2025 WNBA Draft Recap: Paige Bueckers drafted No. 1 overall by Dallas Wings

Controversial potential pick Sedona Prince (TCU) was widely believed to be the best available player since late in the second round. Ultimately, she went undrafted. Prince has faced assault allegations from multiple women.

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• No. 26 (R3, P1) — Seattle Storm / Serena Sundell (G), Kansas State
• No. 27 (R3, P2) — Dallas Wings / JJ Quinerly (G), West Virginia
• No. 28 (R3, P3) — LA Sparks / Liatu King (F), Notre Dame
• No. 29 (R3, P4) — Seattle Storm / Madison Conner (G), TCU
• No. 30 (R3, P5) — Golden State Valkyries / Kaitlyn Chen (G), UConn
• No. 31 (R3, P6) — Dallas Wings / Aaronette Vonleh (C), Baylor
• No. 32 (R3, P7) — Washington Mystics / Zaay Green (G), Alabama
• No. 33 (R3, P8) — Indiana Fever / Yvonne Ejim (F), Gonzaga
• No. 34 (R3, P9) — Seattle Storm / Jordan Hobbs (G), Michigan
• No. 35 (R3, P10) — Las Vegas Aces / Harmoni Turner (G), Harvard
• No. 36 (R3, P11) — Atlanta Dream / Taylor Thierry (F), Ohio State
• No. 37 (R3, P12) — Minnesota Lynx / Aubrey Griffin (F), UConn

• No. 38 (R3, P13) — New York Liberty / Adja Kane (F), France

  

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• No. 13 (R2, P1) — Las Vegas Aces / Aaliyah Nye (G), Alabama
• No. 14 (R2, P2) — Dallas Wings / Madison Scott (F), Ole Miss
• No. 15 (R2, P3) — Minnesota Lynx / Anastasiia Olairi Kosu (F), Russia
• No. 16 (R2, P4) — Chicago Sky / Maddy Westbeld (F), Notre Dame
• No. 17 (R2, P5) — Golden State Valkyries / Shyanne Sellers (G), Maryland
• No. 18 (R2, P6) — Atlanta Dream / Te-Hina Paopao (G), South Carolina
• No. 19 (R2, P7) — Indiana Fever / Makayla Timpson (F), Florida State
• No. 20 (R2, P8) — Indiana Fever / Bree Hall (G), South Carolina
• No. 21 (R2, P9) — LA Sparks / Sania Feagin (F), South Carolina
• No. 22 (R2, P10) — Chicago Sky / Aicha Coulibaly (G), Texas A&M
• No. 23 (R2, P11) — Washington Mystics / Lucy Olsen (G), Iowa
• No. 24 (R2, P12) — Minnesota Lynx / Dalayah Daniels (F), Washington
• No. 25 (R2, P13) — Connecticut Sun / Rayah Marshall (F), USC

• No. 19 (R2, P7) — Indiana Fever: Makayla Timpson (F), Florida State
• No. 20 (R2, P8) — Indiana Fever: Bree Hall (G), South Carolina
• No. 21 (R2, P9) — LA Sparks: Sania Feagin (F), South Carolina
• No. 22 (R2, P10) — Chicago Sky: Aicha Coulibaly (G), Texas A&M
• No. 23 (R2, P11) — Washington Mystics: Lucy Olsen (G), Iowa
• No. 24 (R2, P12) — Minnesota Lynx: Dalayah Daniels (F), Washington
• No. 25 (R2, P13) — Connecticut Sun: Rayah Marshall (F), USC

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• No. 13 (R2, P1) — Las Vegas Aces: Aaliyah Nye (G), Alabama
• No. 14 (R2, P2) — Dallas Wings: Madison Scott (F), Ole Miss
• No. 15 (R2, P3) — Minnesota Lynx: Anastasiia Olairi Kosu (F), Russia
• No. 16 (R2, P4) — Chicago Sky: Maddy Westbeld (F), Notre Dame
• No. 17 (R2, P5) — Golden State Valkyries: Shyanne Sellers (G), Maryland
• No. 18 (R2, P6) — Atlanta Dream: Te-Hina Paopao (G), South Carolina

