The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2025 season was held following the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. It marked the first draft for the newest expansion team for the league, the Golden State Valkyries. The draft took place at The Shed in Manhattan and was televised on ESPN in the United States and on TSN1/3/4/5/SN360/SNP in Canada.
There were only 12 picks in the first round, as the Las Vegas Aces' pick was stripped for violating league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
Draft lottery The 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 the TSN network due to the latter airing the Canadian Football League's 111th Grey Cup with Sportsnet in Canada. The four non-playoff teams in 2024 qualified for the lottery.
Lottery chances 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. 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.
Note: Team selected for the No. 1 pick noted in bold text. Team Combined 2023–24 record Lottery chances Result Los Angeles Sparks 25–55 44.2% 2nd pick Dallas Wings 31–49 22.7% 1st pick Chicago Sky 31–49 22.7% 3rd pick Washington Mystics 33–47 10.4% 4th pick
2025 unofficial combine On April 4, 2025 in Tampa, Florida, Intersport Basketball hosted their inaugural Lilly Women's College All-Star Combine, sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company and Herbalife. The event took place during the 2025 NCAA Final Four weekend. Thirty college basketball players with the intent to declare for the 2025 draft were invited to participate in the combine which included "interviews with team personnel, measurement and strength and condition, and on-court basketball drills." Scouts from the thirteen current WNBA teams were in attendance for the combine. The event was streamed live on YouTube.
The 2025 attendees were:
Destiny Adams, Rutgers Julia Ayrault, Michigan State Lexi Donarski, North Carolina Kha'Dija Faye, Pittsburgh Allyson Fertig, Wyoming DeYona Gaston, Auburn O'Mariah Gordon, Florida State Zaay Green, Alabama Izzy Higginbottom, Arkansas Jordan Hobbs, Michigan Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State Jerkaila Jordan, Mississippi State Molly Kaiser, New Mexico State Dazia Lawrence, Kentucky Megan McConnell, Duquesne Esmeralda Morales, Montana State Lucy Olsen, Iowa Ugonne Onyiah, California Sammie Puisis, South Florida Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown Madison Scott, Ole Miss Shyanne Sellers, Maryland Jewel Spear, Tennessee Makayla Timpson, Florida State Kennedy Todd-Williams, Ole Miss Harmoni Turner, Harvard Alyssa Ustby, North Carolina Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor
Eligibility and entrants Under 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: The player's 22nd birthday falls during the calendar year of the draft. For the 2025 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.
Early eligibility Players who are younger than the draft's cutoff age and are scheduled to receive their bachelor's degree within three months of the draft date will only be eligible if the calendar year of the draft is no earlier than the fourth year after their high school graduation.
Players with remaining college eligibility but who do meet the cutoff age criteria must notify 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. For the 2025 draft, the date fell on April 4. A separate notification timetable is provided for players involved in postseason tournaments (i.e. the NCAA Division I tournament); those players (normally) must declare for the draft within 24 hours of their final collegiate game.
International players "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. The player's 20th birthday falls during the calendar year of the draft. For this draft, the international cutoff birth date is December 31, 2005.
