Steals, Swings & Surprises: Who Came Away a Winner in the 2025 WNBA Draft

With Monday night's Draft in the books, the future of the WNBA is here. Who won, who took risks and who took big swings in the three rounds? We break it all down...

The 2025 WNBA Draft didn’t have any grand surprise at the top as Paige Bueckers was selected with the first overall pick. But we did get some interesting moves, selections and surprises from teams all over the league. In this format we’ll be doing three of our top steals of the Draft, our three biggest swings and three most surprising takeaways.

Our own Tyler DeLuca will be on YouTube contributing his own postgame thoughts and if you head over to our page you’ll be able to see press conferences from Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith, Kiki Iriafen and plenty of other top selections. Consider a free trial or subscription to our Ball-Knowers tier as later in the week, Rashard Hall will take a scouting look at each teams’ selections and how the players fit with their new franchise.

In the meantime, let’s dive into the night that was in New York City…

Three Top Steals…

Aneesah Morrow (Round 1, Pick 7 overall to Connecticut Sun)

I know that the Sun have a bit of a reputation among WNBA fans as a small market franchise without a lot going on. If you’re someone that wants to build up their celebrity and enjoys the accoutrements of a big city, the idea of living in Norwich probably isn’t super appealing. But from a pure basketball standpoint, this feels like the perfect landing spot for Aneesah Morrow.

Rachid Meziane, the highly decorated European coach and former Belgian national team manager, prizes effort players and hard workers. European contacts have told me that his passion and intensity is what sets him apart and the big question is who responds to that in the WNBA. If your Aneesah Morrow and your college coach has been Kim Mulkey for the last couple seasons, chances are you can handle intense. Personally, I’ve felt that she and Angel Reese are somewhat similar in their effort and near relentless motor, with Morrow having a more refined offensive game already. Connecticut might not say it out loud but this is a rebuild and, if the goal is to build a team predicated on effort and intensity, you probably want stars that fit that culture. To that end, I don’t think there’s anyone better (and no one better at pick 7) than Morrow.

Aaliyah Nye (Round 2, Pick 13 overall to Las Vegas Aces)

I give the Aces a lot of credit, in spite of some of their issues being self-inflicted. Even seemingly without a GM and in the middle of a (still?) ongoing investigation into possible cap circumvention, the two-time WNBA champs manage to find these late round diamonds the last couple years. The jury is still out on Kierstan Bell but Kate Martin became an instant rotational piece and fan favorite for Vegas.

Martin, of course, is now with the Golden State Valkyries so the Aces went and effectively found another version of her this year. For those unaware, Aaliyah Nye is one of the best pure shooters in this draft and was one of the most effective three point scorers in the country in women’s college basketball this past year. She shot at least 41% from range in each of the last three seasons, finishing up at Alabama with a career best 45.5% mark beyond the arc. She’s got good size and is an adequate defender. But what the Aces need is someone along the perimeter that can help take the heat of A’ja Wilson, who has had the kitchen sink thrown at her by WNBA teams for two straight years now. It may not be a catchy name but I wouldn’t be shocked if Nye becomes one of the best value adds from this draft.

Shyanne Sellers (Round 2, Pick 17 overall to Golden State Valkyries)

I was gobsmacked to see Shyanne Sellers fall as far down the draft boards as she did. Maybe there are some more legitimate concerns about her knee than we thought, or potentially scouts just saw some red flags that we didn’t.

But, credit where it’s due to Golden State. There were more than a few mock drafts that posited that the Maryland point guard might end up with the Valkyries, except at pick 5 instead of pick 17. I guess ultimately it doesn’t matter where you get ‘em as long as you do. Based on their expansion draft and free agency selections, it feels like Sellers fits the mold of what head coach Natalie Nakase wants. Every point guard that they have on the roster — from Veronica Burton to Julie Vanloo and Carla Leite — is a decent scorer, effective passer and willing rebounder. In short, they will find their way into a box score one way or another. Sellers is a similar type and, while maybe not as explosive as the other three, has a chance to fit with the Valkyries. If she stays fully healthy, we may look back on this as one of the steals of the 2025 Draft.

