The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2025 season will be held following the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. This will mark the first draft for the newest expansion team for the league, the Golden State Valkyries. The lottery teams are usually decided based on the four teams that do not make the playoffs.
| 2025 WNBA Draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date(s) | April 2025 |
| Location | TBA |
| Overview | |
| League | WNBA |
| Teams | 13 |
There are only 12 picks in the first round, due to the Las Vegas Aces having a draft pick stripped for violating WNBA policy, specifically because the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.[1]
Draft lottery
editThe lottery to determine the order of the top four picks in the 2025 draft took place on November 17, 2024. It was televised on ESPN in the United States and streamed on TSN+ in lieu of TSN network due to the latter airing the CFL's 111th Grey Cup with CTV in Canada. The four non-playoff teams in 2024 qualified for the lottery.
Lottery chances
editNote: Team selected for the No. 1 pick noted in bold text.
| Team | Combined 2023–2024 record | Lottery chances[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Sparks | 25–55 | 44.2% |
| Dallas Wings | 31–49 | 22.7% |
| Chicago Sky | 31–49 | 22.7% |
| Washington Mystics | 33–47 | 10.4% |
The lottery odds were based on combined records from the 2023 and 2024 WNBA seasons. In the drawing, balls numbered 1–14 are placed in a lottery machine and mixed. Four balls are drawn to determine a four-digit combination (only 11–12–13–14 is ignored and redrawn). The team to which that four-ball combination is assigned receives the No. 1 pick. The four balls are then placed back into the machine and the process is repeated to determine the second pick. The two teams whose numerical combinations do not come up in the lottery will select in the inverse order of their two-year cumulative record. Ernst & Young knows the discreet results before they are announced.[3] The order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third rounds was determined by inverse order of the teams' respective regular-season records solely from 2024.
Eligibility
editUnder the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the WNBA and its players' union, draft eligibility for players not defined as "international" requires the following to be true:[4]
- The player's 22nd birthday falls during the calendar year of the draft. For this draft, the cutoff birth date is December 31, 2003.
- She has either:
- completed her college eligibility;
- received a bachelor's degree, or is scheduled to receive such in the three months following the draft; or
- is at least four years removed from high school graduation.
A player who is scheduled to receive her bachelor's degree within three months of the draft date, and is younger than the cutoff age, is only eligible if the calendar year of the draft is no earlier than the fourth after her high school graduation.
Players with remaining college eligibility who meet the cutoff age must notify the WNBA headquarters of their intent to enter the draft no later than 10 days before the draft date, and must renounce any remaining college eligibility to do so. A separate notification timetable is provided for players involved in postseason tournaments (most notably the NCAA Division I tournament); those players (normally) must declare for the draft within 24 hours of their final game.
"International players" are defined as those for whom all of the following is true:
- Born and currently residing outside the U.S.
- Never "exercised intercollegiate basketball eligibility" in the U.S.
For "international players", the eligibility age is 20, also measured on December 31 of the year of the draft.
Key
edit| + | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| Bold | Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year |
Draft
editFirst round
edit| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas Wings | |||
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | |||
| 3 | Chicago Sky | |||
| 4 | Washington Mystics | |||
| 5 | Golden State Valkyries | |||
| 6 | Washington Mystics (from Atlanta via Dallas)[a][b] | |||
| 7 | New York Liberty (from Phoenix) | |||
| 8 | Indiana Fever | |||
| 9 | Seattle Storm | |||
| Las Vegas Aces (forfeited due to violation league rules) | ||||
| 10 | Chicago Sky (from Connecticut)[c] | |||
| 11 | Minnesota Lynx | |||
| 12 | Phoenix Mercury (from New York) | |||
Second round
edit| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Los Angeles Sparks | |||
| 14 | Dallas Wings | |||
| 15 | Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago)[d][e][f] | |||
| 16 | Las Vegas Aces (from Washington)[g] | |||
| 17 | Golden State Valkyries | |||
| 18 | Atlanta Dream | |||
| 19 | Phoenix Mercury | |||
| 20 | Indiana Fever | |||
| 21 | Seattle Storm | |||
| 22 | Las Vegas Aces | |||
| 23 | Washington Mystics (from Connecticut)[h] | |||
| 24 | Minnesota Lynx | |||
| 25 | Connecticut Sun (from New York via Chicago)[c][i] |
Third round
edit| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Los Angeles Sparks | |||
| 27 | Dallas Wings | |||
| 28 | Los Angeles Sparks (from Chicago)[j] | |||
| 29 | Seattle Storm (from Washington)[k] | |||
| 30 | Golden State Valkyries | |||
| 31 | Dallas Wings (from Atlanta)[l] | |||
| 32 | Washington Mystics (from Phoenix)[m] | |||
| 33 | Indiana Fever | |||
| 34 | Seattle Storm | |||
| 35 | Las Vegas Aces | |||
| 36 | Atlanta Dream (from Connecticut)[n] | |||
| 37 | Minnesota Lynx | |||
| 38 | New York Liberty |
Draft pick movements
editTrades
editThe following are trades that will have effect on the draft order placements following the 2024 season.
