In lieu of a full Draft Board v2.0, we’re back with some quick-hit midseason updates. There are a few reasons we’re taking this approach — chiefly the fact that we came into the 2023–24 season with three or four years of observations on nearly all of these players and not much has changed in the first two months of the season; a significant majority of the bullet points on our preseason board still ring true.
Still, some things have changed. Some players are in different roles, have played different competition, or haven’t made the improvements we were hoping for. Below are the prospects that represent the biggest WNBA draft stock risers and fallers.
Note: 30 FV is a median outcome as a hardship-caliber player, 40 FV is a median outcome as an end-of-bench player, 45 FV is a starter on a mediocre WNBA team and 50 FV is a starter on a playoff team. 55 FV is a good starter on a title team, 60 FV is a perennial All-Star and 70 FV is a perennial All-WNBA player.
Stock up
Olivia Miles, point guard, Notre Dame
55 FV → 70 FV
Olivia Miles hasn’t just looked like the clear No. 2 prospect in the class but in fact one of the best point guard prospects in WNBA draft history. Returning from a torn ACL, she remains an otherworldly playmaker and driver while making significant strides as a 3-point shooter — both on and off the ball. Miles has made 53.3% of her catch-and-shoot threes and 37.5% of her pull-up threes while nearly doubling her volume, per Synergy. While her efficiency probably won’t hold at a 40%+ clip, even if she settles in as a 34-35% true shooting talent from deep, that’s still one of the best players on the planet. And if she’s actually a 40% shooter, you’re looking at a future MVP.
Dominique Malonga, center, ASVEL Lyon (Wonderligue)
40 FV → 50 FV
The preseason debate we had over Dominique Malonga boiled down to what we thought of her development arc: was it more important that she spent her age-18 season averaging a double-double while starting in the toughest league in Europe, or that she was more “athlete” than “basketball player” and struggled with fundamentals? The answer turned out to be the former, as Malonga has made enormous strides in her feel, advancing startlingly quickly in her capability in drop coverage and post scoring process, while also adding a promising driving game and fixing her Diontae Johnson-level issue with dropping passes. Those skill changes aren’t enough on their own to constitute a two-grade jump in FV, but combined with her age-relative production, it lends confidence in her ability to keep getting better.
Shyanne Sellers, wing, Maryland
40 FV → 45 FV
Shyanne Sellers is unique among risers in that she is largely doing the same things she’d already been doing. Instead, her grade adjustment represents a change in how we’re thinking about projecting future roles and intangibles. Sellers’ lack of playmaking primacy and good-but-not-great shot creation makes it a little more difficult to see a direct translation from her role as the Terps’ point guard; but given what we see from players moving up and down the pecking order in the W, we are increasingly confident that her offensive game will play up when she moves off the ball. Her combination of size, pull-up shooting and passing ability stands out a lot more on the wing than at the point.
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Stock down
Kiki Iriafen, big, USC
60 FV → 50 FV
One-year wonders basically never happen in women’s college basketball, since players can’t go one-and-done the way their male counterparts do. Kiki Iriafen was as close as they come, though, entering 2024-25. But the transition from the Stanford Princeton scheme to the Trojan’s more pro-style system has answered some of the outstanding questions about her game. Her jumper is not as consistent now as it had been, she has trouble getting to her spots when her entry points are away from the elbows, and she doesn’t have the vertical athleticism to be an impactful backline helper. There is still plenty to like in a power forward who can drive and shoot and defend wings at a high level, but it’s a much more narrow skill set than was possible last spring.
Raven Johnson, point guard, South Carolina
50 FV → 40 FV
Raven Johnson is the best non-Hannah Hidalgo guard defender in college basketball, with consistent decision-making and plus-plus rebounding at 5’8. The hope was that she’d continue to take steps as a shooter and turn her elite burst and lower-body strength into becoming a confident driver — but neither has happened through two months. Since starting the season 0-13 from beyond the arc, Johnson has improved her shooting (12-for-27 from three since then) but remains largely unguarded on the perimeter, limiting her playmaking impact due to minimal advantage creation. We still believe she could carve out a role in the W as a defense-first floor general; there just needs to be a baseline level of scoring consistency for defenses to respect her. Johnson could benefit from using her final year of eligibility to prepare herself for the next level.
Bree Hall, off-ball guard, South Carolina
40 FV → 30 FV
Bree Hall remains an efficient off-ball shooter (41.7% on catch-and-shoot threes, per Synergy), and an impactful perimeter defender for a deep South Carolina team. However, she has regressed as a finisher (47.1% at the rim), isn’t seeking out midrange jumpers anymore (only 9% of her field goal attempts come in the midrange, down from 17.9% last season, per CBB Analytics), and often looks reluctant to shoot when the ball touches her hands on the perimeter. Simply put, Hall can’t pass up open 3-pointers and stick in a WNBA rotation, but there’s enough in terms of defensive versatility and shooting to keep her from dropping farther than a 30.
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