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With no clear “best player available” in the 2026 WNBA Draft, Sunday night’s draft lottery, won for the second year in a row by the Dallas Wings, didn’t tell us much about who will be going where.
Instead, it built up early scaffolding for those who like to theorize. Entering the season where we start to see patterns across mock drafts, there’s still one player who is consistently breaking consensus: Awa Fam.
Is Awa Fam the next Dominque Malonga?
Fam, the 19-year-old center for Valencia Basket in Spain, is not the best player in this class. She’s a semi-raw athletic stat stuffer who doesn’t yet have a polished isolation game, nor has she dominated her competition over the past year. However, her youth gives way to the reasonable argument that she may be this year’s best prospect.
Similar conversations were had about Dominique Malonga last year. Malonga too was foreign, athletic, young and raw. The height of Fam’s reputation as a potential first overall pick has eclipsed the prospect reputation of Malonga, but Malonga was tethered down by Paige Bueckers’ all-around supremacy. This draft lacks a 1A player like Bueckers, welcoming a wider range of competition for that top spot.
Through no fault of her own, Fam is also a victim of greater positional competition. Malonga overtook Kiki Iriafen for “top forward” well before draft night. The race between Fam and UCLA center Lauren Betts does not project to finish so definitively. Betts, three years Fam’s senior, is more polished and has produced at a much higher volume. For teams with any kind of “win now” mentality, it will be hard to pass on Betts’ immediate upside.
As many overarching traits as they may share, Malonga and Fam also have been graced with two very different situations. While some scouts believe Fam is a better prospect than Malonga was, her place in the draft may not reflect that notion. She’s going to be held to the standard of Betts throughout the entire draft cycle. Gaps in her skillset won’t just be seen as room for growth, but instead reason to not pick her as the top big. While Malonga had no shot at going first overall, she was a solid lock for the second pick by the Seattle Storm.
Fam is looking at a wide range of futures: She could still end up being picked first, but could reasonably fall as far down as sixth.
Are the Wings, Sky or another team the best fit for Fam?
One of the reasons I believe Fam’s prospective draft range is so wide is because of fit. Bigger forwards and centers will always invite this discussion because it’s naturally harder to deploy multiple non-shooters and non-floor spacers at one time.
Dallas, picking No. 1 overall, is in desperate need of a big. Unsurprisingly, there’s a vocal pocket of fans who think that Bueckers herself will pull strings to make sure her team takes Azzi Fudd, her college teammate and partner, with the first pick.
From a tactical standpoint, however, it’s hard to see Dallas pass on Betts or Fam.
If Dallas takes Betts, Fam’s situation gets tricky. The next three picks belong to the Minnesota Lynx, Storm and Washington Mystics. Minnesota is a title contender, and guard play is probably still the best way to maximize the all-world talent that is Napheesa Collier. Fudd or Olivia Miles may make more sense up north, despite Fam’s age and ceiling. Seattle has Malonga, who has obvious redundancies with Fam. Not only does Washington have Iriafen, but they’re in desperate need of supportive guard play. All three teams could absolutely still take a shot at Fam as a pure upside bet. However, it’s unlikely that she would find herself starting in any of those lineups. She would be a bench piece, at most, to begin her career.
The Chicago Sky are no different at pick No. 5. Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso have over-saturated the young big market in the Windy City, and Fam’s fit would just feel uncomfortable. Again, she’s still a huge upside bet and should never be viewed as a bad pick in any regard. It’s just harder to view her as a surefire candidate for some of these teams.
Finally, the league’s two newcomers pick at No. 6 and No. 7. Given that the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire don’t even have rosters, we can finally throw away the positional logjam argument. Fam will not make it past these two picks. The Tempo and Fire should have no concern over fit nor immediate impact, and Fam would be given an opportunity to see high volume usage from the beginning of her career.
Fam herself is likely comfortable letting her future determine itself. Becoming a first round draft pick is an accomplishment that very few people can claim, and how high she goes will not determine how good she becomes. Months still separate us from draft night, and Fam will have plenty of opportunities to strengthen her own case. However, a handful of teams might find themselves grappling with the war between pure potential and an awkward fit.
