2025 WNBA Draft Recap: Paige Bueckers goes #1 to Dallas

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It was an evening filled with excitement and opportunity at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City. The event was the 2025 WNBA Draft filled with the players of tomorrow. Storylines were aplenty as well.

The Dallas Wings, under new leadership, made the obvious pick, taking Paige Bueckers with the top overall pick. The UConn star is coming off her first national championship after injuries got in the way of “what could have been” for Paige and UConn. With the last pick in Round 1, the Wings selected Aziaha James out of NC State. James will fit a Wings scheme that will focus on Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. Oh, by the way, the Wings also got what might be a steal when they picked Ole Miss star Madison Scott in Round 2. Scott will grow as a defender, but needs to work on her offensive game.

Two other teams that made a night of it were the Connecticut Sun and the Washington Mystics. For the Sun, the night went better than planned when LSU Dog, Aneesah Morrow, was sitting there at pick #7. Morrow is a rebounding workhorse who just has a knack for being around the basketball. See what Angel Reese has done on the boards? Here comes Aneesah. With the 8th pick, the Sun went to NC State Wolfpack spark plug, Saniya Rivers. Rivers is a versatile, athletic player who will be effective with her length. She is one of the best transition players in this year’s draft.

The Washington Mystics just flat-out stole the show in this year’s WNBA Draft. Talk about improving your win-now opportunity. With the 3rd pick, the Mystics chose Sonia Citron from ND. She is one of the most sound defensive players in the country and has proven that she will learn quickly. She will need to get WNBA strong as well as improve her offensive game, but her defense will make up for that real quick. With pick #4, Kiki Iriafen from USC made Washingtion even that much better that much quicker. Kiki played alongside JuJu Watkins and made her lottery case with a superb junior and senior seasons. Just when you thought they were done, the Mystics picked the little engine that could in Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore. She may be just 5’5″, but watch how she gets her shot in the W.

Other storylines include picks like French star, Dominque Malonga, a talent the WNBA is counting on to change the fortunes in Seattle with pick #2. For Hailey Van Lith, the hard work paid off. After taking three different teams to the Elite Eight, Van Lith will join her former LSU teammate and WNBA mega star, Angel Reese. Her senior season and the heights, she took TCU to put her in this draft position.

Let’s not overlook the dress code, as we saw some fashion being shown off.

With the continuing growth of the WNBA, Unrivaled, and college, women’s basketball is only going up. The new guard is taking shape as older players are playing or will soon be playing their last year.

How quickly will Paige and Arike jell? Can Dominique adjust to life in America and expand what is already one of the most unique skill sets the W has seen in a while? Have the Mystics changed their fortunes for next year? Will Morrow challenge Angel for the rebounding title?

So many questions to be answered, and we start to get those when the 2025 season gets underway, when Paige and the Wings open up against the defending West champs, the Minnesota Lynx. On that same night, Washington debuts their top three picks as the Mystics play host to the Atlanta Dream.