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1. Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers (G), UConn
2. Seattle Storm: Dominique Malonga (C), France
3. Washington Mystics: Sonia Citron (G), Notre Dame
4. Washington Mystics: Kiki Iriafen (F), USC
5. Golden State Valkyries: Juste Jocyte (G), Lithuania
6. Washington Mystics: Georgia Amoore (G), Kentucky
7. Connecticut Sun: Aneesah Morrow (F), LSU
8. Connecticut Sun: Saniya Rivers (G), NC State
9. LA Sparks: Sarah Ashlee Barker (G), Alabama
10. Chicago Sky: Ajsa Sivka (SF), Slovenia
11. Chicago Sky: Hailey Van Lith (G), TCU
12. Dallas Wings: Aziaha James (G), NC State

Another member of the Wolfpack is off the board as the Dallas Wings select Aziaha James to join No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers. No doubt, teams are going to have a hard time defending this group. James shouts out her family, specifically her brother, who passed away in 2020, as she’s selected with the final pick of the first round.

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There was debate whether Olympic 3x3 bronze medalist Hailey Van Lith may drop out of the first round, but the Chicago Sky use their late trade to snag the TCU point guard. She joins former LSU teammate Angel Reese in Chicago, bringing even more star power to the Sky.

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A 6'4" small forward, Sivka joins the Chicago Sky from Slovenia. She won gold with her country at the 2023 FIBA U18 European Championships.

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Sarah Ashlee Barker split her college years between Georgia (two seasons) and Alabama (three seasons), finishing her career with the Crimson Tide and averaging 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists this season.

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The Sun take a versatile guard in Saniya Rivers, who played for the NC State Wolfpack the past three seasons and spent one season with the South Carolina Gamecocks prior to that. She can impact the game on both ends of the court and is ready to be a “sponge” with her new team.

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The 2025 Katrina McClain Award winner, Morrow had 104 double-doubles in her college career — the second most in Division I history. Pior to her last two seasons with LSU, Morrow played for the DePaul Blue Demons for two seasons.

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After a transformative season with the Wildcats, Australian guard Georgia Amoore gets the nod at No. 6 and immediately mentions her new teammates in Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen. Amoore gets knocked for her height (5'6"), but she makes up for it and then some, averaging 19.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 6.9 assists this season with the Wildcats. Prior to her one-year stint with Kentucky, she played for Virginia Tech for four seasons.

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The newest WNBA team gets its first of three picks tonight and pick another international player to join their roster in Lithuanian shooting guard/small forward Juste Jocyte. The Valkyries already have nine other international players on their roster, which is the most in the W.

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An outstanding three-point shooter, Iriafen is a Nigerian-American forward (and wearing a stunning gold dress from a Nigerian designer, she adds). She played for Stanford for three seasons before finishing her career at USC, averaging 18 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

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Sonia Citron cemented herself as one of the Notre Dame greats this season, becoming the only player in Notre Dame history with 1700 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. She has 11 career double-doubles, which ranks fifth in program history for a guard.

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At just 19 years old, Malonga is leaving her French club, Lyon, to join the Storm. She played for France in the Paris Olympics and was the youngest player on the team. Malonga becomes just the fifth French woman to be selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft.

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No one is surprised as Bueckers heads to the stage and receives her first Dallas Wings jersey. Her family is in attendance, as well as legendary UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. “Overwhelming sense of gratitude. Super surreal,” Bueckers said after hearing her name called.

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We’re just minutes away from the draft beginning. Tune-in now on ESPN or follow along here for updates all night long!

NEW YORK — Paige Bueckers is ready to move on from college to the WNBA.

The versatile UConn star is the odds-on favorite to become the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Wings when the league holds its annual draft at The Shed in New York.

Bueckers will have plenty of company, especially with the WNBA having its first expansion team in 17 years in the Golden State Valkyries making their debut draft selection at No. 5 overall.

Read the full story here.

Just eight days after the 2025 women’s March Madness championship, the WNBA draft will take place tonight, Monday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m ET in New York, NY.

The draft has already seen prominent shifts, with star guard Olivia Miles transferring from Notre Dame to TCU for her last year of eligibility. Miles was predicted to be a top pick in the 2025 draft. Azzi Fudd, who had a stellar performance for UConn during the NCAA Tournament, also announced her decision to decline the draft and play a final year for the Huskies.

Got Next’s Meghan McKeown made her 2025 mock draft predictions for the first round, headlined by Paige Bueckers, Kiki Iriafen and Shyanne Sellers.

