Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday night. She will immediately add consistent shooting and perimeter defense, something the Dallas Wings haven’t had in recent memory outside of Paige Bueckers, whom they also selected No. 1 overall last year.
“This week, this weekend, has felt like a week, ” Fudd said. “I was talking about yesterday, and I was like, wait, that was like, wait, that was only yesterday.”
Fudd’s observations about the passage of time weren’t just shared by her peers in her draft class, but also by coaches and executives around the league. This is the result of free agency and a prospect draft happening at the very same time.
Monday night featured the most draft picks a WNBA draft has ever had since 2002 with 45 total picks. The draft included two trades that felt haphazard, although given the chaos of the week, maybe that shouldn’t be shocking. Mistakes were bound to happen.
After spending Monday night in the rooms where it all was happening, here are some winners and losers of the 2026 WNBA Draft now that the dust has settled.
Winner: UCLA Women’s Basketball
UCLA women’s basketball made WNBA history on Monday becoming the first school to have six players drafted, the most in league history. UCLA also had five players drafted in the first round which topped UConn’s previous record of four from 2002.
This group didn’t just win the night with coordinated draft outfits, but each Bruin landed with a team where they’ll have real opportunity, which isn’t always the case in the WNBA. Lauren Betts goes to Washington, where she can slot in as a backup center behind Shakira Austin after Stefanie Dolson’s departure. With Dijonai Carrington likely to start the season injured, Gabriela Jaquez could see early minutes with the Sky. The Tempo selected Kiki Rice, whose skillset fits their guard rotation and team-first culture under Sandy Brondello.
Angela Dugalić shot over 32 percent from deep in her final year at UCLA, and brings floor spacing that much of Washington’s frontcourt lacks. And finally Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker will join the Connecticut Sun who desperately need guard play on and off the ball.
Winner: South Carolina Gamecocks
The Gamecocks had three players drafted in the top-20 and each will have opportunities to play a role and fill a need with their new teams. Point guard Raven Johnson’s selection No. 9 overall to the Indiana Fever fits nicely on Stephanie White’s roster. Johnson, one of the best point of attack defenders this past year in college basketball, will provide much-needed aggressive defense to a backcourt led by Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell.
The Atlanta Dream needed a backup center especially with Brionna Jones beginning the season still rehabbing from a torn meniscus. Stretch center Madina Okot was right there for the Dream at No. 13 overall. And Ta’Niya Latson, who was picked later than projected at No. 20 overall to the Sparks, could become the steal of the draft for Los Angeles, a team that needed a downhill driving guard off the bench.
Loser: The three-point shooting of the Washington Mystics
There’s a reason I’m specific about this one. The Washington Mystics drafted some talented prospects, but the impact it has on the balance of its projected 2026 roster is baffling. As their roster stands, there is only one player who can shoot the ball from three over 35 percent from the field and that’s last year’s No. 3 overall pick Sonia Citron.
The next closest is the Mystics’ new wing Michaela Onyenwere who shot 35.3 percent from three last season. If the Mystics wanted another UCLA alumna with Lauren Betts and one of their coaches in Onyenwere, then they could have drafted Gianna Kneepkens, the second-best shooter in the draft, who ended up going No. 15 to the Sun. The Mystics missed Kneepkens twice with the No 9. overall pick where they drafted Dugalić and then the No. 11 overall pick where Washington drafted Cotie McMahon, a downhill driver who isn’t a known shooter either.
Loser: Current Seattle Storm Frontcourt
I’m specific about this one as well because as you will see below, the Storm got a lot of value out of this draft. But choosing Awa Fam Thiam third overall to have her join a frontcourt that consists of Dominique Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, and Stefanie Dolson is a little confusing and redundant. In that group, Fam is the only player able to play power forward while the rest are centers. Magbegor also signed a three-year deal at $1.25 million per season, although this is a franchise that is trying to build around WNBA sophomore and last year’s No. 2 overall pick Malonga.
Winner: Future of the Seattle Storm
All in all, the Storm added two talents in Awa Fam Thiam and Flau’je Johnson that are athletic and versatile players that could become major cogs in the Storm’s franchise “reset”. Fam Thiam, a player that had the highest ceiling among all players that were drafted on Monday night, should complement Malonga well especially with her high basketball instincts for a 19 year-old.