Three Biggest Swings…

Juste Jocyte (Round 1, Pick 5 overall to Golden State Valkyries)

I know Ryan Ruocco wasn’t trying to be funny when he called the Lithuanian 19 year old’s name but the abject shock with which he reacted to the pick was chuckle worthy. But what people — those not super tapped in to the world of international women’s basketball — may not know is that Jocyte is a known commodity. She made history in her home country, making a senior national team debut at 13 and becoming the youngest player to play in the Euroleague a year later.

My only read on why she was a bit of an unknown coming into this draft was because there were questions about whether or not she would be a part of this draft or the 2026 (or even 2027) class. While I think there were other really good players on the board, I do think this aligns with Golden State’s general ethos. There’s a ton of international flavor on that Valkyries roster and one of the pluses of these Euro players is that they spent teenage years playing against veterans of the game. If you want to get rookies who know how to handle the physicality of the WNBA, going to get a fellow professional (albeit from a lesser league talent-wise) is probably the move. Still, time will tell if this was a good choice for Golden State as they try to build a franchise from the ground up. I would’ve liked to see Morrow here and thought she fit but Jocyte may surprise us all.

Georgia Amoore (Round 1, Pick 6 overall to Washington Mystics)

Alright, time to wade into some more hater-ish territory. The first canary in the coal mine for Shyanne Sellers was the fact that the Washington Mystics, literally the WNBA team down the road from College Park, passed on her in favor of Georgia Amoore. The strategy for the Mystics seemed to be best player available, as they took Sonia Citron with the third pick and immediately followed that up with Kiki Iriafen.

But the Amoore pick leaves me scratching my head a little bit. Make no mistake, I think that she’s a great shooter and when she gets hot can be a force multiplier on the offensive end. But my biggest question revolves around two things: how Amoore performs against high level defensive pressure and her ability to distribute at the pro level. Throughout her college career, I watched a lot of inefficient shooting performances (think 16 points on 16 shots) when the heat was turned up against top end perimeter defenders. While Kentucky didn’t have the same level of talent as her Virginia Tech teams did, the slip was notable in a better conference with more athletic and faster guards on her. Will she be able to create that separation to hit those stepbacks and will she hold her own on the defensive end? There’s just a lot of questions I have from a scouting perspective and, at pick 6, I feel like you shouldn’t have that many.

Hailey Van Lith (Round 1, Pick 11 overall to Chicago Sky)

Okay, this is a fantastic pick purely from the narrative end. Angel Reese and HVL on the same team again? Yes please. The funniest tweet of the night, in my opinion, came from Reese who expressed excitement at the chance to run it back while saying they didn’t get it right the first time. It’s also a good basketball fit as Van Lith will be able to learn under the tutelage of one of the best point guards in the history of the game in Courtney Vandersloot.

At pick 11, I don’t think this is as big a swing as Amoore to the Mystics was. And my biggest concern is somewhat alleviated by the presence of Sloot. The only negative about Mark Campbell’s pick-n-roll heavy offense at TCU is that it can sometimes inflate numbers and make point guards look a bit more dominant than they are. Sabrina Ionescu, in particular, had a sizable adjustment period in the W and is arguably the poster child from the system Campbell now employs in Fort Worth. Will HVL face a similar adjustment? I think she’s a better and more aggressive finisher at the rim than Sabrina was at this age but the size difference also makes me wonder how she can adjust to the WNBA defenders. But, she does have some help in Sloot and head coach Tyler Marsh, who is an excellent developer of talent. In a lot of ways, it’s an ideal spot for her and allows her the chance to grow. That late in the first, picks aren’t so much swings as they are lottery tickets and I know a lot of people (myself included) are hoping HVL cashes.

