On Sunday, the fate of the WNBA’s lottery teams was decided by a few ping-pong balls as the Dallas Wings emerged victorious, securing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. Much like last year, this draft class features a highlight No. 1 prospect and several other players with the potential to change franchises.
Here are the best-case scenarios for each of the four lottery teams:
No. 1 Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers (UConn)
This one is all but certain at this point. Dallas emerged as the winners of the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes, which means the redshirt senior guard from UConn likely will be paired with All-Stars Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally.
Bueckers’ great off-ball play means she’ll fit well next to the two stars. The bigger question will be how effectively Ogunbowale and Sabally scale back their games to help Bueckers, but as it looks, this should be an exciting trio to build around. The biggest question for new general manager Curt Miller will be how to fix the defense. The Wings were historically bad on that end of the floor, largely due to the atrocious mobility of Dallas’ bigs. Bueckers is the best player in this draft so there’s no need to worry about addressing that in the first round. Pick the talent now, address the other needs in free agency later. Dallas’ rebuild is off to a fantastic start.
No. 2 Los Angeles Sparks: Kiki Iriafen (USC), Olivia Miles (Notre Dame)
The Sparks are in an interesting position at No. 2. Despite having the highest odds at landing the No. 2 pick, they landed at No. 2, which puts a huge wrench in their offseason plans. USC senior forward Kiki Iriafen is potentially the next best player available, but the Sparks already have plenty of frontcourt depth between Cameron Brink, Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevens.
Their biggest need is at guard, which Bueckers would have fixed, but with her almost certainly going to Dallas, the Sparks could consider drafting Notre Dame senior guard Olivia Miles here, which wouldn’t be a bad pick. She’s the best passer in this draft and is a good defender. Shooting is the biggest question mark with her game, but to start this season she is shooting 47 percent from 3 on five attempts per game. It’s likely that number regresses, but if she shows sustained improvement as a shooter, that could prompt Los Angeles to draft her at No. 2.
Iriafen would add frontcourt versatility to an already-talented Sparks core. She has a great mid-post game, as well as a promising face-up game, although shooting is also a big question mark with her. Iriafen and Brink played three years together at Stanford and produced great results, which is enough to know that a Brink-Iriafen frontcourt would translate well.
No. 3 Chicago Sky: Sonia Citron (Notre Dame), Te-Hina Paopao (South Carolina), Olivia Miles (Notre Dame)
The Sky got the short end of the stick in this year’s draft because of their pick swap with Dallas; however, at No. 3, there are still several players to choose from that could address their biggest need: shooting.
Chicago shot the fewest 3s in the association last year by far, and not surrounding the frontcourt of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso with shooting would be setting them up for failure. Notre Dame senior guard Sonia Citron is probably the ideal fit for this specific need. She has size at 6-foot-1 and solid shooting indicators, being a 36 percent 3-point shooter for her college career. South Carolina senior guard Te-Hina Paopao is a better shooter—40 percent from 3 on five attempts per game for her career—but her lack of size at 5-foot-9 might limit her offensive responsibilities in Chicago.
The biggest question mark will be what the franchise does with Chennedy Carter. Carter will be an unrestricted free agent this winter and in head coach Tyler Marsh’s introductory press conference, he referred to Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese as the franchise cornerstones, thus leaving Carter’s status in the air. If the team decides to go away from Carter, selecting Miles with the third-overall pick would be the obvious choice. She is the best point guard in this draft and would be perfect to replace Carter, although she doesn’t address Chicago’s shooting issues.
No. 4 Washington Mystics: Olivia Miles (Notre Dame), Azzi Fudd (UConn)
Washington is in a very interesting situation because they still have plenty of talent to make a playoff run, presuming health. Sabotaging their chances at winning the lottery and getting Bueckers by winning too many games down the stretch of last season was extremely questionable, and is likely what led to general manager Mike and head coach Eric Thibault both getting fired. Nonetheless, with the No. 4 and No. 6 pick in this draft, Washington has plenty of solid options to choose from.
Given the needs of the Sky and Sparks, it is doubtful that Miles falls to fourth, but if she does, she would be perfect for Washington, which needs a point guard with more size and defense. Shooting will also be a need for Washington, which is why senior guard Azzi Fudd would be a great selection here. She is a career 39 percent 3-point shooter on six attempts per game and is a very good point-of-attack defender.
Given that the Mystics have Julie Vanloo, Brittney Sykes and Ariel Atkins under contract next year, Fudd would not be tasked with too many on-ball responsibilities, all while being in a competitive environment for a lottery team. If she lands in Washington, it’s very possible she could end up having one of the smoothest transitions for a rookie in this year’s draft. If the Mystics were somehow also able to land Miles at No. 4 and Fudd at No. 6, they might end up being winners in this lottery, despite how last season turned out.