- Phoenix Mercury to New York Liberty: New York has the option to swap 1st round picks with Phoenix (depending on how the standings work out)
- Chicago Sky to the Dallas Wings: Dallas also has the option to swap 1st round picks with Chicago (depending on how the standings work out)
Footnotes
edit- ^ January 21, 2023: Atlanta to Dallas[5]
- Atlanta acquired Allisha Gray
- Dallas acquired 2023 and 2025 first-round picks
- ^ April 10, 2023: Dallas to Washington[6]
- Dallas acquired the rights to Stephanie Soares
- Washington acquired 2024 second-round and (from Atlanta) 2025 first-round picks
- ^ a b July 17, 2024: Chicago to Connecticut[7]
- Connecticut acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2025 second-round pick
- Chicago acquired Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, a 2025 first-round pick, and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks
- ^ February 11, 2023: Four-team trade among Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Phoenix[8]
- Chicago acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2024 second-round pick (from Phoenix)
- New York acquired rights to Leonie Fiebich, a 2024 second-round pick (from Chicago), and the right to swap 2025 first-round picks (from Phoenix)
- Phoenix acquired Michaela Onyenwere, a 2024 third-round pick (from Chicago), and a 2025 second-round pick (from Chicago)
- Dallas acquired Diamond DeShields, 2023 and 2024 first-round picks (from Chicago), and the right to swap 2025 first-round picks (from Chicago)
- ^ February 6, 2024: Phoenix to Chicago[9]
- Phoenix acquired Kahleah Copper and Morgan Bertsch
- Chicago acquired Brianna Turner, Michaela Onyenwere, 2024 and 2026 first-round picks, the right to swap 2026 second-round picks, and reacquired its own 2025 second-round pick
- ^ April 14, 2024: Chicago to Minnesota[10]
- Chicago acquired a 2024 first-round pick and Nikolina Milić
- Minnesota acquired a 2024 first-round pick, Sika Koné, a 2025 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks
- ^ February 5, 2023: Washington to Las Vegas[11]
- Las Vegas acquired 2024 and 2025 second-round picks
- Washington acquired the rights to Amanda Zahui B
- ^ May 7, 2024: Connecticut to Washington[12]
- Washington acquired Bernadett Határ and a 2025 second-round pick
- Connecticut acquired Queen Egbo
- ^ March 14, 2024: New York to Chicago[13]
- Chicago acquired 2025 and 2026 second-round picks
- New York acquired Rebekah Gardner
- ^ February 19, 2024: Los Angeles to Chicago[14]
- Los Angeles acquired Julie Allemand, the rights to Li Yueru, and a 2025 third-round pick
- Chicago acquired a 2024 first-round pick
- ^ May 11, 2024: Washington to Seattle[15]
- Seattle acquired a 2025 third-round pick
- Washington acquired Jade Melbourne
- ^ May 4, 2024: Atlanta to Dallas[16]
- Dallas acquired a 2025 third-round pick
- Atlanta acquired Crystal Dangerfield
- ^ August 20, 2024: Phoenix to Washington[17]
- Washington acquired Sug Sutton and a 2025 third-round pick
- Phoenix acquired the rights to Klara Lundquist
- ^ May 16, 2023: Connecticut to Atlanta[18]
- Connecticut acquired Leigha Brown
- Atlanta acquired a 2025 third-round pick
References
edit- ^ Voepel, Michael. "WNBA suspends Hammon, strips draft pick: What's next for Las Vegas Aces, Dearica Hamby?". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Suggs, David (November 17, 2024). "WNBA Draft Lottery, explained: How Dallas Wings won No. 1 overall pick in 2025". The Sporting News. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
- ^ Dozier, Emily (December 10, 2023). "WNBA Draft Lottery, explained: Updated odds for every team to win the No. 1 overall pick in 2024". The Sporting News.
- ^ "Article XIII, Section 1: Player Eligibility" (PDF). 2020 Women's National Basketball Association Collective Bargaining Agreement. Women's National Basketball Players Association. pp. 110–111. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
- ^ "Atlanta Dream Land Allisha Gray". Atlanta Dream. January 21, 2023.
- ^ DBragaSports (April 10, 2023). "Stephanie Soares selected 4th overall in WNBA Draft". SBNation. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Chicago Sky (July 17, 2024). "Chicago Sky Acquire Banham, Jefferson, Draft Picks from Connecticut". SBNation. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ "Chicago Sky Acquires Marina Mabrey in Four-Team Trade". WNBA.com. February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ "PHOENIX MERCURY ACQUIRES ALL-STAR AND WNBA CHAMPION KAHLEAH COPPER AND FORWARD MORGAN BERTSCH IN TRADE WITH CHICAGO SKY". WNBA.com. February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ Field Level Media (April 14, 2024). "Sky swap 2024 WNBA draft picks, prospects with Lynx in trade". ESPN. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ "Aces Acquire Pair Of Second Round Picks From Washington". WNBA.com. February 5, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
- ^ "Connecticut Sun Acquires Queen Egbo". Connecticut Sun. WNBA. May 7, 2024.
- ^ Costabile, Annie. "Sky acquire two future second-round draft picks from Liberty for rights to Rebekah Gardner". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Michael Voepel (February 19, 2024). "Sky land No. 8 pick in 2024 WNBA draft in trade with Sparks". ESPN.
- ^ First Level Media. "Mystics acquire Jade Melbourne from Storm for 3rd-round pick". ESPN.com. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Dallas Wings Announce Roster Transaction". Dallas Wings. WNBA. May 4, 2024.
- ^ "Mystics Acquire Sug Sutton and 2025 Third Round Pick". Washington Mystics. August 20, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
- ^ "Connecticut Sun Acquires Leigha Brown in Trade with Atlanta Dream – Connecticut Sun". sun.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-10-28.