For the second straight year,
the Dallas Wings have won the WNBA Draft Lottery. After a league-worst 10-34 season and a combined 19-65 record over the past two years, the Wings entered the lottery with a whopping 42% chance at landing the No. 1 overall selection. Those odds won out, and Dallas has another chance to pair another franchise talent with Paige Bueckers, last year’s top pick.
Unlike 2024 and 2023, when Bueckers and Caitlin Clark were respectively drafted first overall, this year’s draft lacks a consensus, can’t-miss player. There are a handful of players mentioned in top prospect discussions, and Wings’ general manager Curt Miller will have a tough decision to make; the Wings can’t afford to bust this year.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the consensus top-five prospects, where their stock stands right now, and if they might be good options for Dallas with their pick. I’ll also include an early version of my 2026
WNBA Draft Board to provide an idea of how I’m evaluating this class at this stage.
Awa Fam — Big, Valencia (Spain)
Though she might not be the biggest name, Awa Fam is the best prospect in this draft class. The 6’4” center is just 19 years old, and while her statistics in the Spanish league won’t wow anyone, it’s easy to see the vision when you watch her play.
Fam plays with a maturity far beyond her years on offense. She possesses incredible footwork in the post, tons of counters, and impressive creativity as a scorer. Her screening is advanced, as she’s able to use her strong base and length to open up space for ball handlers to operate. She knows when and where to roll, and her timing is impeccable. And Fam’s excellent screening opens up the best part of her offensive game: her playmaking.
There haven’t been many center prospects who can pass the ball like Awa Fam. She has every pass in her bag: one-handed skip passes to the corner, bounce passes to other bigs in traffic, touch passes off the catch, whip passes to the wing out of a post-up. Her ambition can get her into a bit of trouble with turnovers, but I’m confident that can be reined in. Imagine Paige Bueckers, one of the most efficient pick-and-roll ball handlers ever, operating with a screener and passer like Awa Fam. It’s a match made in heaven.
Defensively, Fam is currently more of a concept than a reality. That, coupled with her age, is why she’s struggled to earn consistent minutes for Valencia. For someone of her size, with a plus wingspan and good athleticism, Fam hasn’t functioned well as a rim protector. To me, this is a problem with her motor, which tends to come and go. So much of defense is about effort, and Fam could stand to give some more of it consistently. But I have faith that she’ll figure this out. She has too many tools not to be an impact defender.
The Wings are desperate for good bigs, as the last two seasons have been absolutely dire in the frontcourt. Though Fam isn’t a perfect prospect, she’s unquestionably their best option. She and Bueckers would form a nightmarish duo for opposing teams. Fam’s stock is rising, as
ESPN’s latest mock draft has her going No. 1 overall.
Olivia Miles — Point Guard, TCU
For much of last year’s cycle, it looked like Miles (then at Notre Dame) would declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft. Miles was projected as a top-three pick then, and that hasn’t changed for this season. The 5’10” point guard is one of the most dynamic playmakers in college basketball history, representing a tantalizing option at the top of this draft.
After standout freshman and sophomore seasons at Notre Dame, Miles tore her ACL and missed her entire junior year. When she returned in 2024, there was one big question: can she shoot the basketball at all? Miles’ passing, driving, and finishing were all superb, but she couldn’t throw a rock into the ocean.
Well, last year, Miles responded to those questions in a big way, shooting 41.6% on 5.3 three-point attempts per game. She was great off the catch and off the dribble, and she actually attempted more of the latter. It didn’t look like Miles had changed much with her mechanics, but the shots went in.
So far this year for TCU, Miles is 7-23 from three (30.4%). It’s a small sample, and I think her improvement as a shooter is real, even if she’s not the 40% marksman she showed a season ago. She’ll shoot enough to keep defenses honest, which will open up the other parts of her incredible offensive game. Miles is the most creative and ambitious creator in basketball. Her court vision, processing, and live-dribble passing are all remarkable. Miles has been criticized for trying to make the “highlight” pass too often, but that’s not a real concern to me. When she’s not dishing the rock, she’s getting to the rim and finishing at a high level. Her driving ability is one of her strongest attributes.
Miles’ detractors will point to her defense as a massive red flag, and they’d have some points there. To put it lightly, Miles will take some plays off on that end. Apart from not giving consistent effort, she tends to get flattened on screens and lost off-ball. She has the quickness, basketball IQ, and strength to be a solid point-of-attack defender, but she really needs to work on the margins and try harder.
Though the Wings already have a generational point guard in Paige Bueckers, Miles would fit nicely next to her. It’s never a bad thing to have more high-level creators, and Bueckers has the best off-ball skills in the WNBA. This duo would have a ton of synergy, and Bueckers could help cover some of Miles’ defensive deficiencies, too. If Dallas decides to go this route, Wings fans should be excited about the pairing.
Lauren Betts — Big, UCLA
Lauren Betts represents something of an ideological watershed for prospect evaluators. If you acknowledge that the WNBA is a Bigs league and are impressed with Betts’ impressive scoring and rim-protecting, you’re likely slotting her in as the top prospect in this draft. But if you value where the league is heading in terms of playstyle, you’ll be wary of spending on a lottery pick on Lauren Betts.
Make no mistake, the 6’7” Betts has dominated college basketball since transferring to UCLA as a sophomore in 2023. She is an incredible post scorer who does an excellent job sealing her defender and using her size and touch to get buckets. She’s also a great passer who can find cutters and shooters from the post and hit them in stride, though she does struggle with turnovers, especially when doubled.
On defense, Betts is a generational rim protector. She is awesome in drop coverage with great timing and instincts. When opposing players get to the basket against her, she is a human eraser. Betts averaged 2.9 blocks per game last year, and her mere presence in the paint often discourages drivers completely.