Here are her predicted top 12 picks:

1. Dallas Wings: G Paige Bueckers, UConn
2. Seattle Storm: C Dominique Malonga, ASVEL Féminin in the French Ligue Féminine de Basketball
3. Washington Mystics: F Kiki Iriafen, USC
4. Washington Mystics: G Sonia Citron, Notre Dame
5. Golden State Valkyries: F Aneesah Morrow, LSU
6. Washington Mystics: G Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
7. Connecticut Sun: G Hailey Van Lith, TCU
8. Connecticut Sun: F Saniya Rivers, NC State
9. Los Angeles Sparks: G Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
10. Chicago Sky: G Serena Sundell, Kansas State
11. Chicago Sky: F Sania Feagin, South Carolina
12. Dallas Wings: G Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina

Read the full story here.

The 2025 WNBA Draft will get start in approximately one hour at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN!

NEW YORK — Paige Bueckers is clearly the best-known player in Monday’s WNBA draft, but Dominique Malonga of France is among the most interesting.

Curiosity around the 6-foot-6 forward seems to be growing.

“She is a unbelievably intriguing player because she has size, athleticism and range,” former Washington Mystics general manager Mike Thibault said. “She’s got a wide range of skills, which makes her pretty intriguing.”

There’s not much doubt Bueckers is going to have an immediate impact in Dallas on and off the court as the team’s first pick, giving the Wings one of the most efficient players coming out of college in quite some time.

Whether other players in the draft can offer quick help to teams will be seen over the next few months. A lot of that depends on which teams draft which players and how that fit evolves.

Read the full story here.

Not relevant to this year’s draft, but Washington has traded Karlie Samuelson (G) to Minnesota in exchange for Minnesota’s 2026 first-round draft pick.

Funny enough (if you’re not Samuelson), she was on a 10-hour flight with no wifi when the trade went down.

Live coverage of the 2025 WNBA Draft Orange Carpet is being streamed on YouTube. Click here to watch.

Paige Bueckers (G) ended her time with UConn as a national champion and is expected to go No. 1 in the draft tonight. Other picks may be up in the air, but this one is pretty cut and dry. Anyone other than Bueckers at No. 1 would be shocking.

Bueckers finished her time with the Huskies averaging 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game during the 2024-25 season.

• April 14: WNBA Draft
• April 27: Training Camp Begins
• May 16: Regular Season Begins
• June 1-17: Commissioner’s Cup Tournament
• July 1: Commissioner’s Cup Championship
• July 17-21: WNBA All-Star Break
• July 19: WNBA All-Star Game
• September 11: Regular Season Ends
• September 14: Playoffs Begin
• October 17: Last Possible Finals Date

Always a topic of conversation is the turnaround for draft picks from the end of the college season to the start of the WNBA season.

The 2025 WNBA season begins in approximately a month, on Friday, May 16. Training camp begins April 27.

Here’s how the teams will draft on Monday night.

First Round:

1. Dallas Wings
2. Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles)
3. Washington Mystics (from Chicago)
4. Washington Mystics
5. Golden State Valkyries
6. Washington Mystics (from Atlanta, via Dallas)
7. New York Liberty (from Phoenix)
8. Connecticut Sun (from Indiana)
9. Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle)
10. Chicago Sky (from Connecticut)
11. Chicago Sky (from Minnesota)
12. Dallas Wings (from New York, via Phoenix)

*Las Vegas has had its first-round pick rescinded after the WNBA discovered the team had broken league rules concerning player benefits and workplace policies as part of an investigation that ended in 2023. The Aces would have had the No. 10 overall pick.

Second Round:

1. Las Vegas Aces (from Los Angeles)
2. Dallas Wings
3. Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago, via Phoenix)
4. Chicago Sky (from Washington via Las Vegas)
5. Golden State Valkyries
6. Atlanta Dream
7. Indiana Fever (from Phoenix)
8. Indiana Fever
9. Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle)
10. Chicago Sky (from Las Vegas)
11. Washington Mystics (from Connecticut)
12. Minnesota Lynx
13. Connecticut Sun (from New York, via Chicago)

Third Round:

1. Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles)
2. Dallas Wings
3. Los Angeles Sparks (from Chicago)
4. Seattle Storm (from Washington)
5. Golden State Valkyries
6. Dallas Wings (from Atlanta)
7. Washington Mystics (from Phoenix)
8. Indiana Fever
9. Seattle Storm
10. Las Vegas Aces
11. Atlanta Dream (from Connecticut)
12. Minnesota Lynx
13. New York Liberty