WNBA mock draft: Who follows Paige Bueckers at No. 1?

Caitlin Clark was the wire-to-wire top pick in ESPN’s 2024 WNBA mock draft. UConn‘s Paige Bueckers might be in the same position for 2025.

For ESPN’s initial WNBA mock draft for 2025, the order of picks has not been established. The lottery teams in order of odds for the No. 1 pick are: the Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings, Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics. Until the draft lottery is held — likely in December — to set the official order, we will list them in this order.

Keep in mind that Dallas owns a pick swap with Chicago via the 2023 Marina Mabrey trade. So if the Sky place higher than the Wings in the lottery, they will switch spots.

Also, the Golden State Valkyries will join the league in 2025 as its 13th team. The WNBA has not announced details of the expansion draft or where the Valkyries will be slotted in the regular draft, which is traditionally in April.

For now, we slot Golden State at No. 5, just after the lottery picks. The last two WNBA expansion teams, Chicago in 2006 and the Atlanta Dream in 2008, drafted No. 6 and No. 8 in the first round, respectively. (The Dream initially were given the No. 4 pick in their first draft but traded it for a veteran player and the No. 8 pick.)

Lastly, we will list 12 first-round picks, since the WNBA stripped the Aces’ 2025 first-round selection as a penalty after the investigation involving former Aces player Dearica Hamby’s allegations against the team.

If Bueckers is the first selection in 2025, it will mark just the second time guards have been selected No. 1 in the WNBA draft in consecutive years. It previously happened in 2019 (Notre Dame‘s Jackie Young to Las Vegas) and 2020 (Oregon‘s Sabrina Ionescu to the New York Liberty).

Clark was the projected first pick for 2024 even before she confirmed in late February that she would join the WNBA this year, bypassing an additional season at Iowa via the COVID-19 waiver from 2020-21.

Bueckers is a redshirt senior who missed 2022-23 with a knee injury. She could return to college for 2025-26, via the COVID-19 waiver. But in a social media post on Monday, she wrote “last” media day at UConn, and it seems likely she will finish her college career this season.

Clark has had an exceptional first season in the WNBA, helping revitalize an Indiana Fever franchise that is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Bueckers is expected to greatly help a franchise as a rookie, too.

Chicago, which joined the WNBA in 2006, has never had a No. 1 pick — and can’t get one in 2025 because of the pick swap (unless the Sky pull off another trade, which seems unlikely). Dallas — the franchise started in Detroit in 1998, moved to Tulsa and then Texas — has had one, in 2021. But that selection, Charli Collier, has not played in the WNBA since 2022. Washington, which also launched in 1998, has had only No. 1 pick: Chamique Holdsclaw in 1999; she played 12 seasons and was a six-time All-Star.

Los Angeles, an original WNBA franchise from 1997, has had two No. 1 picks, both superstars: Candace Parker in 2008 and Nneka Ogwumike in 2012. Parker, who retired before this season, was a two-time MVP who won three WNBA titles. Ogwumike was the 2016 MVP and won a championship that season; she’s currently playing with the Seattle Storm in the first round.

The Sparks made the playoffs in 20 of the league’s first 24 seasons. But they’re now in a four-season playoff drought and finished with a league-worst 8-32 record this year. Los Angeles had two lottery picks in April, both forwards: No. 2 Cameron Brink and No. 4 Rickea Jackson. Brink suffered a knee injury in June and was lost for the season. Jackson played all 40 games, averaging 13.4 points and 3.9 rebounds.

How much could Bueckers help bring some sparkle back to the Sparks? A lot, but we’ll have to wait to see whether the lottery gives Los Angeles that chance.

1. Los Angeles Sparks: Paige Bueckers

UConn | point guard | 6-foot-0 | senior

Bueckers returned strong last season after missing 2022-23 with a knee injury. She averaged 21.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists, leading the Huskies to the Final Four. In her three seasons at UConn, she has shot 53.3% from the field, 41.9% from behind the arc. She is comfortable in either guard spot and is a good defender as well.

2. Dallas Wings: Kiki Iriafen

USC | power forward | 6-3 | senior

She was named Most Improved Player in the Pac-12 last season after averaging 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds as a junior at Stanford. She has transferred to her hometown of Los Angeles to play at USC this season. She is just 2-for-7 behind the arc in college, so it’s something she can add to her game. After reaching the WNBA semifinals last year, Dallas won just nine games in 2024 and had the WNBA’s worst defensive rating, so the Wings have a lot to figure out for 2025. Iriafen could help.

