In 2019, the Washington Mystics won the WNBA championship after a memorable series with Connecticut Sun experienced the five complete games. Washington won Elena Delle’s injured back, with Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins bringing huge contributions to the victory of the mystics. While the sun lost, Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas played Connecticut showing that it was a team to watch.
Six years later, these two teams realized that it was time for reconstruction. It gives itself away from the game; Cloud is now on New York’s list after a year in Phoenix, and she will play with Jones. Atkins was exchanged in Chicago and Thomas was exchanged in Phoenix. The Mystics and the Sun will make five of the 12 first round choices of this year, in the hope of finding players to build their next teams of championship.
Note: There are only 12 places despite the fact that the League has 13 teams this season because the Las Vegas Aces have lost their choice of draft in the first round due to Rules violations in 2023.
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In addition, a player that no team can write is Azzi Fudd d’Uconn. Although it was eligible for the draft, She announced on her Instagram this week that she is choose to stay in Storrs for a year more.
Without further ado, here is the first round projection of Yahoo Sports before the WNBA recovery of April 14:
1. Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers, Uconn
In November, after Dallas won the WNBA recovery lottery, the longtime star of the Wings Arike Ogunbowale posted how happy she was on X.
Why was she so happy? With the first choice of the project, Dallas has the right to select Paige Bueckers. She is shown in the NCAA tournament on which she is the kind of players that teammates can count. She scored 34 points in Uconn’s victory in the second round on the state of southern Dakota, and even paid for tickets For 1,500 students to attend his last match in Storrs.
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The Wings, on the other hand, had difficulties last season while several players were injured and redidly redid their nucleus during the offseason, with Sutou Sabally now in Phoenix and Natasha Howard in Indiana. The team wants a special player to help change their fortune. Bueckers is this player.
2. Seattle Storm: Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Seattle Guard and Notre Dame Ancient pupil of Skylar Diggins-Smith were in the crowd at South Bend on Friday as a Fighting Irish beat Stephen F. Austin in the first round. Although Olivia Miles left the match early due to an ankle injury, she could still show skills that had to make Diggins-Smith dreams of what could be. Miles’ ability to obtain his teammates the ball even in the tightest defense – while scoring many of his own points – would be well integrated into Seattle.
3. Washington Mystics: Kiki Iriafen, USC
4. Washington Mystics: Sonia Lemon, Notre Dame
Choice No. 3 originally belonged to the Heaven of Chicago, but Washington acquired it in the aforementioned Atkins, giving mystics a golden opportunity to acquire talents. What Iriafen and Lemon have in common is an ability to offer exactly what their teams need in high pressure moments. Washington starts fresh and will need recruits that can manage the stress of WNBA matches since the jump.
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Monday evening, when The USC Juju Watkins superstar fell with ACL tear At the start of the second round match with the state of the Mississippi, the Trojan horses could have collapsed. But Iriafen would not leave them, scoring 36 points in the victory. She collected an average of 19.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season, and is the size to have an impact now.
When Notre Dame needs a big blow, they put the ball in lemon hands. Its most recent memorable opportunity was a 3 -point pointer beating the buzzer to send the Fighting Irish match against NC State extension on February 23. She has an average of 14.3 points and 5.8 rebounds during her career in Notre-Dame, and could add a boost to the reconstruction of Washington.
5. Golden State Valkyries: Dominique Malonga, France
By starting his list from zero, Golden State appreciates the experience that foreign players bring to the WNBA. Nine of the players on his current list of 15 come from outside the United States, there is no reason to think that they would not seek another international player in the draft. At 6 feet 6 inches, Malonga already has an advantage with its size. She helped France win a silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games and has the kind of potential that most coaches would drool. In 20 games with Lyon last season, Malonga collected an average of 15.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
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6. Washington Mystics: Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
Assuming that the above players go to Washington, they will join young players like Aaliyah Edwards and Shakira Austin to create a powerful group on the field. But they could always use a first -rate facilitator and a ball manager like Paopao, which was a key element of the recent success of the gamecocks after the transfer of Oregon. During the season of the South Carolina Championships last year, Paopao collected an average of 11.0 points and 3.7 assists.
7. Connecticut Sun: Aneesah Morrow, LSU
8. Connecticut Sun: Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
While the sun is working to determine their identity in 2025, they will need versatile players, and Morrow corresponds to this role. She can mark and bounce back, leading the NCAA to rebounds per game and double. Morrow scored 26 points in the dominant LSU victory in the second round on Florida’s state, and will continue to be a crucial element of the Tigers race, as long as it lasts. Meanwhile, the sellers have shown that she could score and score. In Epic victory in double extension over the Alabama In the second round, the sellers scored 28 points. This season, she has an average of 14.5 points and 4.1 assists per game.
9. Los Angeles Sparks: Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
The Sparks finished 10th in the league in percentage of 3 points last season, and Amoore was a 3 -point sniper (35.6%) for his entire university career, from Virginia Tech before going to Kentucky. She could make an instant difference in their attack while the new head coach Lynne Roberts helps the team find his identity alongside Cameron Brink, n ° 2 from last year.
Will the sky seek to write their PG of the future? Hailey Van Lith of TCU could learn from a franchise legend while impacting the bench. (Photo by Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)
(Ron Jenkins via Getty Images)
10. Chicago Sky: Hailey van lith, TCU
During the free agency, the Chicago Sky signed Courtney Vandersloot, bringing back a playmaker who was the key to so many successful moments of the franchise. But Vandersloot is 36 years old, and he would make sense for the sky to write a leader like Van Lith, who can learn from Vandersloot and contribute significant minutes of the bench.
11. Minnesota Lynx: Saniya Rivers, NC State
If you watched the NCAA tournament, you saw what Rivers can do on the field. She marked a double-double against the state of Michigan in the second round with 17 points and 11 assists, almost won a triple-double with eight rebounds. Rivers is flexible and can play different roles on the ground, and this is the exact type of Cheryl Reeve player and the lynx.
12. Dallas Wings: Just Jocyte, Lithuania
Coming from a basketball family, Jocyte has been playing high-level basketball since she was 13 years old. Her club team is a female in Asvel in France, but she really stood out for the Lithuanian team when they were playing in Eurobasket qualifications. Jocyte collected on average 17 points per match, including a 22 -point match against Belgium, the defending champions of the Eurobasket. There is work she has to do, but playing with Ogunbowale in Dallas could help her reach this higher level.
