The Washington Mystics have been the story of the past two WNBA drafts, much at the expense of the Chicago Sky. However, it doesn't seem like their efforts are being acknowledged.
Washington notably had three first-round picks in the top six of the 2025 WNBA Draft and used them to select Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Georgia Amoore. A year later, the Mystics, again, had three first-round picks and used them to select Lauren Betts, Angela Dugalić and Cotie McMahon.
That's a starting lineup and a sixth player comprised of two All-Stars and two national champions, and yet, the WNBA general managers do not believe the Mystics contain the best young core in the league.
The results of this year's GM survey were released on Tuesday, with 15 GMs asked 42 questions. It's important to note that percentages were based on the pool of respondents to that particular question, and GMs were not permitted to vote for their own team or personnel.
With those caveats, the Dallas Wings and Seattle Storm finished tied for first at 31% to the question: "Which team has the most promising young core?" Washington finished second with 23% of the vote.
Even if the result was one or two votes away from first, it still is a significant slight against the work that Sydney Johnson has done with the roster. It's one that the other GMs will soon regret.
Citron and Iriafen are poised for Year 2 leaps
As noted, Citron and Iriafen proved to be home-run draft picks when they were named WNBA All-Stars. If preseason is anything to go by, Iriafen already is one of the best young bigs in the league, and Citron had a full offseason under her belt after getting acclimated to the league.
What also shouldn't be overlooked is the Unrivaled bump for Iriafen and especially for Citron. It wasn't a great season, on paper, for the Hive, but it was encouraging to see Citron adapt well to three-on-three basketball and develop ways to create her own shot. She also was able to develop her one-on-one defense. Those will be key skills to add after leading the WNBA in 3-point percentage at 44.5%.
Washington's rookies solve key problems
One of the key problems Johnson faced in his rookie head-coaching campaign was a lack of offensive fire power. Shakira Austin, Iriafen and Citron were asked to carry a heavy load, which didn't always work out well against the top contenders.
However, this year, Amoore should give Washington the 3-point shooting bump the team needs after missing last season while recovering from her ACL injury. Betts had a promising preseason run to show she can be a solid No. 3 paint-scoring option behind Austin and Iriafen.
The Mystics also needed more wing defense outside of Citron, and Dugalić perfectly fits that box. She was a 32.6% 3-point shooter in her last year at UCLA, and there's room for that to be better, assuming better spacing in the WNBA.
We don't really know the context behind the question in the GM survey, nor are there explanations behind the picks. Dallas being up top is justified. Paige Bueckers was chosen as the player GMs would build a team around, and their players who are 25 and under are intriguing.
However, the Storm? You could argue Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam are just as much projects as Betts. Is Flau'jae Johnson that much better than Citron?
These teams are much closer than GMs perceive them, and if the Mystics' young core can reach their ceilings, a postseason berth is in their future.
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