SI:AM | A Very Interesting WNBA Draft

The most puzzling development was the shocking trade between the Valkyries and Storm.

Flau’Jae Johnson was the subject of a trade that led to audible gasps inside the draft room. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I couldn’t agree more with Mike Breen’s take on how the NBA’s new broadcast deal is impacting playoff coverage. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
🏀 WNBA draft recap
⚾ Verducci’s early ABS notes
🏈 Potential NFL draft steals

If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe and receive SI:AM directly in your inbox each morning.

The picks are in

In a whirlwind WNBA offseason that has already featured historic collective bargaining agreement negotiations, an expansion draft and a hectic free agency period, it makes sense that the draft would also be chaotic. 

The intrigue started early, when the Wings selected UConn’s Azzi Fudd with the first pick. Fudd is a great player (especially as a three-point shooter) and was considered a lock to go in the top three, but it was far from a guarantee that she’d be first off the board. The prospect with the most buzz was Awa Fam, a 6'4" 19-year-old from Spain who ended up going third to the Storm. 

Dallas already has two outstanding guards in Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers, so it would have made sense to bolster the frontcourt by drafting Fam. Instead, the Wings took Bueckers’s former UConn teammate to form an impressive trio of scoring guards. (Bueckers and Fudd are also dating.) The Wings had added size up front in free agency by signing Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard, and landed another big later in the draft, selecting 6'4" Tennessee forward Zee Spearman in the third round. 

The most puzzling development of the night was the trade between the Valkyries and Storm. Golden State took LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson with the eighth pick, then quickly traded her draft rights to Seattle in exchange for TCU forward Marta Suárez (the 16th pick) and a 2028 second-round pick. You could hear gasps from the crowd inside the draft room as the trade was announced. Johnson had been a star player in college, and it was a surprise to see her fall to the eighth pick. Why, then, would Golden State give her up?

Golden State general manager Ohemaa Nyanin only added to the confusion when she didn’t provide any explanation in her post-draft news conference. Eventually, she revealed that the trade had been agreed to before Johnson slipped down the board. 

“Seattle and I had an agreement to trade picks prior to any athlete selection,” Nyanin told ESPN later. “I want to be super clear about the draft: This had nothing to do with Flau’jae or any specific athlete selection.”

The other big development from the draft was the impressive showing from the reigning national champion, UCLA. The Bruins had a record five players selected in the first round, headlined by star center Lauren Betts, who went to the Mystics with the fourth pick. Gabriela Jaquez (No. 5 to the Sky), Kiki Rice (No. 6 to the Tempo), Angela Dugalić (No. 9 to the Mystics) and Gianna Kneepkens (No. 15 to the Sun) followed. A sixth Bruin, Charlisse Leger-Walker, was selected by the Sun in the second round (18th overall). 

“These are like my sisters, and getting to watch your family do something like that is amazing,” Betts told the Associated Press. “But I mean, this team is just so special. We knew the type of players that we had on the team, and to really just have this night really showcase all of the things that we’ve worked on all season is just amazing.”

The best of Sports Illustrated

Azzi Fudd will join her former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers in Dallas. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

• The 2026 WNBA draft produced a few surprises, lots of international flair, some incredible fits and one decidedly strange trade. Emma Baccellieri reveals her winners and losers from the night.
• Between the draft and early free agency moves, it's been a busy week around the WNBA. Dan Falkenheim grades each team's offseason.
• Stephanie Apstein says that Yankees manager Aaron Boone is not taking the bait from Yankees fans who want him to grill his players during tough stretches publicly. 
• Tom Verducci details the eight early effects the new ABS has had on the MLB season.
• Gilberto Manzano can already envision general managers scratching their heads, wondering why they passed up on these eight prospects in the NFL draft.
• Max Schreiber goes inside how Rory McIlroy took down Amen Corner to secure his second Masters green jacket.
• Now that the regular season is over, Kevin Sweeney dives in with his first NBA mock draft.

The top five…

… things I saw last night: 
5. The somewhat anti-climactic finish to the epic Angels-Yankees game. New York won 11–10 on a run that scored on a wild pitch after a wild slugfest that saw multiple lead changes. Aaron Judge and Mike Trout each hit two homers, making it just the second time in MLB history that two three-time MVPs hit multiple homers in the same game. (Roy Campanella and Stan Musial did it in 1956.)
4. A gorgeous diving play by Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas. 
3. Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker’s MLB-leading eighth home run of the season. Walker, a former top prospect, struggled in his first three big league seasons but now has already eclipsed the six homers he hit in 111 games last year. 
2. The shootout win that clinched a playoff spot for the Flyers. 
1. The reception Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick got after the final game of his NHL career.