# 2025 WNBA draft

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2025 season will be held following the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. This will mark the first draft for the newest expansion team for the league, the Golden State Valkyries. The lottery teams are usually decided based on the four teams that do not make the playoffs.
There are only 12 picks in the first round, due to the Las Vegas Aces having a draft pick stripped for violating WNBA policy, specifically because the franchise violated 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 TSN network due to the latter airing the CFL's 111th Grey Cup with CTV in Canada. The four non-playoff teams in 2024 qualified for the lottery.

### Lottery chances

Note: Team selected for the No. 1 pick noted in bold text.
| Team | Combined 2023–2024 record | Lottery chances |
| Los Angeles Sparks | 25–55 | 44.2% |
| Dallas Wings | 31–49 | 22.7% |
| Chicago Sky | 31–49 | 22.7% |
| Washington Mystics | 33–47 | 10.4% |
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.

## Eligibility

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 this 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.
A player who is scheduled to receive her bachelor's degree within three months of the draft date, and is younger than the cutoff age, is only eligible if the calendar year of the draft is no earlier than the fourth after her high school graduation.
Players with remaining college eligibility who meet the cutoff age must notify the 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. A separate notification timetable is provided for players involved in postseason tournaments (most notably the NCAA Division I tournament); those players (normally) must declare for the draft within 24 hours of their final game.
"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.
For "international players", the eligibility age is 20, also measured on December 31 of the year of the draft.

## Draft

| $^+$ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| $^#$ | Denotes player who never played in the WNBA regular season or playoffs |
| Bold | Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year |

### First round

| Pick | Team |
| 1 | Dallas Wings |
| 2 | Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles) |
| 3 | Washington Mystics (from Chicago) |
| 4 | Washington Mystics |
| 5 | Golden State Valkyries |
| 6 | Washington Mystics (from Atlanta via Dallas) |
| 7 | Connecticut Sun (from Phoenix via New York) |
| 8 | Connecticut Sun (from Indiana) |
| 9 | Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle) |
| Las Vegas Aces (forfeited due to league rules violations) |||||
| 10 | Chicago Sky (from Connecticut) |
| 11 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 12 | Dallas Wings (from New York via Phoenix) |

### Second round

| Pick | Team |
| 13 | Las Vegas Aces (from Los Angeles) |
| 14 | Dallas Wings |
| 15 | Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago via 3 trades) |
| 16 | Chicago Sky (from Washington via Las Vegas) |
| 17 | Golden State Valkyries |
| 18 | Atlanta Dream |
| 19 | Indiana Fever (from Phoenix) |
| 20 | Indiana Fever |
| 21 | Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle) |
| 22 | Chicago Sky (from Las Vegas) |
| 23 | Washington Mystics (from Connecticut) |
| 24 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 25 | Connecticut Sun (from New York via Chicago) |

### Third round

| Pick | Team |
| 26 | Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles) |
| 27 | Dallas Wings |
| 28 | Los Angeles Sparks (from Chicago) |
| 29 | Seattle Storm (from Washington) |
| 30 | Golden State Valkyries |
| 31 | Dallas Wings (from Atlanta) |
| 32 | Washington Mystics (from Phoenix) |
| 33 | Indiana Fever |
| 34 | Seattle Storm |
| 35 | Las Vegas Aces |
| 36 | Atlanta Dream (from Connecticut) |
| 37 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 38 | New York Liberty |