Three Surprising Takeaways…

South Carolina’s Second Round Selections…

This feels a little narrative driven given the fact that only Te-Hina PaoPao was projected to be in the first round of the draft in a lot of mocks this year. But I did find it a little interesting to see South Carolina’s three players fall as deep into the second round as they did. The surprise, to me, was going back and seeing that there is a trend emerging among Gamecock guards. No one from South Carolina’s back court has been selected higher than 7th since 2020, when Ty Harris went to the Dallas Wings.

We know that Dawn Staley’s teams are built around dominant bigs but the budding discussion (largely driven by the utilization of MiLaysia Fulwiley this year) about how guards develop at South Carolina is maybe worth litigating a bit further. Had Raven Johnson been in this draft class, I think we’d have gotten a better idea given how good she is defensively and as a facilitator. Ultimately, Staley’s job is to win championships in Columbia and, to that end, she’s done it while crafting an extensive track record of cultivating elite bigs that go on to be high level WNBA players. But the guard discussion feels like it’s worth starting, especially when you consider a transfer of hers, Saniya Rivers, was taken before any current Gamecock guard.

Dallas might be the Draft winners for more than Paige Bueckers…

Let me just say that I absolutely loved what the Wings did outside of Paige Bueckers. It’s a surprise inasmuch as it feels like Curt Miller really did his homework beyond his top pick. Sometimes, when teams know they have a generational talent in that spot, they don’t go as hard on the later rounds. But it’s very clear that the Wings are doing everything in their power to try and put a quality team around their centerpiece prospect.

To that end, they added some great pieces. Madison Scott is an extremely underrated talent and feels like she could be a fixture in the WNBA for years to come. Aziaha James is a nice addition as a pure scoring option and feels like she could benefit from playing behind Arike Ogunbowale. JJ Quinerly is a capital “E” elite defender and has the ability to hang around in the W based on that talent alone. And then, with their final selection, they get one of the biggest and longest players in the draft in Baylor’s Aaronette Vonleh. All-in-all, this was a wonderful haul for the Wings and a sign that there is some serious intention within the organization. We have talked generally all offseason about what franchises need to do to make sure their stars are taken care of. Dallas deserves an A+ for their free agency and draft work this year.

All UConn needed was one title for ESPN to go back to their pre 2019 ways…

Oh, ESPN…I really wish you hadn’t done that.

Look, I get the Paige Bueckers and UConn angle. They won a national championship less than a week prior. But the idea that we have to devote actual draft time to a Diana Taurasi hagiography or a Geno Auriemma interview is exactly the type of stuff that got us into these discussions about coverage equity in the first place. The coverage itself felt a little cynical as ESPN rolled a commercial break immediately after Bueckers selection as if to say to their audience “we know you’re leaving after this”. Dominique Malonga, who may end up being the best player in this draft when all is said and done, had to wait for her name to be called while ESPN ran a package about Diana Taurasi for…reasons?

I don’t disagree with running the piece, given the magnitude and the bridging of eras of UConn stars. But why put it after the selection? It was pretty prohibitive that Paige was going to go number one. Ruocco said as much before the pick was even made.

For those that are newer to the game (welcome, by the way!), these are the production choices that kicked off a lot of conversations about equity in coverage that seeded the Caitlin Clark discourse we saw so much of last year. While it has mutated into a frenzy of bad faith punditry and overt clout chasing, the ethos actually started from a well-intentioned place. Did you feel, as a viewer, that the entirety of the game was celebrated last night? Did it feel like every player and every franchise got their moment? Or did it feel like the show was about UConn and everything was secondary? That’s how coverage of the sport felt for a long time until about five years ago when folks started raising hell about it. Now, we’re generally in a better place, but portions of last night’s coverage reminded me of why those discussions were happening in the first place and why they were warranted (within reason).