WNBA 2026 Draft: TODAY, Monday April 13 7:30 EDT espn

[bballnut90]

And Caitlin Clark 👀

This was my immediate reaction. You have the iconic moment of Clark waving her off, then the following year Raven had her in jail in the title game.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The Oregon State diaspora may also stock up the W within a couple of years.

Whoa, Raegan Beers went undrafted. Just realized that.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hmm...will Flau'jae fit in with the very specific culture that has been cultivated with Golden State?

This aged well...

I guess we'll never know, traded to Seattle the same night.

 

[bballnut90]

Immediate draft reactions:

Some of these fits don't make a ton of sense to me. I personally think Dallas could've thrived from choosing Betts or Miles. Fudd is a great 3 and D player but pairing her with Arike is a bit of a head scratcher for me. And this might be a hot take but I don't think Fudd and Paige thrive playing with each other. Paige's best work came when Azzi wasn't on the court or was very quiet. And Fudd's best UCONN moments came when Paige wasn't on the court, or when she was having an off night.

Miles to Minnesota doesn't make sense to me. Courtney Williams has done a terrific job playing PG in Minnesota and is signed for 2 years on a high contract. I doubt Williams will get pushed to the 2, and I don't see them co-existing well since neither is a great shooter. Miles is great but this fit doesn't make sense and she's far too good to be a backup PG for more than 1 season. I would've 100% taken Betts here, especially since they just lost Smith.

I can't believe the Valks traded Flaujae for Suarez and a 2028 2nd round pick. Seattle fleeced the Valks there. I haven't seen a ton of Fam but is it overkill (or genius) to have her, Malonga and Ezi all together? All 3 are long, athletic, foreign post players.


Mystics got the steal of the draft by getting Betts at 4. Dugalic at 9 doesn't make sense, they should've picked Raven. Cotie could be a good pro but has some red flags, I don't hate it for a 10th pick. Harmon is a great 3rd round pick, I'm not sure she sticks with Amoore on the roster too. Having multiple 5'6 PGs would be a rarity.

Raven as a backup to Clark makes a lot of sense, but they already have Tyasha Harris there. Do they really need 3 PGs? None of those 3 are combo guards either and Clark is probably playing 35 minutes a night. I guess it's good to have backup options after their PG disaster last year but it seems like overkill to me.

Very surprised Mair went in the first round. I was surprised Latson dropped so far--I think she would've been a top 10 pick if she didn't transfer for her final season.

Lots of really good unpolished athletes in the 2nd and 3rd rounds in Key, Lattimore, Barker, Spearman and Williams. Key in particular has some nice skills that could help her last.

I don't think it's a particularly strong draft but there are a lot of 2nd/3rd round draft picks who could stick and make a roster with the league expanding.

 

[bballnut90]

Its crazy, as a freshman I remember her being a scorer leading Texas pretty far into the tournament. Then as a junior I remember her playing seemingly her best basketball and absolutely killing uconn. I felt like she was the best point guard in the country. She got injured somewhat shortly after that. And then she played two years where I thought she never quite got back to that level but she was still really good. Like at 5'6 she used to get to any spot and pull up. She also just used to be a bit more aggressive offensively. That was long winded but I really like the pick. I think she could definitely outplay Olson and Amore and I don't say that as a slight to them

Very well put, I appreciate the long winded thought and agree with all of this. I know her scoring was down this year but I always felt like she could create her own shot at any moment but was choosing not to. Texas had it's best offensive team under Vic this year so she was making making the right choices offensively, but I think she could've been a 12-15 ppg scorer if she wanted to.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Very well put, I appreciate the long winded thought and agree with all of this. I know her scoring was down this year but I always felt like she could create her own shot at any moment but was choosing not to. Texas had it's best offensive team under Vic this year so she was making making the right choices offensively, but I think she could've been a 12-15 ppg scorer if she wanted to.

I think Vic burns players out. Physically and mentally. Harmon would probably never admit to it, but big picture….explain the mass exodus on a Final 4 team. I ran across this video this evening. SO he knows she does all this stuff, but has no problem stepping up to a podium and publicly undressing her and teammates in a not so delicate way.

 

[Sifaka]

First round

1. Dallas Wings: Azzi Fudd

2. Minnesota Lynx: Olivia Miles

3. Seattle Storm: Awa Fam

4. Washington Mystics: Lauren Betts

5. Chicago Sky: Gabriela Jaquez

6. Toronto Tempo: Kiki Rice

7. Portland Fire: Iyana Martin

8. Golden State Valkyries: Flau’jae Johnson (traded to Seattle Storm)

9. Washington Mystics: Angela Dugalic

10. Indiana Fever: Raven Johnson

11. Washington Mystics: Cotie McMahon

12. Connecticut Sun: Nell Angloma

13. Atlanta Dream: Madina Okot

14. Seattle Storm: Taina Mair

15. Golden State Valkyries: Gianna Kneepkens

Second round

16. Seattle Storm: Marta Suarez, Spain (traded to the Golden State Valkyries)

17. Portland Fire: Frieda Bühner, Germany

18. Connecticut Sun: Charlisse Leger-Walker, UCLA

19. Washington Mystics: Cassandre Prosper, Notre Dame

20: Los Angeles Sparks: Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina

21. Chicago Sky: Latasha Lattimore, Mississippi

22. Toronto Tempo: Teonni Key, Kentucky

23. Golden State Valkyries: Ashlon Jackson, Duke

24. Los Angeles Sparks: Chance Gray

25. Indiana Fever: Justine Pissott, Vanderbilt

26. Toronto Tempo: Saffron Shiels, Australia

27. Phoenix Mercury: Ines Pitarch-Granel, France

28. Atlanta Dream: Indya Nivar, North Carolina

29. Las Vegas Aces: Janiah Barker, Tennessee

30. Washington Mystics: Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor

Third round

31. Dallas Wings: Zee Spearman, Tennessee

32. Chicago Sky: Tonie Morgan, Kentucky

33. Connecticut Sun: Serah Williams, UConn

34. Washington Mystics: Rori Harmon, Texas

35. Los Angeles Sparks: Amelia Hassett, Kentucky

36. Toronto Tempo: Charlise Dunn, Davidson

37. Portland Fire: Taylor Bigby, TCU

38. Golden State Valkyries: Kokoro Tanaka, Japan

39. Seattle Storm: Grace VanSlooten, Michigan State

40. Indiana Fever: Jessica Timmons, Alabama

41. New York Liberty: Manuela Puoch, Australia

42. Phoenix Mercury: Ester Ratkai, Hungary

43. Atlanta Dream: Kejia Ran, China

44. Las Vegas Aces: Jordan Obi, Kentucky

45. Minnesota Lynx: Lani White, Utah

 

[bballnut90]

How many other teams have had 4 or more players even drafted? I think a while back Notre Dame had a few teammates drafted but not really positive.
But I agree, it's gotta be up there among the unique draft scenarios.

In regards to Notre Dame, they had 5 in 2019 who all are still playing in the WNBA 7 years later:
-Jackie Young (3 championships, 2x All-WNBA 2nd Team)
-Brianna Turner (2x All WNBA Defensive Team)
-Jessica Shepard (just signed a million dollar contract in Dallas)
-Arike (3x All-WNBA 1st or 2nd team)
-Marina Mabrey (double digit scorer in 6 of 7 years)

 

[AidanFan20]

Ouch...

Ouch? Yeah, a lil 'spensive, but I get to see Paizzi! (Get it?)