## Footnotes

* 1 2 3 February 1, 2025: Three-team trade among Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Seattle Las Vegas acquired Jewell Loyd (from Seattle) and a 2025 second-round pick (from Los Angeles) Los Angeles acquired Kelsey Plum, 2025 first-round and 2026 second-round picks (from Las Vegas) Seattle acquired the rights to Li Yueru and a 2025 first-round pick (from Los Angeles), and a 2026 first-round pick (from Las Vegas)
* ↑ February 23, 2025: Chicago to Washington Chicago acquired Ariel Atkins Washington acquired a 2025 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick, and the rights to swap 2027 first-round draft picks
* ↑ January 21, 2023: Atlanta to Dallas Atlanta acquired Allisha Gray Dallas acquired 2023 and 2025 first-round picks
* ↑ April 10, 2023: Dallas to Washington Dallas acquired the rights to Stephanie Soares Washington acquired 2024 second-round and (from Atlanta) 2025 first-round picks
* 1 2 3 February 11, 2023: Four-team trade among Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Phoenix Chicago acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2024 second-round pick (from Phoenix) New York acquired rights to Leonie Fiebich, a 2024 second-round pick (from Chicago), and the right to swap 2025 first-round picks (from Phoenix) Phoenix acquired Michaela Onyenwere, 2024 third-round and 2025 second-round picks (from Chicago) Dallas acquired Diamond DeShields, 2023 and 2024 first-round picks, and the right to swap 2025 first-round picks (from Chicago)
* ↑ March 16, 2025: New York to Connecticut New York acquired Natasha Cloud Connecticut acquired 2025 No. 7 draft pick and 2026 first round draft pick
* 1 2 3 February 2, 2025: Four-team trade among Connecticut, Dallas, Indiana, and Phoenix Connecticut acquired Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen (from Phoenix), Jacy Sheldon (from Dallas), and a 2025 first-round pick (from Indiana) Dallas acquired DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, the right to swap 2026 second-round picks (from Connecticut), NaLyssa Smith, the right to swap 2027 third-round picks (from Indiana), the rights to Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, and a 2025 first-round pick (from Phoenix) Indiana acquired Jaelyn Brown (from Dallas), Sophie Cunningham, and a 2025 second-round pick (from Phoenix) Phoenix acquired Alyssa Thomas (from Connecticut), Satou Sabally, Kalani Brown, and Sevgi Uzun (from Dallas)
* 1 2 July 17, 2024: Chicago to Connecticut Connecticut acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2025 second-round pick Chicago acquired Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, a 2025 first-round pick, and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks
* ↑ February 6, 2024: Phoenix to Chicago Phoenix acquired Kahleah Copper and Morgan Bertsch Chicago acquired Brianna Turner, Michaela Onyenwere, 2024 and 2026 first-round picks, the right to swap 2026 second-round picks, and reacquired its own 2025 second-round pick
* ↑ April 14, 2024: Chicago to Minnesota Chicago acquired a 2024 first-round pick and Nikolina Milić Minnesota acquired a 2024 first-round pick, Sika Koné, a 2025 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks
* ↑ February 5, 2023: Washington to Las Vegas Las Vegas acquired 2024 and 2025 second-round picks Washington acquired the rights to Amanda Zahui B
* 1 2 February 7, 2025: Las Vegas to Chicago Chicago acquired 2025 second-round picks Las Vegas acquired Dana Evans
* 1 2 February 14, 2025: Seattle to Los Angeles Los Angeles acquired 2025 and 2027 second-round picks Seattle acquired Lexie Brown and a 2025 second-round pick
* ↑ May 7, 2024: Connecticut to Washington Washington acquired Bernadett Határ and a 2025 second-round pick Connecticut acquired Queen Egbo
* ↑ March 14, 2024: New York to Chicago Chicago acquired 2025 and 2026 second-round picks New York acquired Rebekah Gardner
* ↑ February 19, 2024: Los Angeles to Chicago Los Angeles acquired Julie Allemand, the rights to Li Yueru, and a 2025 third-round pick Chicago acquired a 2024 first-round pick
* ↑ May 11, 2024: Washington to Seattle Seattle acquired a 2025 third-round pick Washington acquired Jade Melbourne
* ↑ May 4, 2024: Atlanta to Dallas Dallas acquired a 2025 third-round pick Atlanta acquired Crystal Dangerfield
* ↑ August 20, 2024: Phoenix to Washington Washington acquired Sug Sutton and a 2025 third-round pick Phoenix acquired the rights to Klara Lundquist
* ↑ May 16, 2023: Connecticut to Atlanta Connecticut acquired Leigha Brown Atlanta acquired a 2025 third-round pick