New York – The WNBA training fields will open this weekend and there is no doubt that Draft selection No. 1 Paige Bueckers is prepared for a professional career in the league.
Not all 38 selections of this Draft of the year You will have such guarantees. The WNBA potentially has 156 covered list places among 13 teams, and other options for professional careers in female basketball, either in the US or abroad, are scarce. The teams can have up to 12 players in their lists if they fit under the salary limit of the league, but most franchises have only 11.
It is a strong contrast to the perspectives of men who do not make NBA lists. They have other opportunities, which include more options abroad and playing in the G.
The NBA also has 30 teams with 15 allowed players in the regular season list, so there are more available places.
There is a simple reason why being among those 38 Draft selections does not guarantee a place on the list: most places will be taken by players who return.
The draft class of last year headed by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese had 13 players who made opening lists of the opening day, which lowered two of the previous season and four of 2022. Many teams draft international players to keep them abroad until they potentially join the franchise on a future date.
The players have tried to forge a WNBA opportunity playing professionally abroad, but those works are also very important. Brittney Griner’s nine -month imprisonment in Moscow Together with the war in Ukraine he has led to the elimination of dozens of potential jobs in Russia.
Bueckers, UConn’s leading one, was first chosen in general by the Dallas Wings and is prepared to be the cornerstone of the franchise. Sonia Citron de Notre Dame (No. 3 Washington), Kiki Iriafen by Southern California (No. 4 Washington) and Georgia Amore de Kentucky (No. 6 Washington) are in a good place to play in teams that are reconstructing this season.
The Connecticut sun is also in reconstructed mode, which gives No. 7 aneeesah morrow of LSU and the Ríos Saniya No. 8 of NC State is a good opportunity to contribute.
It will be much more difficult for the second and third selections to stay in the WNBA after the training camp.
Of course, it is disappointing for players who are so close to fulfilling their dreams of the WNBA but that are squeezed due to the numbers. However, it can also be a big problem for fans who can no longer see a favorite university player on the court.
The League is adding two more expansion teams in 2026, with Portland and Toronto that is granted franchises. That will potentially open two dozen more jobs.
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