Fantasy WNBA Draft Strategies for 2025
The WNBA preseason begins Friday, and Opening Night is two weeks away. Training camp has begun, providing plenty of actionable news to help fantasy managers prepare for drafts. More clarity on rotations should come into focus based on preseason production, but there are plenty of tips that fantasy managers can use for fantasy drafts to help navigate the season.
While rookies have generally struggled to make an impact early in their WNBA careers, last season featured plenty of productive first-year players, including Caitlin Clark, who comes in at No. 2 in RotoWire's fantasy WNBA rankings this year, and Angel Reese, who is listed at No. 11. This year's rookie class features the Wings' Paige Bueckers, who will play alongside one of the league's top scorers in Arike Ogunbowale. Bueckers tops the rookie rankings, while other players, such as Dominique Malonga, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen should have a chance to make an impact but are slightly riskier for fantasy purposes in Year 1.
There are plenty of talented players to consider in this year's fantasy drafts, including players from the league's 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries. An additional team means that fantasy managers will have more prominent players to consider in their leagues this year, though the Valkyries have some question marks regarding their rotation given their focus on international prospects during the offseason.
To help guide decisions, check out some of the top fantasy WNBA draft tips below. Subscribers can also use the Discussion section at the bottom of the page to ask league-specific questions.
Helpful Tools
WNBA Training Camp News: Week 1
Fantasy WNBA Tips
Maximizing Your Roster with ESPN Fantasy Settings
For a second consecutive year, this tops the list of tips. It's a simple reminder, but since ESPN Fantasy only allows leagues with head-to-head points-based leagues, it's important to approach drafts with this in mind, as opposed to some roto NBA leagues in which it benefits fantasy managers to diversify categories. The standard ESPN Fantasy scoring settings are as follows:
- Point = 1 Fantasy Point (FP)
- Rebound = 1 FP
- Assist = 1 FP
- Three-Pointer Made = 1 FP
- Steal = 2 FP
- Block = 2 FP
While customization is allowed, the standard settings don't include negative points for turnovers. This can greatly benefit the fantasy potential of a player like Caitlin Clark, who led the league in turnovers by a considerable margin last year, averaging 5.6 per game. In leagues that use standard scoring settings, this won't work against her.
Have a Draft Road Map
Unlike scoring settings, which allow for some customization, the roster slots in ESPN fantasy leagues cannot be changed. They are as follows:
- 2 Guards
- 3 Forwards/Centers
- 1 Utility Spot
- 3 Bench
- 1 Injured Reserve
While fantasy managers certainly shouldn't avoid elite guards such as Caitlin Clark or Sabrina Ionescu, it can be helpful to prioritize forwards and centers early in drafts so that you know that you have a few solid options on your roster throughout the season. I don't generally subscribe to the fantasy approach of having a set goal for how many of each position that I'll have after each round. For example, in fantasy football, some will try strategies such as Zero RB, Hero RB, etc. In fantasy WNBA drafts, I usually advocate for taking what falls to you, but I think it's a good rule of thumb to try to leave the first three rounds with at least one forward or center.
It can also help to be aware of who other managers in the league may like. For example, if someone is a big Angel Reese or Paige Bueckers fan, they may go above some of the players who are ranked around them, so you may be able to get some value if you're picking around that manager. In general, it's good to look a few picks ahead so you know who may be on the board in order to avoid having to scramble when on the clock.
Prioritize Key Waiver Wire Targets Early in the WNBA Season
While we do our best to make our projections as accurate as possible ahead of the regular season, there are generally several players each year who take on significantly larger roles than expected. Take Dearica Hamby, for example. Over the first nine years of her career, she averaged 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22.9 minutes per game, numbers that were quite similar to her averages from her first season in Los Angeles in 2023. That production is enough to warrant mid-round fantasy consideration, but she jumped into the upper echelon of fantasy options last year by averaging 17.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 33.7 minutes per game. Even with Cameron Brink in the fold for the first half of the season, Hamby saw a much larger role than expected in the wake of Nneka Ogwumike's departure.
Hamby probably wasn't available on the waiver wire in most fantasy leagues, but there are generally several under-the-radar players who outperform their projections early in the year. In these cases, it can be helpful to part with some of your late-round draft picks who may be underperforming. Streaming is incredibly valuable in fantasy WNBA leagues given the head-to-head points format along with the lack of negative points, so it's never a bad idea to target players who have been hot lately.
Late Round Upside: High-Risk, High-Reward Players
Going along with the value of streaming, it can be helpful to target players in mid-to-late rounds who have upside, rather than going for safe options. Over the first few rounds of the draft, I firmly believe in targeting established players who should be able to deliver strong production no matter what. However, many late-round picks will likely be dropped anyway for streaming purposes, so it's worth targeting players who have a chance to take a step this season. One such example is players for the Valkyries. The team focused heavily on international players during the expansion draft and the rookie draft during the offseason, but there will likely be some players who will have a chance to outperform expectations in 2025. Some of the players on the team are risky picks, but fantasy managers using a late-round pick on these players shouldn't feel many reservations, as it's a fairly high-reward situation if they do pan out.
