Insider Notes on 2025 WNBA Draft: Who goes 2nd as key prospects return to NCAA, Hailey Van Lith's stock and more 

We’re only certain about one thing leading to Monday’s upcoming 2025 WNBA Draft — Paige Bueckers will be a Dallas Wing and the top overall pick in the draft. After that, the class features plenty of question marks.

The Second Overall Pick is (Most Likely) Locked In

After Olivia Miles’s transfer to TCU took her out of draft consideration, French center Dominque Malonga sits as the odds-on favorite for Seattle’s selection at second overall. Recent mock drafts from Sportskeeda, ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo, CBS, The Athletic and Sports Illustrated projected Malonga second to Seattle. One mock draft from USA Today predicted Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron as the second overall pick.

Malonga’s status as the consensus second-best prospect in the class makes sense. She’s a 19-year-old, 6-foot-6 center who can dribble, pass, shoot and protect the rim and has produced at the pro level already. Even a WNBA that values certainty in prospects shouldn’t be able to ignore Malonga’s upside.

Citron and Iriafen are near lottery locks

Beyond the top two picks, there’s also a resounding consensus for the rest of the lottery. After trading away Ariel Atkins to the Chicago Sky, the Washington Mystics own the last two lottery picks (as well as the sixth pick in the draft). Six of the eight aforementioned mock drafts have Citron and USC forward. Kiki Iriafen as Washington’s selections.

The Athletic mocked Lithuanian guard Juste Jocyte as the fourth overall pick and USA Today had LSU’s Aneesah Morrow at fourth overall (both of those have Iriafen out of the lottery). Still, it’s looking like the Mystics are likely to land Citron and Iriafen.

These two make sense as a duo. Citron is a phenomenal off-ball, low-maintenance guard, bringing excellent shooting, off-ball movement, passing and consistent defense. Iriafen’s shooting and playmaking at the four cause some problems, but she’s a talented interior scorer with big time defensive versatility.

Where will Hailey Van Lith land?

Hailey Van Lith’s resurgence captivated college basketball this season. She’s one of the biggest stories of the season, taking another massive leap at TCU. Van Lith averaged 17.9 points and a career high 5.4 assists per game and a 56.7% true shooting clip. She led the Horned Frogs to the Elite 8 of this year’s NCAA Tournament, which is good for the deepest run in program history.

Mock drafts can’t agree on where Van Lith might land in this WNBA draft. Six of the eight mock drafts we analyzed view Van Lith as a first-round pick at the very least. (excluding ESPN and the Athletic). Most of those six mocks place Van Lith in the late first-round, but Sports Illustrated mocked her fifth to the Golden State Valkyries.

Van Lith makes sense as a late first-round pick. She’s a bit undersized as a two-guard and doesn’t thrive on defense, but her scoring and playmaking could be enough to get her onto the court at the next level. WNBA teams will value her work ethic and adaptability and will factor in her off-court merit when considering her with a first-round selection.

Chicago poised to add guard shooting

In the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Chicago Sky drafted Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, two non-shooting bigs. Though both of those players showed significant promise as rookies, the Sky struggled mightily to space the floor. Even with the additions of Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins, most experts expect the Sky to draft a guard with the 10th overall pick.

Four of the eight mock drafts analyzed (Bleacher Report, Sportskeeda, Yahoo, CBS) have the Sky drafting the aforementioned Van Lith. Two mocks (USA Today, the Athletic) mocked Chicago South Carolina point guard Te-Hina Paopao, who has proven herself an excellent off-dribble shooter in college. Sports Illustrated has them selecting Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore, another dynamic off-dribble scoring talent.

Only ESPN’s mock draft has the Sky drafting a frontcourt player — South Carolina forward Sania Feagin. She hasn’t shot the three so far in her career, so Chicago might struggle to get her onto the court in that scenario. Still, the Sky could elect to value talent over roster needs, though the majority of experts believe they’ll address a key area of need.

Nine players are likely first-round picks

All eight analyzed mock drafts agree on seven players as first-round selections — Bueckers, Malonga, Citron, Iriafen, Morrow, Amoore and Maryland wing Shyanne Sellers. Seven of the eight mock drafts had Jocyte and NC State guard Saniya Rivers as first-round inclusions, rounding out an approximate list of likely round one selections.

The experts couldn’t agree on the final three spots. Those mocks feature nine different players for those last three openings — Van Lith, Paopao, Feagin, Kansas State guard Serena Sundell, NC State guard Aziaha James, Alabama guard Sarah Ashlee Barker, Slovenian forward Ajsa Sivka, TCU center Sedona Prince and USC forward Rayah Marshall.

Of the 18 different players featured across the eight mock drafts, all but three (Jocyte, Prince and Marshall) were invited to attend the draft in person in New York City. Mississippi forward Madison Scott is the only player invited to the green room who does not feature in any first-round mock drafts.