Johnson dropped from where she was projected, and while she didn’t have the most compelling final year playing college basketball, her game fits the pro-level much better and Johnson should be more motivated by playing in the most competitive league in the world. Johnson’s enormous two million follower platform and general presence in the pop culture world will benefit the city of Seattle, a market that has struggled to find a consistent franchise face.
Winner: Connecticut Sun
It’s depressingly poetic that the franchise that had its final WNBA draft probably was the biggest winner coming out of Monday night. The Sun made sure to draft a mix of the best players available in addition to assessing their needs for now and their future in Houston in 2027. The Sun drafted players that will complement their current young core of Saniya Rivers, Leïla Lacan, and Aneesah Morrow.
They made sure to draft Nell Angloma – the best player available – at No. 12, who excels putting pressure on the rim. They also got shooting and playmaking from the UCLA duo of Kneepens and Leger- Walker. The Sun answered some of my pre-draft night questions when they put up an Instagram post that showed both general manager Morgan Tuck and incoming Houston Comets assistant GM and former ESPNer Kevin Pelton at the same table. The Sun picked with intentionality for both the present and the future of the franchise, a feat that many other teams struggled with on Monday night.
Loser: Golden State Valkyries
The Valkyries became the top story of the night for all the wrong reasons. It revolved around their trade with the Seattle Storm sending Flau’je Johnson— a two-way player with All-Star upside and strong marketability — to Seattle for Marta Suárez and a 2028 second-round pick. While Suárez was a hoot on draft night and bonded immediately with Valkyries mascot Violet the Raven, the trade wasn’t well balanced at all. When general manager Ohemaa Nyanin was asked about the trade, she declined to go into detail.
“I’m going to take a beat to be able to eloquently give a response,” she said. “I don’t have a lot of details to share. One, because I’m exhausted. Two, because I want to be very thoughtful when I’m talking about other humans and their basketball abilities and how they would or would not show up for our squad.”
After there was an immediate stir online, Nyanin told ESPN the framework of the deal had been discussed pre-draft but finalized while Golden State was on the clock. Then beat reporter Marisa Ingemi reported that the Valkyries didn’t have a backup plan once the player they wanted, Gabriela Jaquez, was taken earlier than expected. Ultimately, the sequence suggested a front office caught off guard. Nyanin acknowledged the exhaustion of a hectic week, but the Valkyries struggled to maximize value from the draft in both the short and long term.
Loser: Portland Fire
The goal in a draft should always be to acquire the most value possible, no? I’m not sure that the Fire did so on Monday night. It felt like they went international early just to do so rather than taking the best players available at No. 7 and No. 17. At No. 7, they selected 19-year-old Spanish guard Iyana Martín Carrión, who has potential but wasn’t the most talented option. If they wanted to go international, Nell Angloma was available.
They also needed scoring and passed on T’Niya Latson twice before she went No. 20. Frieda Bühner, the stretch power forward from Germany taken at No. 17, was their best pick of the night, but again Latson remained on the board. Later, the Fire traded for UConn’s Serah Williams, a third-round pick, while giving up more value. Portland may be in evaluation mode in year one, but they still left significant talent on the board.
Winner: WNBA Fans outside of North America
The newsiest part of WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s state of the league address prior to the draft centered on the league making steps toward globalizing beyond North America. She explained that there will be international preseason games and regular season games outside of North America as soon as next season. With the WNBA being broadcast in over 200 countries, Engelbert wants to capitalize on that level of global interest. She mentioned Europe, Asia and Africa as potential destinations.
Loser: Engelbert’s argument about gender in leadership
Cathy Engelbert was asked about her future as WNBA commissioner on Monday, something that NBA commissioner Adam Silver was non-committal about a few weeks ago. She could have used the moment to highlight the league’s globalization plans or reiterated what she said in the fall about not being a quitter. Instead, she became defensive about the framing of the question.
“I do crack up how everybody’s focused on me, and you should be focused on the hundreds of amazing women and thousands of women who run this league outside of myself,” said Engelbert. “I appreciate that you’re focused on me as well. I wonder if you would ask that of a man, by the way, but I realize as women we get asked different questions than men do.”
Engelbert raised a fair point about how women in executive leadership are portrayed in the media. It’s different and sometimes not fair. But, that didn’t answer the question and the reporter who asked it said in response she would have asked any commissioner the same thing. Her visible discomfort ultimately made that moment the story of the press conference.
