<!–>
The WNBA is set to welcome its new rookie class, headlined by Paige Bueckers when the league holds its annual draft Monday night.
The UConn star, who is fresh off leading the Huskies to their 12th national championship, is projected to go No. 1 to the Dallas Wings. Bueckers will be a big piece on and off the court for the Wings.
[MORE: ‘My journey became hers’: Geno Auriemma, Paige Bueckers share fairytale ending]
ADVERTISEMENT
–>
Seattle has the second pick and potentially could take France’s Dominique Malonga. The 19-year-old helped France win the silver medal at the Paris Olympics this past summer. If she’s drafted second, she’d be only the fifth foreign player to go in the first two picks in the history of the league. Margo Dydek went first in 1998 and Lauren Jackson was the No. 1 pick three years later. Liz Cambage was drafted second in 2011 and Awak Kuier went No. 2 in 2021.
The Washington Mystics will control the direction of the draft after the top two picks, having the third, fourth and sixth picks. Washington has a new coach and general manager.
Five teams don’t have picks in the opening round, as New York, Indiana, Phoenix and Atlanta all traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
[MORE: 2025 WNBA Draft: How to watch, date, TV channel]
Here are some other tidbits for Monday night’s draft:
All eyes on France
The 6-foot-6 Malonga isn’t the only foreign player in the draft who has honed her skills in France. Juste Jocyte, Malonga’s Lyon teammate in the French basketball league, is also expected to be taken in the first round.
Jocyte is a versatile player who can play any of the guard positions and is really effective in the pick and roll. The Lithuanian, who is also 19 years old, scored 22 points against Belgium in EuroBasket qualifying a few months ago. She has a toughness about her and is fundamentally sound.
“She’s left-handed and knows how to play with or without the ball in her hands,” former Mystics coach Mike Thibault said. “Not a true point guard, but can handle the ball. She’s a smart player who knows how to use screens.”
Ajsa Sivka of Slovenia could also be a first round choice. She’s a multilevel scoring forward with efficient shot-making ability. She made over 42% from the 3-point line. At 6-foot-4, she is a difficult matchup to defend.
“She has all the skills to be a good player in the WNBA,” Thibault said.
Starting from scratch
The Golden State Valkyries are entering the league as an expansion franchise and have the fifth pick in the draft. The Valkyries had their expansion player draft and will now look to potentially find a cornerstone player to go with them. Potential candidates for the Valkyries include USC‘s Kiki Iriafen and LSU‘s Aneesah Morrow.
New venue
The draft will be held in New York at The Shed and will have fans in attendance for the second consecutive year. The league will hold an Orange Carpet for the arrival of the draftees.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Women’s National Basketball Association
Dallas Wings
Women’s College Basketball
<!–>
Get more from Women’s National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
–>
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Wrexham clinches promotion to EFL Championship, notching third promotion in as many seasons
Wrexham AFC is moving up once again. The Welsh club has secured promotion to the EFL Championship league, one tier below the Premier League, after a 3-0 win over Charlton on Saturday.Midfielder Oliver Rathbone opened the scoring for Wrexham in the 15th minute, followed by a pair of goals from striker Sam Smith in the 18th and 81st minutes. With the win, Wrexham secured 89 points with one game remaining, clinching a second-place finish and its third consecutive promotion.Wrexham currently plays in League One, the third tier of English football; they will now begin play in the Championship, the second tier, next season. The top two clubs in League One are promoted at the end of the season, plus the winner of a playoff between the clubs in third through sixth position. (Birmingham, who has 102 points, has already clinched […]
Alex Freeman scores an amazing goal to put Orlando City up 2-0 over Atlanta United
Alex Freeman scores an amazing goal to put Orlando City up 2-0 over Atlanta United | FOX Sports <!--> --> Video Details Alex Freeman scored an amazing goal to put Orlando City SC up 2-0 over Atlanta United FC 1 MIN AGO・MLS・0:48
2025 NFL Draft winners and losers: Shedeur Sanders falls into both categories, Tom Brady makes the list
Getty Images After 257 picks, the 2025 NFL Draft is officially in the books. The draft started on Thursday with the Browns doing something crazy, and it ended on Saturday with the Browns also doing something crazy, so in a way, the draft truly came full circle. The first round started with a blockbuster trade between Cleveland and Jacksonville that saw the Jaguars move up from the fifth pick to the second overall spot so they could take Travis Hunter. Although Hunter went second overall, one player who had to wait longer than expected to get drafted was Hunter's college teammate at Colorado, Shedeur Sanders. Not only did he fall out of the first round, but he ended up falling all the way to the fifth round before the Browns took him with the 144th overall pick. For this draft, Sanders was both […]
Broncos 2025 NFL Draft takeaways: Building around Bo Nix with new targets, defensive depth
The Broncos closed the draft Saturday by acquiring a developmental pass rusher in the fourth round, a punter with the last pick in the sixth round and former basketball standout and converted tight end in the seventh round.Those moves punctuated a three-day event that was more substance than flash for the Broncos. After landing their franchise quarterback in 2024 and making the playoffs during Bo Nix’s encouraging rookie season, this offseason has been about careful upgrades designed to help Denver take another step forward in their quest to become real contenders — and not just in 2025.Advertisement“We did a good job in free agency to put ourselves in a position to really look at, three years out, how do we like this player?” Broncos coach Sean Payton said in the days leading up that draft.Only time will reveal whether this […]
2025 NFL Draft most memorable moments: Emotional reactions, best interviews
