Lauren Betts and the 2026 WNBA Draft: A Promising Future?
Last season, Lauren Betts and the UCLA Bruins advanced to the Final Four for the first time in the NCAA era. Now, Betts is looking to repeat the feat. However, the senior player has big individual goals, including being number 1 in the 2026 WNBA draft.
But before that, many factors must be defined. The WNBA is negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the union, a topic that has dominated the league throughout the year. In addition, the lottery draft, expansion drafts for Toronto and Portland, and a massive free agency involving most players without rookie contracts, are crucial elements before the 2026 draft.
In this context, the WNBA mock draft is an exercise that considers many possibilities, a picture that will gradually become clearer over the next seven months. Below, we present the top five teams according to their lottery odds, including the expansion teams.
It is worth noting that five of the top six picks in this mock draft were eligible for the 2025 draft, but chose to return for another college season.
Analysis of the First Draft Selections
Dallas Wings: Lauren Betts (UCLA, center, senior). Betts was a first-team All-American last season, averaging 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game, with a 64.8% field goal percentage. She is a traditional post player without 3-point shots. WNBA teams must decide if this is a disadvantage or something that can complement her low-post game.
Minnesota Lynx: Olivia Miles (TCU, guard, senior). Miles enrolled early at Notre Dame and then played three full seasons before missing the 2023-24 season with a knee injury. She averaged 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.8 assists last season and appears to be the best point guard among college seniors.
Seattle Storm: Azzi Fudd (UConn, guard, senior). After injury problems in her first three years at UConn, Fudd had a healthy 2024-25 season, playing in 34 of the Huskies’ 40 games. She averaged 13.6 points and 43.6% on three-pointers for the national champions.
Washington Mystics: Awa Fam (Spain, center). She is seen as the best international prospect in this draft. Fam, who turns 20 in June, started playing with a Spanish professional club at the age of 15 and helped Spain reach the EuroBasket final against Belgium, averaging 8.7 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Chicago Sky: Flau’Jae Johnson (LSU, guard, senior). Johnson hopes to elevate her status and become a possible No. 1 pick. Last season she averaged 18.6 points and 38.3% on three-pointers. She also averaged 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Flau’Jae Johnson, on the right, is a projected lottery pick. Janiah Barker, on the left, is projected as the number 10 pick for Indiana.
Toronto Tempo: Ta’Niya Latson (South Carolina, guard, senior). Latson averaged 25.2 points per game last season with Florida State. She will seek to adapt to a different role at South Carolina, where she will be one of several offensive threats.
Portland Fire: Cotie McMahon (Ole Miss, forward, senior). She will spend her final season in the SEC after three years at Ohio State. McMahon is a bit undersized for a forward, but she should improve defensively at Ole Miss and can improve her value to play at the next level.
Golden State Valkyries: Yarden Garzon (Maryland, guard, senior). Garzon stands out as a 3-point shooter with great size, with a 42.6% effectiveness in three-point shots during her career at Hoosiers.
Washington Mystics: Serah Williams (UConn, power forward, senior). Williams averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds for Wisconsin last season. Now she joins the Huskies, a program that prepares players for success in the WNBA.
Indiana Fever: Janiah Barker (Tennessee, power forward, senior). Barker will finish her college career at Tennessee, after going through Texas A&M and UCLA.
Washington Mystics: Gianna Kneepkens (UCLA, guard, senior). Kneepkens will play her final college season for the Bruins, after a good career at Utah, where she averaged 19.3 points per game in 2024-25. Her greatest strength is the 3-point shot: she made 94 three-pointers last season with 44.8% accuracy.
Connecticut Sun: Iyana Martin Carrion (Spain, guard). She was named MVP of the FIBA U19 World Cup in 2023, and then was part of the Spanish runner-up team in the EuroBasket tournament this summer. She will turn 20 in January and could be ready to make the jump to the WNBA.
Atlanta Dream: Ashlon Jackson (Duke, guard, senior). Jackson made 87 three-pointers last season with 37.2%. She was part of Duke’s defense that led the ACC by allowing only 56.5 points per game.
Seattle Storm: Kiki Rice (UCLA, guard, senior). She was second in scoring (12.8 points per game) for the Bruins team that reached the Final Four last season, and also averaged 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
Connecticut Sun: Madina Okot (South Carolina, center, senior). Okot, from Kenya, played there for two years at Zetech University before spending this season at Mississippi State, where she averaged 11.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, and made 64.9% of her field goals.