Declared players The following players publicly declared for the 2025 draft:
Age-eligible college underclassmen None
College seniors
Paige Bueckers, UConn (redshirt) Sonia Citron, Notre Dame Madison Conner, TCU Jayda Curry, Louisville Sania Feagin, South Carolina Yaya Felder, Baylor Maria Gakdeng, North Carolina Melyia Grayson, Southern Miss (redshirt) Aubrey Griffin, UConn (redshirt) Bree Hall, South Carolina Jordan Hobbs, Michigan Kiki Iriafen, USC Liatu King, Notre Dame (redshirt) Aziaha James, NC State Dazia Lawrence, Kentucky (redshirt) Rayah Marshall, USC Megan McConnell, Duquesne Aneesah Morrow, LSU Lucy Olsen, Iowa Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina JJ Quinerly, West Virginia Reigan Richardson, Duke Saniya Rivers, NC State Shyanne Sellers, Maryland Serena Sundell, Kansas State Taylor Thierry, Ohio State Makayla Timpson, Florida State Kennedy Todd-Williams, Ole Miss Harmoni Turner, Harvard Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor Chellia Watson, Buffalo (redshirt) Georgia Woolley, Syracuse
Graduate students
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky Julia Ayrault, Michigan State (redshirt) Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alabama Kaitlyn Chen, UConn Taylen Collins, Auburn Aicha Coulibaly, Texas A&M Dalayah Daniels, Washington KK Deans, Ole Miss (redshirt) Kha'Dija Faye, Pittsburgh Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga Zaay Green, Alabama (redshirt) Jillian Hayes, Cincinnati Madison Hayes, NC State Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State Taylor Jones, Texas Jerkaila Jordan, Mississippi State Deja Kelly, Oregon Koi Love, UT Arlington Deasia Merrill, TCU Aaliyah Nye, Alabama Ugonne Onyiah, California Sedona Prince, TCU Madison Scott, Ole Miss Alyssa Ustby, North Carolina Hailey Van Lith, TCU Talia von Oelhoffen, USC Maddy Westbeld, Notre Dame
International players
Lea Bartelme, Slovenia Emma Čechová, Czech Republic Marine Dursus, France Justė Jocytė, Lithuania Adja Kane, France Anastasiia Kosu, Russia Dominique Malonga, France Ajša Sivka, Slovenia Annika Soltau, Germany
Draft invitees On April 11, 2025, the WNBA released the names of the sixteen players who were invited to attend the 2025 draft.
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alabama Paige Bueckers, UConn Sonia Citron, Notre Dame Sania Feagin, South Carolina Kiki Iriafen, USC Aziaha James, NC State Dominique Malonga, ASVEL Féminin Aneesah Morrow, LSU Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina Saniya Rivers, NC State Madison Scott, Ole Miss Shyanne Sellers, Maryland Ajša Sivka, Tarbes Gespe Bigorre Serena Sundell, Kansas State Hailey Van Lith, TCU
Draft
Source:
First round PickPlayer NationalityTeamSchool / club team 1 Paige Bueckers * Dallas Wings UConn2 Dominique Malonga + Seattle Storm ASVEL Féminin3 Sonia Citron + Washington Mystics Notre Dame4 Kiki Iriafen + Washington Mystics USC5 Justė Jocytė Golden State Valkyries ASVEL Féminin6 Georgia Amoore Washington Mystics Kentucky7 Aneesah Morrow Connecticut Sun LSU8 Saniya Rivers Connecticut Sun NC State9 Sarah Ashlee Barker Los Angeles Sparks Alabama Las Vegas Aces 10 Ajša Sivka # Chicago Sky Tarbes Gespe Bigorre11 Hailey Van Lith Chicago Sky TCU12 Aziaha James Dallas Wings NC State
Second round
PickPlayer NationalityTeamSchool / club team13 Aaliyah Nye Las Vegas Aces Alabama14 Madison Scott Dallas Wings Ole Miss15 Anastasiia Kosu Minnesota Lynx UMMC Ekaterinburg16 Maddy Westbeld Chicago Sky Notre Dame17 Shyanne Sellers Golden State Valkyries Maryland18 Te-Hina Paopao Atlanta Dream South Carolina19 Makayla Timpson Indiana Fever Florida State20 Bree Hall Indiana Fever South Carolina21 Sania Feagin Los Angeles Sparks 22 Aicha Coulibaly Chicago Sky Texas A&M23 Lucy Olsen Washington Mystics Iowa24 Dalayah Daniels # Minnesota Lynx Washington25 Rayah Marshall Connecticut Sun USC
Third round
PickPlayer NationalityTeamSchool / club team26 Serena Sundell Seattle Storm Kansas State27 JJ Quinerly Dallas Wings West Virginia28 Liatu King Los Angeles Sparks Notre Dame29 Madison Conner # Seattle Storm TCU30 Kaitlyn Chen Golden State Valkyries UConn31 Aaronette Vonleh # Dallas Wings Baylor32 Zaay Green Washington Mystics Alabama33 Yvonne Ejim # Indiana Fever Gonzaga34 Jordan Hobbs # Seattle Storm Michigan35 Harmoni Turner # Las Vegas Aces Harvard36 Taylor Thierry Atlanta Dream Ohio State37 Aubrey Griffin Minnesota Lynx UConn38 Adja Kane # New York Liberty Landerneau Bretagne Basket
Footnotes
References