2025 WNBA Draft Winners and Losers » Winsidr

The mocks were released. The hot takes were scorching. The cold takes were … unnecessary. 

The WNBA Draft took place Monday night and we now know the landing spots for 38 new players.

Like the takes, some picks were good. But some were … questionable. If you weren’t able to watch the draft or are unsure of what to make from your team’s picks, don’t worry. I have you covered with this year’s WNBA Draft winners and losers.

Let’s get to it.

Winners

Washington Mystics

Were the Mystics going to be able to pry the No. 1 overall pick from Dallas with an offer featuring the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 pick? Nah, they couldn’t, but it doesn’t mean that their draft would be a bust.

In fact, it was anything but.

The Mystics could have gone in a ton of different directions, but instead of getting cute, they decided that they were going to build around the key players they had in place in Shakira Austin and Aaliyah Edwards.

They did just that by taking Sonia Citron (No. 3), Kiki Iriafen (No. 4), and Georgia Amoore (No. 6). 

10/10. No notes. A-plus. 

The Mystics were able to get three of the top five players on big boards, immediately accelerating their window to establish a new core in Washington and become a playoff contender in the coming years. 

Iriafen is able to play the three or four with Edwards holding down the other spot, with Austin at center. Citron will start at the two, with Amoore relieving Brittney Sykes as the lead guard with the second unit — at least to start. 

There’s an adjustment to the W, of course, but Citron, Irifen, and Amoore are nearly as pro-ready as you can get. 

Washington fans should be ecstatic right now. 

Golden State Valkyries

Was Aneesah Morrow the pick? It made sense. She can be a face-of-the-franchise player. But there was something holding me back with that pick, and I wasn’t quite sure what it was. 

I agree that Morrow *seems* like the most-likely option here, but I keep getting a feeling that they’ll take Justė Jocytė.

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— Pitch Mr. Perfect (@michaelwaterloo.bsky.social) April 14, 2025 at 9:55 PM

Yeah, Justė Jocytė was a great pick and not just because it’s what I predicted (but it helps, Golden State).

The fact is that Golden State said it wants to win a title in 3-5 years. OK, that’s great, but that doesn’t mean Year 1, and after free agency, we didn’t see the urgency from them that said they want to get a Day 1 difference maker.

That’s where Jocytė comes into play. So many players in the league are going to be free agents after the 2025 season, and grabbing a young guard like her allows the Valkyries to prioritize bigs in free agency while allowing her to develop behind Tiffany Hayes this season. 

Jocytė is fantastic in the pick-and-roll, and can be a starting point guard in the WNBA. This was a long-term play for the Valkyries, and they should be applauded for it instead of going with the “name” value.

Then to add to the success, the Valkyries added Shyanne Sellers in the second round after she fell down draft boards, as well as Kaitlyn Chen in the third round. The concern with Sellers is her knee injury, but she is able to be an off-ball guard for Golden State and can handle the facilitating responsibilities in spurts.

Golden State crushed its first draft in the WNBA. 

Atlanta Dream

The Dream may have lost their first-round pick to the Washington Mystics, but that didn’t stop them from getting a first-round caliber player in the second round.

Te-Hina Paopao fell in the draft to the Dream in the middle of the second round, and right before the pick, I said there was “no right pick for the Dream here,” but it turns out there was.

Karl Smesko, the new Dream coach, prioritizes getting the right shot with his ‘Above The Line’ shots, whether it be a layup or a three-pointer. 

The Dream have some snipers in Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Jordin Canada, but what Paopao does well is hit the three-ball. 

There are concerns about creating separation and creating her own shot, but as far as being a deep threat to knock down shots from the corner, Smesko and the Atlanta Dream fans are going to love Paopao. 

Indiana Fever

The Fever didn’t have a pick until the No. 19 pick in the draft. But they didn’t just have that pick –  they had the No. 20 pick, as well. 

We know that second- and third-round picks aren’t a guarantee to make the team in the WNBA, but the Fever picked two players who have a great chance at making the team by drafting based on needs.

Makayla Timpson (No. 19) was a shot-blocking menace at Florida State, and she can bring the rim protection the Fever need after losing Temi Fagbenle and NaLyssa Smith down low. There won’t be a lot there offensively, but it’s about the defense for Timpson, and she can bring it.

As for pick No. 20, Bree Hall gets reunited with Aliyah Boston. Hall is another player who brings in-your-face defense while being able to hit the outside shot as a 3-and-D role player. 

For having two second-round picks and no first rounders, the Fever did very, very well. 

Losers

Connecticut Sun

Unlike the Mystics, this is an example of how not to maximize having multiple first-round picks. The Sun, who had the No. 7 and No. 8 picks in the draft, underwent an entire makeover this offseason, losing Tyasha Harris, Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones, and DiJonai Carrington.

There was also a lot of bad publicity around them, given the state of and lack of practice facilities they have.

They had to nail these picks.

But … they didn’t.

Both Aneesah Morrow (No. 7) and Saniya Rivers (No. 8) are electric, high-motor players who will give 100 percent when they are on the court. But the problem is, both players have big question marks offensively, especially when it comes to their respective ability to knock down a jumper.

Drafting one of them? Sure, OK. Makes sense. Taking both of them is counterproductive, raising continued question marks around the front office decision making in Connecticut. 

Chicago Sky

The Sky knew what they were doing. When they traded for the No. 11 pick, all of us knew what they were doing. They were getting Hailey Van Lith. 

They did just that, after taking Ajša Sivka with the No. 10 pick. Why, then, are they in the losers section?

Well, I believed Van Lith when she said she’s a winner. She considers herself that, and it makes sense with leading three different programs to the Elite Eight. But a month ago, Van Lith was a second- to third-round pick in the draft. Yet after the NCAA Tournament, her stock went up.

Maybe it’s me, but it seems short sighted. I like Sivka. I can’t promise that I’m an expert on her, but I see the upside. But if the plan was Van Lith, I don’t understand getting the extra first-round pick if you could have taken your player at No. 10 overall.

The Sky were high on Van Lith even before the NCAA Tournament, but there’s nothing there now to make her a first-round pick that wasn’t there before when her draft stock was lower. Georgia Amoore (drafted No. 6 overall), Shyanne Sellers, and Serena Sundell would all have been better point guard selections for the Sky to develop behind Courtney Vandersloot to maximize the outcome of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.