The issue with Betts is that she’s a bit of a one-trick pony. When she’s not posting up or scoring off deep seals, what does she do? The answer is mostly nothing. Lauren Betts is allergic to setting ball screens. UCLA coach Cori Close doesn’t ask her to do it, and Betts doesn’t want to. When she does set a rare screen, she looks uncomfortable doing so, and it doesn’t create much space for the ball handler. She doesn’t roll to the basket or look to score or create after screening. Oftentimes, she’ll set a screen and immediately pivot into a post-up afterwards. In a WNBA increasingly driven by pick-and-roll play, it’s tough to imagine Betts thriving. She is also a complete non-shooter.
And defensively, Betts’ size and slower footspeed prevent her from playing multiple ball-screen coverages. Though laterally quick for her size, Betts isn’t comfortable hedging or switching. She can only defend at a high level in drop coverage. And while that’s not a terrible thing, it definitely holds her back and puts her a tier behind a big like Awa Fam, especially when you factor in Betts’ offensive limitations.
Betts has a relatively safe floor due to her size and skill. That said, it would be a disaster if the Wings drafted her over some of these other prospects. There are too many red flags here, too many issues that are incongruent with winning basketball in the modern age. If I were Curt Miller, I would steer clear at all costs.
Flau’jae Johnson — Wing, Louisiana State
Johnson has been a two-way force throughout her career at LSU, and it’s hard to envision a world where she doesn’t become a great player at the WNBA level. Listed at 5’10”, Johnson herself insists that she’s closer to 6-feet. While that’s not plus-size on the wing, Johnson makes up for that by being one of the best athletes in college basketball.
The sell for Johnson starts with her ability to function as a “3&D” player— she can guard the other team’s best scorer and knock down open threes with ease. If that were all she brought to the table, it would give her a solid floor as a pro. But Johnson has a lot more to her game. Her handle is elite, allowing her to break down defenses and get to her spots. When she gets there, her midrange pull-up is automatic. If the Wings drafted Johnson, she and Paige Bueckers would set records with that shot.
Johnson’s athleticism and handle help her blow by defenders and get into the paint, but she’s not the most adept at finishing at the basket. Her touch around the basket isn’t great, with virtually no left hand to speak of. But those are improvable areas, and Johnson still puts pressure on the defense any time she has the ball. The bigger issue on offense is Johnson’s processing of the game. She doesn’t see the floor all that well, limiting her upside as a playmaker. While Johnson’s passing is solid, she is often late with reads or doesn’t see them at all. She’s flashed some improvement here early this season, posting a nearly 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. But LSU has played all six of its games against comically inferior competition, so pretty much all of that can be taken with a grain of salt. Johnson could also stand to take and make more pull-up threes; as great a shooter as she is, that hasn’t been in her bag. (Sound familiar?)
Defensively, I have no concerns with Johnson. She’ll be able to guard one through three effectively in the W, and I’d wager that she makes All-Defense teams someday. Her motor, athleticism, and instincts are too good. Johnson has the Dawg Factor in spades, and she plays with a flair and tenacity that fans love. Pairing Johnson with Bueckers would do so much for the team’s aura that I almost don’t even care about the basketball fit, though the two complement each other well. The only downside here would be that Johnson’s lack of playmaking wouldn’t suit Bueckers’ off-ball brilliance all that well. Even so, Dallas could do a lot worse.
Azzi Fudd — Shooting Guard, Connecticut
The discourse surrounding Azzi Fudd as a prospect is mind-numbing, and there is a lot of disingenuousness about who she is as a player and what that means for her WNBA prospects. Some people argue that she should be the clear-cut No. 1 pick in this draft, while others dismiss her as one-dimensional, inflated by the UConn system and her proximity to Paige Bueckers.
The actual evaluation of Azzi Fudd is pretty simple. For starters, she’s one of the greatest shooters in basketball history. Her form is picture perfect, with a lightning-quick release. Fudd can shoot off movement and screens, and she has an excellent pull-up middy to attack closeouts with. When she gets to the rim, she finishes at a high rate with both hands.
In addition to the shooting, Fudd plays hard and always knows where to be. She’s an incredible cutter and relocator, and she’s good at finding teammates when the defense zeroes in on her. Her high basketball IQ and floor game make her a plus offensive player in any system.
The issue with Fudd is that she cannot break down the defense off the bounce whatsoever. She cannot create her own shot outside of attacking closeouts. She does not get to the rim or free-throw line. Fudd’s mediocre athleticism and footspeed prevent her from doing these things, and improvement in these areas looks unlikely. And that’s okay! Fudd’s shooting and ancillary skills mitigate those self-creation concerns.
Once labeled a bad defender, Fudd has made great strides on that end. She competes hard, and her 5’11” frame helps her hold her own across the perimeter. Fudd doesn’t get lost off-ball, she’s good at executing scheme, and she communicates. That said, the lack of athleticism will hold her back at the next level. Fudd won’t be a bad defender, but it’s hard to envision her ever being a plus one.
Azzi Fudd, provided she stays healthy, will have a long and successful career in the WNBA. She will be a positive contributor to many good teams. I don’t think she’ll be a star, but not many draft picks become those. Fudd is often compared to Kayla McBride, which makes sense given the prolific shooting. But McBride has always had more on-ball juice and got to the line way more than Fudd as a prospect. I view Fudd much more as a supercharged Allie Quigley, which would be an amazing player. And while I’m high on Fudd’s WNBA career, I think there are better options for the Wings to choose from with the No. 1 overall pick.
Here’s a look at an early version of my 2026 WNBA Draft Board as it stands right now:
