WNBA 2026 Draft Recap With Top-10 Pick Surprises

We recap the WNBA 2026 draft and react to how wildly the top 10 shook out compared to our predictions. We also rank the teams we think drafted best and dig into why one pick feels more controversial than it should.
• Top 10 picks recap and where our board went wrong
• Why Azzi Fudd at No. 1 changes the Dallas Wings outlook
• Expansion team choices from the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire
• Washington Mystics as our top draft class, with Lauren Betts as the centerpiece
• Seattle Storm as the high-upside runner-up and how their young core could fit
• Minnesota Lynx landing Olivia Miles and what it unlocks around Napheesa Collier
• The most polarizing selection and the locker-room questions it raises
• Quick tease of upcoming team forecasts for the season
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Transcript

Welcome And Draft Recap Setup

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What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trent, as usual. I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Now look, today we're talking about the WNBA 2026 draft recap. Because it was good. Now I gave a prediction, right? So now we gotta talk about the recap. I gave my top ten predictions. Ain't getting not one right. And I was flabbergasted from top to bottom. I'm just like, they could have picked her. They could have picked her. Why y'all not pick her? Like, that's why I was looking at the entire time. Alright, I was a little hurt. So let's go ahead and talk about the top 10 picks. So that's what I gave, uh prediction-wise, only on top 10. So remember, ladies and gentlemen, it did the draft did take place on April 13th. It was at 7 o'clock p.m. Eastern Standard Time. And the number one pick by the Dallas Wings was AZ FUD. I thought it was gonna be AWA Fam, but they decided to go with AZ. The number two pick, the Lynx. I thought they were gonna go Lauren Betts. They ended up going Olivia Miles. The third pick by the storm. I thought they were gonna go Olivia Miles. They ended up getting Awa Fam. The Mystics. I thought they were gonna get AZ Food. They got Lauren Betts. Like my top one through four were just a little bit out of order, but they were all there though. Like I called the top four without question. So they guess kudos on that, right? Close. It's too bad we're not playing horseshoes. The fifth pick by the sky. I thought it was gonna go Flager Johnson. You know what I'm saying? She reminded me of Khalilia Copper. They went with Gabrielle Haquez, right? Jaime Haquez's younger sister, who also made a name for herself in the championship game for UCLA. The Toronto Tempo, the expansion team, the new team. I thought they might have gone with someone like Gianna Neepkins. They ended up going with her teammate Kiki Rice. The Portland Fire. Again, another expansion team, another new team. I thought they were gonna go with Kiki Rice. They went with Ayanna Martin Carrion. The Golden State Valkyries. I thought they were gonna go with Gabriela Jacques. They went with Flag A Johnson. Fun fact: the Sky and the Valkyries both flip-flopped in terms of who I projected them to get. But that was that I thought that was pretty funny. That was the closest I got to getting one right, to be clear. You could talk about the top four. The Mystics. I thought they were gonna get Nell. They ended up getting Angela Dugalich. And then the fever, I think as I was listening back, I don't know if I actually gave a pick for the fever. Because they could have gone a myriad of directions. They ended up going Raven Johnson, end of day. And don't get me wrong, all these teams drafting the players that they drafted, I understood. Like I minus maybe the Mystics and the Fever at 9 and 10. I gave reasons why I thought each player or specific players could have gotten drafted there. Like, let's say, for example, the Sky. I did mention Gabriela Jacques in that possibility. For the Tempo, I did mention Kiki Rice as a possibility. For the Wings, I mentioned the AZ FUD as a possibility. When I was looking at these teams, though, this was before some of the trades had occurred. I felt like this might have been the direction that they could have gone. For example, let's talk about the storm, right? I thought the storm could they they them getting Olivia Miles would have been wonderful to pair alongside Skylar Diggins and Neka Ogumake, but they peaced on out. So I get why they kind of went our fam. All right. Now let's talk about here the top 10. Well, who were my best team selections? Now keep in mind, I'm basing this off of round one, two, and three, right? Matter of fact, we might even talk about the top winner in each round. They may overlap a little bit, these conversations. But off the break, the Washington Mystics did a wonderful job. Like they they they hit all the checkboxes that were needed, ladies and gentlemen, okay? They got Lauren Betts, who's 6'7. 