To win your fantasy women’s basketball league, you need a little luck.
But, luck is just where preparation meets opportunity. So, if you want to have a chance to win, you need to make sure you’re prepared. Particularly before you sit down to draft your team.
The first step to preparing for your draft is to decide what you want your team to look like. Step into the draft with an idea about what the talent looks like at different parts of the draft, it will give you a leg up on the competition right from the opening tip.
The best way to gauge what your team might look like is to do a mock draft (or two) before the real draft to get a feel for what players should be available. Will sleeper picks be there, or does everyone already know about them so they go earlier than expected? Often, there are really good players ranked lower than you might expect that might be available later than you think they should be. Having an idea of how this tends to shake out before you enter your draft can be very valuable for maximizing your squad.
This article highlights players to consider drafting at different rounds of the draft. Your draft slot makes a huge difference in the early rounds because of the value of the players that are available. Utilizing average draft positioning data (ADP) to determine likelihood of availability, here is some insight on the type of value that might be available throughout your own drafts.
Note: All listed ADPs are as of May. 7.
Round 1: A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and Arike Ogunbowale
In six team leagues, the first round is a series of either-or choices based upon where you’re picking. At the top, the choice is Wilson (ADP 1.6) vs. Caitlin Clark (ADP 1.9), and I would pick Wilson.
Next is Breanna Stewart (ADP 4.0) vs. Collier (ADP 4.3). This is a tough choice. While Stewart is a former MVP that has averaged more fantasy points in previous seasons, she also enters the year coming off arthroscopic knee surgery. Collier is on the rise, ready to build on her Defensive Player of the Year and MVP runner-up campaign last season and has the potential to be even better this year.
The end of the round pits Ogunbowale (ADP 5.7) vs. Sabrina Ionescu (ADP 6.0). Ogunbowale gets the nod on the strength of her significantly more productive 2024 season. She averaged 39.7 FP/G vs. Ionescu’s 34.4 FP/G and she has a higher ceiling as the focal point of the Dallas Wings‘ offense while Ionescu is one of three stars on the New York Liberty.
Round 2: Angel Reese and Kelsey Plum
Target Reese (ADP 9.6) in the first half of the second round. She was the most dominant rebounder in WNBA history as a rookie (13.1 RPG) and improved as the season progressed. She averaged 14.5 PPG and 14.7 RPG over the last 21 games last season and had an elite run to be named Defensive Player of the Year in the Unrivaled during the offseason. Reese seems poised for a monster sophomore campaign.
Plum (ADP 13.2) presents good value in the second half of the second round. Plum’s usage should go through the roof on a Los Angeles Sparks squad in desperate need of a perimeter offense creator. She has a good opportunity to set new career-highs in scoring (current career-high 20.2 PPG), assists (5.1 APG) and 3-pointers (3.1 3PG).
Round 3: Skylar Diggins
Diggins (ADP 17.6) joined the Seattle Storm in 2024 and shared the backcourt with another high usage guard, Jewell Loyd. As a result, Diggins turned in her lowest scoring average (15.1 PPG) since 2016. But with Loyd now in Las Vegas, Diggins should be the primary creator in Seattle. She looks poised to bounce back to her previous production, such as the 19.7 PPG she scored in her last full season (2022), while maintaining or expanding on her career-best 6.4 APG last season.
Round 4: Satou Sabally
Sabally (ADP 20.6) averaged 35.5 FP/G last season, the sixth-best mark in the league. The only reason she wasn’t among the top producers in the league was because a shoulder injury limited her to only 15 games played. Sabally has only played more than 17 games once in her five-season career but played 38 games in 2023. If she can stay healthy this season, Sabally has the potential to produce first-round value in the fourth round of fantasy drafts.
Middle rounds (Rounds 5-6): Rickea Jackson, Tina Charles and Kamilla Cardoso
Jackson (ADP 33.3) had an impressive rookie season, particularly the second half where she averaged 16.4 PPG and 4.1 RPG over her last 20 games.
Charles (ADP 35.4) is a former MVP that is still one of the most productive players in the league when she gets minutes. Charles projects to start for a Connecticut team in a rebuilding season and will have nightly double-double potential as long as she continues to be in a featured role.
Cardoso (ADP 37.5) is another second-year player that appears poised to make a leap. After missing the start of her rookie season with an injury, Cardoso finished strong, averaging 13.0 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.9 BPG in the 12 games from mid-August to mid-September.
Late rounds (Rounds 6 and beyond): Cameron Brink and Chelsea Gray
Brink (ADP 38.9) was another member of the 2024 elite rookie class who started out the season strong but suffered a torn ACL that ended her season early. Brink is expected to be back in June, and when healthy she is a nightly double-double threat that could lead the league in blocks.
Gray (ADP 41.3) is potentially the best value in the draft at her current ADP. She had a down year last season as she battled a lower leg injury, but this offseason she showed she was healthy again, as she led Rose BC to the first Unrivaled championship as the finals MVP. Gray established new career-best marks in scoring, assists, rebounds and 3-pointers made in 2023, and I expect her to bounce back to numbers resembling a top-20 player this season.
