’s final projection before the WNBA draft starts Monday night in New York has UConn shooting guard Azzi Fudd going No. 1 to the Dallas Wings. The pick would cap a busy week for Dallas, which brought back Arike Ogunbowale and added veterans Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard.
Ogunbowale, the No. 5 pick in 2019, has spent her career with Dallas, while Smith and Shepard arrived after playing for the Minnesota Lynx last season. That reshaping of the roster gives the Wings a different look entering a draft that could still change quickly, even with ’s latest read at the top.
Fudd enters as one of the draft’s most recognizable names after earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2025 Final Four. She closed UConn’s NCAA tournament run with 31 points on 12-of-39 shooting in her last three games, including eight points on 3-of-15 shooting in the national semifinal loss to South Carolina. Even so, her 42.2% career mark from 3-point range keeps her in the top tier of the class.
The board behind her has shifted too. had TCU guard Olivia Miles as the No. 1 pick in last week’s mock after a season in which she averaged a career-best 19.6 points, posted six triple-doubles and made 73 3-pointers. UCLA center Lauren Betts is also in the mix after averaging 21 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.8 blocks in the NCAA tournament while shooting 68.8% from the field and earning Most Outstanding Player honors.
That gives Monday night’s draft in New York a layered opening: a projected top pick from UConn, a Dallas team that has already moved hard in free agency, and a class deep enough that UCLA could become the first team to have a record six players drafted. The only thing settled now is that the first card will go up at 7 p.m. ET.