6'7. 6'7. Shout out to the kids who brought that up, right? But they got Lauren Betts' dynamic, dominant force in the paint. And to pair her with someone like a Shakira Alton and a Kiki Erieffen, they could boast a starting lineup where their small forward is like, what, 6'3? Then you got Shakira who's about 6'4, and then Lauren at 6'7. That's kind of disgusting work. And keep in mind they got quality rim protection. They got good rebounders. All three can shoot at least somewhat decently. Kiki got the best three-point stroke. But then you also got Asonia Satron, who on the wing. The Mystic's looking nice just with the Lauren Betts acquisition alone. Then you got to look at players like Roy Harmon. Because they need a point guard for the future, currently. And right now they got players like a Georgia Moore who missed last season due to an injury. And that's where Roy Harmon comes in. Because if y'all pay attention to her game on Texas, I ain't gonna lie. Texas had a Texas had a shot at being in the big dance. Like they they had a shot at winning it all, ladies and gentlemen. And I thought Roy played a phenomenal game. Her defense stood out, her playmaking stood out, her scoring looked pretty solid, especially in the mid-range. So again, they they they got a wonderful point guard to at least at minimum challenge their current one, George Romore. And then you got Cody McMahon, or McMahon, yeah, McMahon, who off her build, she looks like she can be quite a dominant force as a wing. I'm not talking about an all-star, all MWMB. I'm talking about a quality force that you're gonna have to throw out there to guard other players. And then if she's attacking downhill, that'll be lovely to see too. But her playing alongside Sonia Citron as their wing defenders, as their wing presence, I think the Mystics did a wonderful job, especially because they already got Sonia as the future wing player. So if Cody can actually move up in production, I think they have something. Also, Angela Dugalic, what's she about 6'3, 6'5, and can space the floor out? If she's able to replace Stephanie Dolson, yes, you'll lose some veteran experience for sure. But the production that you're getting, well, again, Angela's already played on a championship level. She was she was on UCLA's team when they won it with Lauren Betts. So she has some experience. I like what the Mystics have done. Over the last two seasons, ladies and gentlemen, the Mystics have really gone for the gold here. And we're gonna see how well this team performs over the next couple seasons because they could be viewed as the you know how the OKC Thunder have been building up their team. We could be talking about the Mystics in that same breath. We could be, which you gotta be a little patient to see how that actually turns out. But I really love what the Mystics did. I loved what the Seattle Storm did as well, too. But to be clear, the Mystics did have the best team selections to the point that they won round one and round three for me in the draft. Round two was kind of a jump ball. Multiple teams did well, but round one and three, they got the job done. Now the storm, they're number two for me, because they ended up getting. All right, for starters, I have a gripe with my sparks right now. Because we could have gotten both Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam. And when I'm looking at both of them, they're talking about 6'6 and 6'4, tremendous potential. I think Dominique's maybe 20, Awa's 19, like they're young for their for their age in the WNBA, and they were producing. Dominique had a good showcasing just last season. And Awa Fam is supposed to be one of the next prospects. To the point that I actually think she might be the best player in this draft. And the only reason why I don't put the storm number one in terms of the best team selections is because the Mystics did just that phenomenal. On paper, we'll see what they look like on the floor, but on paper, it looks phenomenal. But drafting our fam, I am curious how she pairs with Dominique Malonga and Ezie McGore. Because again, like I talked about the Mystics, they could boast players 6'3, 6'4, and 6'6. The Seattle Storm can do the same exact thing. And their players are younger. So I gotta look and see how do the Storm manage these three. Because if I'm them, I want to keep all of them personally. And not to mention adding some, adding