The Los Angeles Sparks have locked in the top odds for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft lottery. While the team is struggling this season, its future looks bright already.
The Sparks dropped to a 7-28 record after a 79-67 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. And while the 2024 season has yet to conclude, Los Angeles owns the top lottery odds by virtue of the WNBA's draft lottery system, which uses the aggregate records of the past two seasons to configure the order. No matter what happens in the draft lottery, though, Los Angeles is guaranteed a top-three pick.
This season, the Sparks had two of the top performing rookies in Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. Brink, the 2024 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, tore her ACL in June. When her season ended, the former Stanford star was third in the league in blocks with 2.3 per game.
Jackson wasn't talked about as much as Brink and started the season off the bench. However, it didn't take long for Jackson to prove herself, and she has become one of just four players in Sparks history to register at least 400 points as a rookie.
Brink and Jackson have proven they have promising careers ahead, but the Sparks will bring even more star power in 2025. Here is a closer look at three top draft options to join Los Angeles next season.
Paige Bueckers -- UConn, 6-foot guard
2023-24 season: 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 steals, 1.4 bocks, 53% FG
Bueckers is a certified star, but she hasn't even reached her full potential on the court because of multiple injuries. During the 2020-21 campaign, Bueckers received 11 major honors while becoming the first freshman to earn the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP Player of the Year and USBWA Player of the Year.
In her sophomore year, Bueckers missed significant time after undergoing surgery for an anterior tibial plateau fracture and a lateral meniscus tear in her left leg. Just when Bueckers was ready to make a comeback, she tore her ACL and missed the entire 2022-23 season.
Bueckers found her rhythm again her senior year and helped the Huskies reach the Final Four for the 15th time in 16 years. The one Final Four they missed out on was the season she sat out.
Kiki Iriafen -- USC, 6-foot-3 forward
2023-24 season: 19.4 points, 11 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.6 blocks, 53.6% FG
Iriafen will be joining the USC Trojans this fall after a breakout season with Stanford. Iriafen's junior season in 2023-24 marked a significant improvement from her sophomore year, when she wasn't a major contributor, only averaging 12.1 minutes per game. However, even those minutes were productive as she still averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest.
One of multiple instances in which Iriafen's star power grew came in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, when she scored a career-high 41 points to go along with 16 rebounds against Iowa State.
Iriafen was named the 2024 Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year, and it seems like the sky is the limit for her as she starts a new journey with the Trojans in the Big Ten.
Aneesah Morrow -- LSU, 6-foot-1, guard/forward
2023-24 season: 16.4 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.5 steals, 1.1 blocks, 46.4% FG
Kim Mulkey and the Tigers don't have Angel Reese anymore, but they still have a double-double machine in Aneesah Morrow.
Morrow played her first two seasons with DePaul, where she tallied 53 double-doubles in 66 career games. When she entered the transfer portal in 2023, there were doubters who didn't think she could replicate her success at LSU and also criticized her defensive ability.
It didn't take long for her to become the Tigers' Swiss Army Knife, however. While Morrow's individual stats took a hit in 2023-24 as she adapted to playing with more top-level talent, she's in store for a huge 2024-25 and will be integral to LSU's title chase.