The 2026 WNBA Draft has wrapped up for the evening, and UConn's Azzi Fudd was selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Wings. Fudd was followed by Olivia Miles to the Minnesota Lynx, Awa Fam Thian to the Seattle Storm, and Lauren Betts to the Washington Mystics.
"I'm not really sure I have words to describe that feeling what that meant," Fudd told reporters of getting drafted. "I don't think it's fully sunk in. It's nothing I could have imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, with Morgan (Valley), hearing your name called, go up there. Such a surreal feeling."
The move to Dallas will reunite Fudd with her former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers — a reality that both Wings fans and Huskies fans are equally excited about.
The UCLA Bruins had a record-breaking night that saw six players drafted, five of whom were taken by teams in the first round. That resulted in the program besting a record set by the UConn Huskies back in 2002, when four of the school's players were drafted in the first round.
The draft was also full of plenty of surprises. LSU's Flau'jae Johnson was drafted by the Golden State Valkyries at the No. 8 overall spot, but then traded by the team to the Seattle Storm. Golden State received the rights to TCU's Marta Suarez, who was drafted in the second round, as well as the Storm's 2028 second-round draft pick.
UCLA's Gabriela Jaquez, the younger sister of Miami Heat player Jamie Jaquez, Jr., was also drafted as the No. 5 overall pick by the Chicago Sky. As noted by ESPN, Gabriela has now bested her brother twice: she recently won the national championship with the Bruins, and her brother was drafted as the No. 18 pick when he joined the NBA.
The new CBA has changed the game for rookies
The topic of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was everywhere Monday night. The minimum payment in the league is now $270,000 for second and third-round picks, a huge jump from last year's minimum of approximately $67,000.
The impact of the new CBA on rookies cannot be overstated. In addition to a higher salary, there's more in it for rookies if they excel. If a rookie is named to first or second-team All-WNBA teams at the end of the season, they'll be eligible to sign the maximum contract in their fourth year of play. They would not be eligible to be cored. Players who are named MVP while on a rookie contract would be similarly eligible to receive the maximum contract the following season.
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