WNBA mock draft: Betts, Fudd or Miles at No. 1?

Last season, Lauren Betts and the UCLA Bruins advanced to the Final Four for the first time in the NCAA era. Now Betts wants a return trip. But the senior has a lot to aim for individually as well, including being the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA draft.

Much must be settled before then. The WNBA is negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the union, the story that has dominated the narrative around the league all year.

The draft lottery, expansion drafts for Toronto and Portland and a mammoth free agency that will include most players not on rookie contracts all will have to take place before the 2026 draft.

In short, ESPN's mock draft now during the WNBA Finals is an exercise in many hypotheticals, a picture that gradually will become clearer over the next seven months. Here, we've listed the top five teams in order of their lottery odds and slotted the expansion teams in after them.

Five of our top six selections in this mock were eligible to go in the 2025 draft, but all opted to return for another college season.

1. Dallas Wings: Lauren Betts

UCLA | center | 6-foot-7 | senior

Dallas' No. 1 pick in 2025, UConn guard Paige Bueckers, won Rookie of the Year honors but the Wings won just 10 games and finished tied for last with Chicago. Last month, the Wings fired Chris Koclanes after one year as coach. If the Wings win the draft lottery, it would mark their third No. 1 pick in six seasons, though their top pick in 2021, Charlie Collier, is no longer playing in the WNBA.

Betts was a first-team All-American last season, averaging 20.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 2.9 BPG while shooting 64.8% from the field. She is a traditional center who doesn't shoot 3-pointers. WNBA teams must decide if that's a major drawback or something she can add to her strong low-block play.

2. Minnesota Lynx: Olivia Miles

TCU | point guard | 5-foot-10 | senior

Miles enrolled early at Notre Dame during the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, playing six games. Then she played three full seasons for the Irish but sat out 2023-24 with a knee injury. Many saw her as a 2025 lottery pick, but instead she transferred to TCU for her last season of eligibility. She averaged 15.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 5.8 APG last season and appears to be the top point guard pick among college seniors.

The Lynx played in the 2024 WNBA Finals and had the best record in the league this year. But they are in the lottery thanks to a 2024 trade with Chicago.

3. Seattle Storm: Azzi Fudd

UConn | shooting guard | 5-foot-11 | senior

After injury issues during her first three years at UConn, Fudd had an overall healthy 2024-25, playing in 34 of the Huskies' 40 games. She averaged 13.6 PPG and shot 43.6% from behind the arc for the national champions. Fudd's talent has never been a question: She is an elite player when healthy, especially as a perimeter scorer.

4. Washington Mystics: Awa Fam

Spain | center | 6-foot-4

She looks to be the top international prospect in this draft. Fam, who turns 20 next June, started playing with a Spanish pro club when she was 15 and helped lead Spain to the EuroBasket final against winner Belgium this summer, averaging 8.7 PPG and 4.2 RPG. Fam's potential is high; she might elevate all the way to the No. 1 spot by the time of the draft.

5. Chicago Sky: Flau'Jae Johnson

LSU | shooting guard | 5-foot-10 | senior

Johnson has said she hopes to elevate her status to a potential No. 1, and that confidence is part of what makes her an appealing player. A national champion as a freshman, last season she had career bests with 18.6 PPG and 38.3% shooting from behind the arc. She also averaged 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

6. Toronto Tempo: Ta'Niya Latson

South Carolina | shooting guard | 5-foot-8 | senior

We don't know what order the expansion teams will pick in this draft, but for now we put the Tempo here and the Fire at No. 7. Latson averaged a Division I-leading 25.2 PPG last season with Florida State. She sought a bigger profile with a program that regularly competes for the national championship, and South Carolina provides that. How will Latson adjust from an offense where she was the primary threat to being one of several? She is a career 32.6% shooter from behind the arc, which she will look to improve upon.

7. Portland Fire: Cotie McMahon

Ole Miss | small forward | 6-foot-0 | senior

She will spend her final season in the SEC after three years at Ohio State, where she was one of the Big Ten's top players. Her 16.5 PPG average and 37.4% shooting from behind the arc in 2024-25 were career highs. McMahon is a bit undersized as a forward but should improve defensively at Ole Miss and can improve her stock for playing at the next level.

8. Golden State Valkyries: Yarden Garzon

Maryland | shooting guard | 6-foot-3 | senior

She spent her first three seasons at Indiana, where she averaged career highs last season of 14.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 3.2 APG. Garzon, who will play her final season at a different Big Ten school, stands out as an adept 3-point shooter with great size: She shot 42.6% from behind the arc during her Hoosiers career and made 220 3-pointers, including 88 last season.

9. Washington Mystics: Serah Williams

UConn | power forward | 6-foot-4 | senior

One of the most intriguing transfers in college, Williams averaged 19.2 PPG and 9.8 RPG for Wisconsin last season. But her college career went under the radar while with the Badgers, who last made the NCAA tournament in 2010. Now she's joining the 12-time national champion Huskies, and no program better prepares players for WNBA success.

10. Indiana Fever: Janiah Barker

Tennessee | power forward | 6-foot-4 | senior

After two seasons at Texas A&M and one at UCLA, Barker will finish her college career at Tennessee. She has averaged 10.3 PPG and 6.4 RPG over three collegiate seasons and has a skill set with good size that interests WNBA evaluators. She will need to adjust to coach Kim Caldwell's fast pace, but already spent two seasons in the SEC and is prepared for the league's style of play.

11. Washington Mystics: Gianna Kneepkens

UCLA | shooting guard | 5-foot-11 | senior

She will play her last college season for the Bruins after a good career at Utah, where she averaged 19.3 PPG in 2024-25. Her biggest strength is 3-point shooting: She made 94 treys last season on 44.8% accuracy. Her 62.7 effective field goal percentage was the best in the Big Ten.

12. Connecticut Sun: Iyana Martin Carrion

Spain | point guard | 5-foot-8

She was named MVP of the FIBA U19 World Cup in 2023, then was part of Spain's runner-up senior squad in the EuroBasket tournament this summer. She will turn 20 in January and could be ready for the jump to the WNBA.

13. Atlanta Dream: Ashlon Jackson

Duke | shooting guard | 6-foot-0 | senior

The Dream had a good season under first-year WNBA coach Karl Smesko, who emphasizes 3-point shooting. Jackson made 87 treys last season while shooting 37.2%. And she was part of a Duke defense that led the ACC in allowing just 56.5 PPG per game.

14. Seattle Storm: Kiki Rice

UCLA | point guard | 5-foot-11 | senior

She was second to Betts in scoring (12.8 PPG) for the Bruins' Final Four team last season while also averaging 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds. There don't appear to be a lot of top point guards available in this draft, and we will see whether Rice impresses WNBA evaluators with her game management skills.

15. Connecticut Sun: Madina Okot

South Carolina | center | 6-foot-6 | senior

Okot, who is from Kenya, played there for two years at Zetech University before spending this past season at Mississippi State, where she averaged 11.3 PPG, 9.6 RPG and 1.1 BPG and shot 64.9% from the field. Now at South Carolina, her role might be even bigger with forward Chloe Kitts out for the season with a knee injury. (Kitts, incidentally, was on our first-round draft board before being hurt and might still enter the draft after this season.)