Plenty of WNBA fans are already looking ahead to the 2027 season and all of the excitement it will bring. The Connecticut Sun will officially move down south to Houston, where the franchise will become the reborn Houston Comets. There are a lot of questions surrounding what the future of the team will look like, and some of those questions start with who will lead the team internally. Plenty have to do with what players from the Sun will become Comets, and one of the most exciting questions of them all is about JuJu Watkins.
Watkins has been MIA since the 2025 Final Four, when she tore her ACL and ended up missing the 2025-26 season at USC. But she's set to return to the court for the team this season, and she's made it abundantly clear that despite all the rumors surrounding her, USC is her focus (for now).
The reason Watkins has had to be so clear is that she's just about everyone's No. 1 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft, despite not having played basketball in a year. There's plenty of reason to suspect that will hold, should Watkins opt to make the 2026-27 season her final in college (her injury gives her to option to take advantage of a fifth year at USC if she chooses).
But that doesn't mean Watkins is ready to be drafted, and it doesn't mean fans should rush the process. Assuming she's back to full health, USC and NCAA basketball fans are about to be in for a treat: Watkins is a dynamic player who always puts on a show. It will be fun to see her back on the floor after so much time away, and rewarding to see her again ascend to the upper echelon of women's NCAA basketball.
Sure, the rebirth of the Houston Comets is going to be an enormously exciting thing. If the team does manage to secure the No. 1 draft pick, it would be wildly wise to snag Watkins — if they don't, someone else most definitely will. There's also little doubt Watkins will have a strong and successful career in the WNBA once she's drafted into the league.
But for now, let's all take a breath, sit back, and get ready to watch JuJu Watkins reborn at USA first. The pros will be there when she's ready for them, and she deserves a shot at getting to enjoy her senior year of basketball.
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