(Image via justwomenssports.com)
Staff Writer: Aidan Danforth
Email: adanforth@umassd.edu
While the NBA is in the midst in the war for the playoffs, the WNBA is ramping up with its recent draft. The 2025 WNBA draft saw many talented players from the NCAA enter new teams with hopes of being successful as individuals and to their respective teams.
2024 saw the assurance of several NCAA players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese who helped raise the popularity of the WNBA. 2025 looks to cap on their success by adding more excitement to this expanding league.
Here are a few headliners from the 2025 WNBA draft, including some of the most notable names drafted who are bound to make noise come this summer.
Paige Bueckers
Paige Bueckers is coming off a season where she averaged 19.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists as well as a NCAA women’s title with UConn. She is a high sought after prospect due to her shooting ability and being a 3-time First All American.
The Dallas Wings selected Bueckers with the first selection in this year’s draft with hopes of turning around a franchise that only won 9 games in 2024.
Everything went wrong for the Stars that season. Injuries, coaching issues, lack of depth, as well as weakness on both sides of the ball. They had the second worst record in the WNBA, leading to the acquisition of the first overall pick in the lottery.
Bueckers looks to add much needed offense and defense help to the Stars. She should pair well with second team All-WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale. She will likely also vastly improve a dense that was ranked 11th in 2024.
A new coach, a healthy roster, and a player like Bueckers should keep Wings fans optimistics for improvements in 2025.
The Biggest Additions of the Golden State Expansion Team
The Golden State Valkyries, an expansion team that’s set to make its debut this upcoming season, is a big headline for the draft, as they are looking to create a team identity through the draft and free agency.
They held the 5th pick in this year’s draft and used the pick to select Juste Joscyte, an international player from Lithuania who was one of the most intriguing names from the large group of international players.
Her time in the Lithuanian women’s basketball league saw her average 7.8 three pointers a game as well as 80% from the free throw line. Her style of play earned her the nickname “Baby-Faced Assassin.”
Josctye looks to add onto this expansion team by implementing a similar skillset to that of Golden State Warriors super star Stephen Curry, who also earned the nickname “Baby-Faced Assassin” during his youth days.
Golden State already has one basketball team known for its competitiveness and success as the Valkyries and Josctye look to add to the city’s legacy.
Aneesah Morrow
Aneesah Morrow is coming off a big season for LSU where she averaged 18.7 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. She also had 30 doubles-doubles in her final season with LSU and helped the team reach the elite eight, where they eventually fell to UCLA.
Morrow was selected with the seventh pick of the 2025 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun, a team that came up just short of the WNBA finals.
This team is in a unique situation. They have moved on from their head coach, promoted a new general manager, and parted ways with key players Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner.
Morrow appears to be the perfect player for the Sun as they continue to trend towards a youth movement. She’s also the perfect player to replace Thomas. She’s excellent with rebounding, scoring, and provides energy and skill that Thomas was known for.
It’ll be interesting to see if Morrow is the piece that will bring this team a championship as the Suns have continually fallen just short of a title.