The 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery is in the books, and the Dallas Wings won the No. 1 overall pick and the right to select UConn star Paige Bueckers. Rounding out the lottery were the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics.
"I think we've seen how impactful lottery picks have been, especially in the past few seasons," said Wings forward Maddy Siegrist, who was the team's representative at the lottery. "So, we're super excited."
The Sparks had the best individual odds to win the lottery (44.2%), but the Wings had swap rights with the Sky's first-round pick this year via the 2023 Marina Mabrey trade. Thus, they would receive the top pick if either they or the Sky won the lottery, and the combined chances of that happening (45.4%) were slightly higher. In the end, the ping pong balls bounced the Wings' way.
Winning the lottery is the latest significant event in what has already been a busy offseason in Dallas. The Wings fired coach Latricia Trammell after two seasons, and while they have still not named her replacement, they did hire former two-time Coach of the Year Curt Miller as their new general manager. Looking ahead, the Wings have a number of key players hitting free agency, including Satou Sabally.
This is the second time in franchise history that the Wings have received the No. 1 overall pick. The last time was in 2021, when they selected Charli Collier, who was out of the league after two seasons. They should have much more success with this pick, assuming it does wind up being Bueckers.
Bueckers was named Naismith Player of the Year as a freshman, but played just 17 total games the next two seasons due to an array of injuries, including an osteochondral defect on her ankle that required surgery, a tibial plateau fracture, a torn meniscus and a torn ACL.
The 6-foot guard finally returned to full health last season, and quickly reminded everyone that she is a generational talent. She put up 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game as she led the shorthanded Huskies to the Final Four and earned Big East Player of the Year and First-Team All-American honors. Through three games this season, she's putting up similar numbers and shooting an astounding 65% from the field.
While Bueckers is a level above everyone in this class, she's not the only intriguing prospect.
USC's Kiki Iriafen, LSU's Aneesah Morrow and Notre Dame's Sonia Citron are all potential lottery picks from the college ranks who have exhausted their eligibility. Other players to keep an eye on include Notre Dame's Olivia Miles, UConn's Azzi Fudd and UCLA's Lauren Betts, all of whom are likely first-round picks, but could elect to return to school. Furthermore, international players such as France's Dominique Malonga and Slovenia's Ajsa Sivka could crash the first round.