When the lottery balls fell, it was the Dallas Wings leapfrogging the Los Angeles Sparks to take the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Sparks, who had the best chances at landing the top pick, ended up with the No. 2 pick, leaving the Sky for the third pick and the Mystics taking No. 4.
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Each lottery team had one of their long stars representing them in Bristol, Conn. at ESPN’s studios. Angel Reese represented the Sky, with Aaliyah Edwards was there for the Mystics, Maddy Siegrist got to celebrate the Wings getting the top pick and Rickea Jackson went across the country for the Sparks.
The odds were based on the record for the 2023 and 2024 seasons of the four teams who didn’t make the playoffs this past season. The Sparks were 25-55 combined in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, while the Wings and Sky are tied at 31-49, and the Mystics were 33-47 the past two seasons. The leagues expansion franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, who will begin play in 2025, were automatically assigned the fifth selection in each of the three rounds of the draft set for April 2025.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers has been seen as the overwhelming favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in many 2025 mock drafts. Other top prospects include USC’s Kiki Iriafen, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, UCLA’s Janiah Barker and LSU’s Aneesah Morrow.
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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever (2024), Aliyah Boston of the Fever (2023), Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream (2022), Charli Collier (2021), and Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty (2020) were the previous first overall picks.
The rest of the draft order is determined by the teams 2024 record. The New York Liberty have the right to swap its own first-round pick for Phoenix’s first-round pick, however, the remaining order for the first round of the 2025 WNBA draft is as follows:
- Dallas Wings
- Los Angeles Sparks
- Chicago Sky
- Washington Mystics
- Golden State Valkyries
- Washington Mystics from Atlanta Dream via Dallas Wings (Allisha Gray, 1/21/23)
- New York Liberty (via a pick swap with the Phoenix Mercury)
- Indiana Fever
- Seattle Storm
- Chicago Sky (via a trade with the Connecticut Sun)
- Minnesota Lynx
- Phoenix Mercury (via a pick swap with the New York Liberty)
(The Las Vegas Aces forfeited their 2025 first round pick for violating league rules.)
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