2025 WNBA Draft picks, grades: Paige Bueckers selected No. 1 by Dallas Wings

 Paige Bueckers led the UConn women’s basketball team to its 12th national title last week and has been on a worldwide tour ever since. Now the WNBA awaits.

Bueckers brought the NCAA championship trophy back home to Storrs, Connecticut, caught up with Savannah Guthrie and Willie Geist on the “Today” show and crashed Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” in New York City.

Next was the 2025 WNBA draft, where Bueckers was taken with the No. 1 overall pick Monday night by the Dallas Wings.

Just eight days after the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season concluded with the Huskies defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks, the next generation of superstars are set to enter the league, and many of them were at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City to hear their name called during the draft. 

USA TODAY Sports chronicled every pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft and issued our grades for the first round. Scroll below for a recap.

2025 WNBA draft grades: Who aced the night?

WNBA teams across the country added new talent to their rosters Monday night at the 2025 WNBA draft ahead of regular-season openers on May 16. Spectacular names like UConn's Paige Bueckers, USC's Kiki Iriafen, LSU's Aneesah Morrow and TCU star Hailey Van Lith were called, along with so many other phenomenal athletes. Meghan L. Hall of For The Win (part of the USA TODAY Network) graded each first-round pick as they were revealed. See here grades below, and click here for her full analysis:

1. Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers — Grade A+

• Bueckers is a slam-dunk pick. She's the most efficient player in the draft and the most pro-ready.

2. Seattle Storm: Dominique Malonga — Grade A

• French center Dominique Malonga is one of the smoothest post-players in the entire 2025 draft class

3. Washington Mystics: Sonia Citron — Grade B+

• Citron’s numbers aren’t flashy on the court, but what she does very well is score when asked (including from beyond the arc) and get after it defensively.

4. Washington Mystics: Kiki Iriafen — Grade B

• Iriafen should provide immediate depth and rim protection to the Mystics frontcourt.

5. Golden State Valkyries: Justė Jocytė — Grade B+

• Jocytė, 19, has a high basketball IQ that is far beyond most players her age.

6. Washington Mystics: Georgia Amoore — Grade C

• While Amoore plays much larger than her 5-foot-6 size, it’s a cause for concern at the WNBA level.

7. Connecticut Sun: Aneesah Morrow — Grade B+

• At 6-foot-1, Morrow is a board master, grabbing everything within her reach.

8. Connecticut Sun: Saniya Rivers — Grade A

• Rivers' length and size give her a rare combination and make her a prime candidate to be a guard or a forward.

9. Los Angeles Sparks: Sarah Ashlee Barker — Grade B+

• Barker’s March Madness performance against Maryland — when she finished with 45 points in double overtime — catapulted her to the top of draft boards.

10. Chicago Sky: Ajša Sivka — Grade C+

• Chicago could stash Slovenian forward Ajša Sivka for later use, and she helps a roster that wants to be in win-now mode but is still somewhat rebuilding.