The 2025 WNBA draft got underway on Monday with no surprises at the start, as the Dallas Wings selected Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers with the first overall pick.
Bueckers was the overwhelming favourite to go No. 1 overall after she capped a prolific collegiate career by leading UConn to its first NCAA national title since 2016 earlier this month. The three-time All-American and Big East Player of the Year averaged 19.8 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 42.3 per cent from 3-point range in 123 career games with the Huskies, and ranks third on the storied program's career scoring list with 2,439 points.
The 23-year-old Bueckers is the sixth UConn player to be taken with the first overall pick, the most of any school, and the first since current New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart in 2016. Four of the five previous Huskies to be selected No. 1 - Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and Maya Moore - went on to win the WNBA Most Valuable Player award at least once during their careers.
Bueckers is the second No. 1 overall choice in Wings' history and is universally regarded as a franchise-altering talent, something Dallas is in sore need of after finishing the 2024 season with a 9-31 record and the team's lowest winning percentage since it relocated from Tulsa to Texas in 2016.
The Wings whiffed on their previous attempt at picking No. 1 when they took University of Texas center Charli Collier in 2021. Collier played in just 45 games for Dallas before being waived during the 2022 season and is currently playing professionally in Australia.
After Dallas chose an experienced college senior at the top of the draft, the Seattle Storm went to the international ranks to select French teen center Dominique Malonga with the second overall pick.
The 19-year-old Malonga spent 2024 playing for Lyon ASVEL in the French pro league, where team president and former NBA superstar Tony Parker dubbed her "the female version" of 2023-24 NBA Rookie of the Year and compatriot Victor Wembanyama.
Malonga, who stands 6-foot-6 and is the first Frenchwoman to dunk in a game, also represented France in the 2024 Olympics as part of the nation's slver medal-winning squad.
Seattle acquired the No. 2 pick from the Los Angeles Sparks in February in a blockbuster three-team trade that sent the Storm's leading scorer, six-time All-Star Jewell Loyd, to the Las Vegas Aces.
The Washington Mystics held the third and fourth overall selections and used them on a pair of players from top-notch college programs, Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron and University of Southern California forward Kiki Iriafen.
Washington also picked sixth overall and chose Kentucky point guard Georgia Amoore, one spot after the expansion Golden State Valkyries made Lithuanian forward Juste Jocyte the first draft choice in franchise history.
The 19-year-old Jocyte was a teammate of Malonga at Lyon ASVEL and made her professional debut in 2019, when she became the youngest player to appear in a French league game at age 14. A 6-foot-1 guard-forward combo praised for her court sense and ball-handling skills, Jocyte averaged 11.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game playing alongside Malonga last season.
Citron was a four-year starter at Notre Dame and the only player in program history to compile 1,700 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists for her career. The 21-year-old New York native averaged 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 124 career games with the Fighting Irish and was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference defensive team selection in 2024-25 as well.
Iriafen teamed with 2024-25 national player of the year JuJu Watkins to lead USC to a 31-4 record and a No. 1 regional seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.
The 6-foot-3 forward averaged 18 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in her lone season with the Trojans after transferring from powerhouse Stanford, where she averaged 19.4 points and 11 rebounds in 36 games in 2023-24.
Amoore, an Australia native, rates as one of the most seasoned point guards of this year's class after starting 155 games for Kentucky and Virginia Tech, where she was a key part of the Hokies' run to the Final Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The 24-year-old transferred to the Wildcats for the 2024-25 season and averaged 19.6 points in 31 games while eclipsing 200 assists for a second straight campaign.
The Connecticut Sun had back-to-back picks at No. 7 and 8 and chose LSU forward Aneesah Morrow and North Carolina State guard Saniya Rivers, respectively. Rivers was one of two Wolfpack players to come off the board in the first round, as Dallas selected guard Aziaha James with the final pick at No. 12.
Two Alabama players were taken in the top 13 picks, as Los Angeles nabbed guard Sarah Ashlee Barker at No. 9 and Las Vegas chose forward Aaliyah Nye to begin the second round. The Aces' first-round selection was forfeited after the team was found to have violated WNBA rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
James' selection by the Wings was preceded by two picks from the Chicago Sky, who took Slovenian forward Ajsa Sivka 10th overall and former TCU star Hailey Van Lith one spot afterward.
The Aces were one of six teams to not have a first-round pick, a group that also includes the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty and the 2024 runner-up Minnesota Lynx.