3. Chicago Sky: Aneesah Morrow

LSU | small forward | 6-1 | senior

Morrow is from Chicago and could be headed back there; her former LSU teammate Angel Reese was a successful rookie for the Sky this season. Morrow played for DePaul in her hometown her first two college seasons, then transferred to LSU for last season. A wing who is strong on the boards, Morrow has averaged 11.9 rebounds over three college seasons. She averaged 16.4 PPG and 10.0 RPG with the Tigers last season. She has shot 24.3% from behind the arc in college, so improvement there would be a plus.

4. Washington Mystics: Azzi Fudd

UConn | shooting guard | 5-10 | junior

Fudd has played in just 42 college games, averaging 13.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Why does she project as a lottery pick right now? Her potential, when healthy, is very high. The “healthy” part has been tough; Fudd played 25 games as freshman, 15 as a sophomore and just two last year before missing the rest of the season with a knee injury. If Fudd can have a healthy, productive season in 2024-25, she could still come back to UConn or move on to the WNBA.

5. Golden State Valkyries: Olivia Miles

Notre Dame | point guard | 5-10 | junior

Miles entered Notre Dame early; she played six games during the 2020-21 season, then had her official freshman year 2021-22. She suffered a knee injury in Notre Dame’s regular-season finale in 2023, missing that postseason and then all of last season. Her stats when healthy have been strong, as she has averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists for the Irish. Like Fudd, she could return to college for 2024-25.

6. Washington Mystics (from Atlanta): Shyanne Sellers

Maryland | point guard | 6-2 | senior

Sellers is a do-everything kind of player who could thrive for the Mystics. She averaged 15.6 points, 5.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds last season for the Terps. Sellers has shot 32.6% from behind the arc, but she could take more 3-pointers this season and make that a bigger part of her game.

7. New York Liberty (from Phoenix): Dominique Malonga

France | center | 6-6

Right now, this draft doesn’t look strong for post players. Malonga, who doesn’t turn 19 until November, made the French Olympic team this year. With her size and potential, she could be a first-round pick, even if she doesn’t play in the WNBA in 2025.

8. Indiana Fever: Janiah Barker

UCLA | power forward | 6-4 | junior

Again, there might not be many high-quality posts for the first round, so a player like Barker could be more in demand. Even though she’s a true junior, she would be eligible for the draft because she turns 22 in 2025. Barker played her first two years at Texas A&M before transferring to UCLA. She averaged 12.2 points and 7.6 rebounds last season, while making a respectable 23 of 67 3-pointers.

9. Seattle Storm: Rori Harmon

Texas | point guard | 5-6 | senior

Harmon played 12 games last year and then suffered a season-ending knee injury in December. However, she was granted a hardship waiver in August, so she has two more seasons of college eligibility. So she might not declare for the 2025 draft. An excellent two-way player known for her tenacious on-the-ball defense, Harmon has averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds at Texas.

10. Chicago Sky (from Connecticut): Te-Hina Paopao

South Carolina | guard | 5-9 | senior

She could have gone to the 2024 draft but opted to play a fifth season (second at South Carolina after three at Oregon) via the COVID-19 waiver. Paopao helped the Gamecocks win the national championship last season, making an impressive 46.8% of her 3-pointers (87 of 186) while averaging 11.0 points and 3.7 assists.

11. Minnesota Lynx: Sonia Citron

Notre Dame | shooting guard | 6-1 | senior

Citron averaged 17.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season for Notre Dame. She has shot 37% from behind the arc in college (122 of 330), and that can continue to grow as a strength. Notre Dame’s reputation for placing successful guards in the WNBA helps Citron, too.

12. Phoenix Mercury (from New York): Georgia Amoore

Kentucky | point guard | 5-6 | graduate student

Amoore, like Paopao, opted to stay for a fifth year. She was at Virginia Tech for four seasons, then followed coach Kenny Brooks when he took over at Kentucky. As is the case with Harmon, there’s some concern about her small stature. Still, Amoore has a been a terrific scorer and facilitator in college, averaging 14.7 points and 5.2 assists for her Hokies career while shooting 36.1% from 3-point range. How she plays in the SEC this year will factor into her draft assessment.