players like Flag J. Johnson and Tyana Meyer. Could this be the backcourt of the future? Because Tyana actually did really well. Mind you, I I'm I if you think I'm biased because I'm a Duke fan, I hear it. But Tyana did her thing in this mat in this March Madness. She was a she was she was she was smooth. Defense on lock, mid-range specialist. She can get an assist, quality bucket get her. But Flag A Johnson, starring to make it. Like she gives me Khalia Copper vibes. Hence why I thought Chicago Scar were gonna take her. But the storm, getting these three, pairing them with the Edsie and with the Dominique, I am very curious to see how the team goes forward. Because over the next two, three seasons, we're gonna see what the storm looked like. Are they gonna be contenders or are they gonna be pretenders? I think this young team is gonna show us a lot over those over the next couple seasons. So I'm looking forward to seeing what the Seattle Storm do, but that's why they're number two for me. The Lynx, number three, easy peasy lemon squeezy. Because they ended up getting Olivia Miles, which pairing her with someone like Nafisa Koller, look, they already have their, they already have their one option. Could Olivia Miles be the second best option on the championship team? We'll see. But guess what? They also have Caleb McBride. And keep in mind, too, they had Courtney Williams, who was an all-star last year, but I also thought was best served as a sixth woman of the year. Well, now because you get Olivia Miles, if Olivia Miles is playing well to the point that you can move Courtney Williams to the bench, all right, that'd be great. Keep in mind, I'm mad that they lost Natisha Heideman. Because imagine if you could have Courtney Williams and Natisha Heideman coming off the bench. The stud Buds coming off the bench, that would have been phenomenal. They would have had a second unit like none other. And now you got Olivia Miles paired up with Kayla McBride, paired up with Nafisa Collier and company. And keep in mind, Olivia Miles is a quality all-around player. She can get a bucket, she can get an assist, and she can defend. I love that match. So again, the top three teams for me: Mystics number one, Storm number two, Lynx number three. Now, my most polarizing team selection, I think it's got to be the first one with AZ Food and the Dallas Wings. Hear me out. Again, I get why the Wings go a guard here. I get why they didn't take Olivia Miles because you already got Paige as your point guard. I wouldn't want Paige really to be my two guard. And keep in mind to you tempt for the time being have Arique Agumbawale. We'll see if she gets traded. Like I've been thinking she'll get traded ever since they drafted Paige. But the reason why I thought this was a little polarizing, this will be a little controversial. We I while on one hand we have players who have been in a relationship before in the WNBA, I do wonder how this ultimately pans out. Keep in mind we just saw Sue Bird and Megan Rapino end up breaking up, right? Unfortunate. On the same side, we see Alyssa Thomas still married to Duana Bonner. So, ladies and gentlemen, it can work out. I'm just saying it's a little controversial. And given that they do have they have had success at UConn, that gives you a little optimism. But ladies and gentlemen, I still thought that was a little controversial. Because again, if it blows up, what happens if they do have a little tiff between the two? Would that hurt the locker room? Would that hurt the organization? Would one of them want to get traded? If so, who ultimately gets traded? That's what I'm waiting to see. But also, too, was AZ in fact the best player? Or did we make this pick solely for page backers? I'm curious. So that's why I say it's the most controversial team selection. But ladies and gentlemen, overall, I was excited to see this draft for the WNBA. And it's excited me to watch the upcoming WNBA season. So I'm I I now get to talk about here, not on this episode, it'll be another one, but I get to talk about which teams are gonna be getting a bucket more so than the other. Or which team is gonna stop the others from getting a bucket. Maybe I'll talk about which team is gonna assist the more assist their players more in getting a bucket. We gotta find out. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, what I do know is that all the ladies in the WNBA are trying to are fitting to try to get a bucket. So that does conclude the end of the episode, ladies and gentlemen. So I please hope hope you make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one about the WNBA, but two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.