WNBA Rookie Watch: Flau’jae Johnson a Bright Spot During Storm’s Dreadful Season

Plus, Olivia Miles’s first true test and Azzi Fudd’s new career-high.

Midway through her first WNBA season, Flau’jae Johnson has already become the do-it-all guard the Storm were looking for. | Aryanna Frank/Getty Images

A star-studded draft class entered the WNBA this season. Azzi Fudd led the way as the No. 1 pick by the Wings, followed by the Lynx’s selection of standout guard Olivia Miles.

Miles has been one of the best players in the entire league only midway through her first season, now at the top of every opponent’s gameplan when Minnesota is on the schedule. That brought her some trouble recently, with her first true test and lackluster game. But, great players find a way to bounce back, which she certainly did the next time she stepped onto the floor. 

The 2026 draft was critical for Seattle, which had the third pick (via the Sparks) despite the Storm finishing seventh in standings at the end of last season. Seattle’s stars left in the offseason, which left the organization in position to rebuild and look toward the future. The Storm did so with heralded prospect Awa Fam at No. 3, but they also traded with the Valkyries to acquire the eighth pick in LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson. It’s anything but a competitive year in Seattle, but the most exciting young core in the league with Fam, Johnson and breakout star Dominique Malonga is quite a nice consolation prize.

With the newest draftees driving winning and others guiding rebuilds, here’s a look around the league at our favorite rookie storylines from the past week of WNBA action:

Olivia Miles gets tested for the first time

The No. 2 pick has been on a heater, but she received a bit of a wake-up call with an off-night against the Valkyries. On Friday, she had seven points, five rebounds, four assists and six turnovers as she shot 1-for-10 from the field and 0-for-4 from three-point range. It was the first game of her young career where she didn’t hit double digits in scoring. A stinker was bound to happen, even for a player like Miles who’s shined in each game thus far. But Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve saw the dud as a positive moment for her rookie star.

“She needed a game like this” Reeve said postgame via ESPN. “This was a tremendous growth point for her. When things don’t go your way, how do you show up?”

What matters, as Reeve pointed out, is how you respond and Miles was right back to it in her next game. Two days later, she dropped 22 points with six assists, five rebounds and two blocks while coughing the ball up four times. The Lynx dropped that game against the Mystics, but they went out and beat Washington on Wednesday behind 21 points from Miles. Bumps in the road are normal for any player, let alone rookies. But Minnesota’s guard of the future showed that she’ll come out better on the other side.

Azzi Fudd’s big night in Wings’ overtime win vs. Storm

Fudd has had an up-and-down rookie season this year after the Wings made her the No. 1 pick to add a high-level floor spacer alongside the guard duo of Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. She just had her best performance yet with a career-high 26 points and the game-winning bucket to take down the Storm in overtime.

Azzi Fudd tonight 🔥

• 26 points
• 4 steals
• 3 rebounds
• 2 assists
• 11/17 FG pic.twitter.com/2sdXOjKkPF

— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) June 23, 2026

Her shooting prowess is often the first skill brought up when discussing Fudd’s game, but she’s been almost as impressive on the defensive end. She has 26 steals thus far, the most among rookies, and 18 blocks—tied with Johnson (more on her later) for the most among her draft class.

Azzi Fudd STKs (44 thru 16 games) pic.twitter.com/U0drBDc97D

— Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) June 23, 2026

The Wings’ defense has improved from the bottom of the WNBA last season to a top-five unit so far this year and the No. 1 pick has been a huge part of that.

Seattle’s Flau’jae Johnson is coming into her own

The Storm are in the middle of a dreadful 11-game losing streak. Seattle wasn’t seen as anything close to a contender this year after a mass exodus during the offseason that saw Nneka Ogwumike, Gabby Williams and Skylar Diggins jump ship. That brought an opportunity for a full rebuild around Malonga and this year’s first-round picks in Fam and Johnson.

Johnson hasn’t gotten as much shine as her fellow rookies like Miles and Fudd because she’s yet to put forth a massive scoring performance, but she’s turned into quite a productive player already. She has the third-most points of all rookies behind only those top two picks in the draft. However, she has the most rebounds of any first-year player (remember, she’s a guard) and is tied for the most blocks. Her three-point shot needs to improve and she can be inefficient from the field at times, but even when the shots aren’t falling, she impacts the game elsewhere.

Midway through her first WNBA season, she’s already become the do-it-all guard that any team would covet. Malonga is already a star and Fam (who is 20) has shown exciting flashes as an extremely young talent. Despite the miserable season, Seattle has built a nice young core with Johnson looking like the franchise’s versatile and pesky guard for many seasons to come.

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