The 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wis., wrapped up on Saturday. The drama was delivered with quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ high-profile fall from potential first-round pick to the 144th selection to the Cleveland Browns.But there was no shortage of memorable moments outside of Sanders’ slide, as a new class of college hopefuls turned into NFL rookies. It all started with Commissioner Roger Goodell and Lil Wayne riding around the draft stage on bikes (despite some unsteady turns, nobody fell). Here are some of the 2025 draft’s most memorable moments. Roger Goodell led former Packers and Lil Wayne out on stage on bikes 😂 #NFLdraft pic.twitter.com/vqTWNG8G63 — ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2025All the feelsGetting drafted is a dream come true for many prospects. Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison had one of the more emotional reactions of the weekend as the Tampa […]
El Clasico: What wild Copa del Rey final win means for FC Barcelona, and what loss means for Real Madrid
Getty Images After FC Barcelona won 3-2 against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final, in what was a wild 120 minutes of play, it's now time to think about what's next at both clubs, especially at Real Madrid, where there will be even more doubts about the future of Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who looks increasingly likely to end his successful spell at the Spanish club after winning 15 trophies. Despite the success, Real Madrid are facing the risk of ending the current 2024-25 season with no trophies, and this might lead the club's president, Florentino Perez, to look for another coach in the summer. Here's what we learned from the final of the Copa del Rey: Hansi Flick continues hot start On the other side, FC Barcelona are more than happy with the decision they made in the summer […]
Related
Wrexham clinches promotion to EFL Championship, notching third promotion in as many seasons
Wrexham AFC is moving up once again. The Welsh club has secured promotion to the EFL Championship league, one tier below the Premier League, after a 3-0 win over Charlton on Saturday.Midfielder Oliver Rathbone opened the scoring for Wrexham in the 15th minute, followed by a pair of goals from striker Sam Smith in the 18th and 81st minutes. With the win, Wrexham secured 89 points with one game remaining, clinching a second-place finish and its third consecutive promotion.Wrexham currently plays in League One, the third tier of English football; they will now begin play in the Championship, the second tier, next season. The top two clubs in League One are promoted at the end of the season, plus the winner of a playoff between the clubs in third through sixth position. (Birmingham, who has 102 points, has already clinched […]
Alex Freeman scores an amazing goal to put Orlando City up 2-0 over Atlanta United
Alex Freeman scores an amazing goal to put Orlando City up 2-0 over Atlanta United | FOX Sports <!--> --> Video Details Alex Freeman scored an amazing goal to put Orlando City SC up 2-0 over Atlanta United FC 1 MIN AGO・MLS・0:48
2025 NFL Draft winners and losers: Shedeur Sanders falls into both categories, Tom Brady makes the list
Getty Images After 257 picks, the 2025 NFL Draft is officially in the books. The draft started on Thursday with the Browns doing something crazy, and it ended on Saturday with the Browns also doing something crazy, so in a way, the draft truly came full circle. The first round started with a blockbuster trade between Cleveland and Jacksonville that saw the Jaguars move up from the fifth pick to the second overall spot so they could take Travis Hunter. Although Hunter went second overall, one player who had to wait longer than expected to get drafted was Hunter's college teammate at Colorado, Shedeur Sanders. Not only did he fall out of the first round, but he ended up falling all the way to the fifth round before the Browns took him with the 144th overall pick. For this draft, Sanders was both […]
Broncos 2025 NFL Draft takeaways: Building around Bo Nix with new targets, defensive depth
The Broncos closed the draft Saturday by acquiring a developmental pass rusher in the fourth round, a punter with the last pick in the sixth round and former basketball standout and converted tight end in the seventh round.Those moves punctuated a three-day event that was more substance than flash for the Broncos. After landing their franchise quarterback in 2024 and making the playoffs during Bo Nix’s encouraging rookie season, this offseason has been about careful upgrades designed to help Denver take another step forward in their quest to become real contenders — and not just in 2025.Advertisement“We did a good job in free agency to put ourselves in a position to really look at, three years out, how do we like this player?” Broncos coach Sean Payton said in the days leading up that draft.Only time will reveal whether this […]
2025 NFL Draft most memorable moments: Emotional reactions, best interviews
The 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wis., wrapped up on Saturday. The drama was delivered with quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ high-profile fall from potential first-round pick to the 144th selection to the Cleveland Browns.But there was no shortage of memorable moments outside of Sanders’ slide, as a new class of college hopefuls turned into NFL rookies. It all started with Commissioner Roger Goodell and Lil Wayne riding around the draft stage on bikes (despite some unsteady turns, nobody fell). Here are some of the 2025 draft’s most memorable moments. Roger Goodell led former Packers and Lil Wayne out on stage on bikes 😂 #NFLdraft pic.twitter.com/vqTWNG8G63 — ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2025All the feelsGetting drafted is a dream come true for many prospects. Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison had one of the more emotional reactions of the weekend as the Tampa […]
El Clasico: What wild Copa del Rey final win means for FC Barcelona, and what loss means for Real Madrid
Getty Images After FC Barcelona won 3-2 against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final, in what was a wild 120 minutes of play, it's now time to think about what's next at both clubs, especially at Real Madrid, where there will be even more doubts about the future of Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who looks increasingly likely to end his successful spell at the Spanish club after winning 15 trophies. Despite the success, Real Madrid are facing the risk of ending the current 2024-25 season with no trophies, and this might lead the club's president, Florentino Perez, to look for another coach in the summer. Here's what we learned from the final of the Copa del Rey: Hansi Flick continues hot start On the other side, FC Barcelona are more than happy with the decision they made in the summer […]
Be the first to leave a comment