’s.
Fans who bought tickets to Golden State games during EuroBasket
The Valkyries held true to their offseason ethos of collecting international talent, specifically from Europe. They now have seven players with European citizenship after drafting Justė Jocytė fifth overall with their franchise’s first selection. Most of those players (Jocytė, Fagbenle, Cecilia Zandalasini, Carla Leite, Kyara Linskens, Janella Salaün and Julie Vanloo) appear to be pretty good bets to make the final roster, which will put Golden State in a tremendously strange position when players leave for international duty. EuroBasket takes place from June 18-29, when the Valkyries have a five-game homestand.
A feeling like no other >>>
Justė Jocytė's reaction from home is something special@CarMax | Golden State Valkyries Draft pic.twitter.com/HZ7Uj24HzY
— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) April 15, 2025
Kudos to Golden State, and especially vice president of basketball operations Vanja Černivec, for building its inaugural roster in an unconventional manner that arguably exploits some of other teams’ domestic biases. Global talent is significantly untapped, and the Valkyries are using that to their advantage. Unfortunately, this strategy will cause an expansion team to be without half of its roster for an extended home stretch. Imagine if Maria Conde and Iliana Rupert had been able to come over this season, too.
That week should be at least a good opportunity for Chen and Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers. Sellers fell further than expected but landed on a roster without many primary ballhandlers. Her positional versatility will come in handy for Golden State.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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