{"id":477299,"date":"2025-12-29T09:32:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/477299\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T09:32:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:32:10","slug":"stock-up-stock-down-biggest-wnba-draft-risers-and-fallers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/477299\/","title":{"rendered":"Stock up, stock down: Biggest WNBA draft risers and fallers"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot has changed since November: the\u00a0ACC favorite<\/a>, the Big Ten race, and our assessments of 2026 WNBA draft prospects.<\/p>\n

In lieu of a full midseason Draft Board v2.0, we\u2019re back with some quick midseason updates. There are a few reasons we\u2019re taking this approach, chiefly, the fact that we entered the 2025-26 season with three or four years of observations on nearly all of these players and not much has changed in the first two months of the season. Therefore, a majority of the bullet points on\u00a0our preseason board<\/a>\u00a0still ring true.<\/p>\n

But, a few things have changed. Some players are in different roles, have played different competition, or haven\u2019t made the improvements we were hoping for. Below are the WNBA prospects with the greatest rise or fall in their draft stock.<\/p>\n

Note: 30 FV is a median outcome as a hardship-caliber player, 40 FV is a median outcome as an end-of-bench player, 45 FV is a starter on a mediocre WNBA team and 50 FV is a starter on a playoff team. 55 FV is a good starter on a title team, 60 FV is a perennial All-Star and 70 FV is a perennial All-WNBA player.<\/p>\n

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Nell Angloma, off-ball guard, BLMA (France)<\/p>\n

Draft-and-stash (~30 FV) \u2192 40 FV<\/p>\n

Nell Angloma is putting together the most productive season by an international wing in the last decade, averaging 16.3 points on 63% shooting from two in the French league. At just 19, she already plays with veteran-like physicality, paired with an explosive first step and strong contact balance that make her extremely difficult to stop on drives (52% free-throw attempt rate, best in the class). Nearly every part of her game is solid, except her jumper, which remains her clear swing skill (13-for-49 from three). If her shot comes along, the upside on Angloma jumps significantly. If it doesn\u2019t, will her drives be as impactful against WNBA talent if defenders can sag off? And does she fill enough gaps to still be impactful as a non-shooting wing? Still, she offers an enticing upside proposition for teams with strong confidence in their player development infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Gabriela Jaquez, off-ball guard, UCLA<\/p>\n

30 FV \u2192 40 FV<\/p>\n

Until this year, Gabriela Jaquez<\/a> has lacked the accuracy from deep to make her a clear pro-level player. But with her 3-point attempt rate jumping almost 10 percentage points from last year, and her 3-point percentage going above 35% for the first time, her value as a prospect has also jumped. These improvements are critical for her position, as off-ball scorers at guard can only be prospects if they\u2019re plus shooters. Jaquez\u2019 considerable improvements at the free-throw line (unlike most players whose 3-point shooting suddenly spikes as seniors), paired with solid mechanics and quality footwork in her jumper, suggest that she may genuinely be a plus shooter at this point. The lack of on-ball creation and issues with ball screen navigation limit her upside, but a plus cutter and plus shooter with some size is always worth a good draft pick.<\/p>\n

Raven Johnson, point guard, South Carolina<\/p>\n

Watch list (~20 FV) \u2192 30 FV<\/p>\n

This is the second year in a row<\/a> that Raven Johnson<\/a> has made the midseason check-in article, although the end to her 2024-25 season dropped her even further than that article suggested. That\u2019s probably an indictment of our inability to reach a stable evaluation for her, but that\u2019s a topic for another day, and mostly an issue of overreaction. For now, Johnson remains who she\u2019s been for a while: an elite point of attack defender with the wingspan and strength to scale up and guard the wing; enough of a shooter to command a closeout behind the arc, but not enough that she won\u2019t shoot her team out of games; and a very steady presence with a controlling tempo on the ball. This season has been another all-around effort confirming those aspects of her game, and she\u2019s been more aggressive getting downhill as well, which you\u2019d hope a redshirt senior with her physical ability would be.<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd, off-ball guard, UConn<\/p>\n

50 FV \u2192 55 FV<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd<\/a> has been the best senior in college basketball, now another year removed from her second torn ACL. As we all know, she\u2019s arguably the greatest off-ball shooting prospect of all time, but she also continues to take steps on the defensive end. Fudd is a smart, disciplined player with remarkable core strength, anticipation and impact in the gaps and passing lanes (4.5% steal rate). The main questions center around her upside: Fudd doesn\u2019t draw fouls at an average rate, doesn\u2019t consistently create rim pressure, and rarely takes pull-up threes. Still, if her shooting translates to the sport\u2019s highest level in the way it\u2019s projected to, she could offer prime Allie Quigley-level offensive value, with better defense.<\/p>\n

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Stock down<\/p>\n

Yarden Garzon, combo forward, Maryland<\/p>\n

50 FV \u2192 30 FV<\/p>\n

Now at Maryland, Yarden Garzon<\/a> remains an outstanding standstill shooter (38.6% on catch-and-shoot threes, per Synergy), but the issues outside of shooting have become more glaring. She doesn\u2019t have the quickness to defend wings and isn\u2019t strong enough to hold up at the four, leaving her caught between positions. While Garzon is a high-level passer, handle limitations and an inability to separate \u2014 even against mid-major talent \u2014 cap how much that skill can meaningfully impact an offense. For a player with Garzon\u2019s archetype, the path for success is as a premier movement shooter, but her rigid perimeter movement raises questions about how likely that even is.<\/p>\n

Laila Phelia, off-ball guard, Syracuse<\/p>\n

40 FV \u2192 Non-Prospect<\/p>\n

We once viewed Laila Phelia<\/a> as a future lottery pick<\/a> following an excellent two-way breakout in her sophomore season, but in the years since, the development simply hasn\u2019t followed. She doesn\u2019t read the floor well, is a poor rebounder, and remains an inconsistent finisher despite clear athletic tools (35.3% on half-court rim attempts, per Synergy). Phelia has also yet to make a pull-up three in her college career (0-for-20) and instead lives on a tough diet of mid-range jumpers. While she\u2019s still draftable and worth a look in training camp, her profile as a 3-and-D wing is just too narrow for us to give her a 30 FV.<\/p>\n

Iyana Mart\u00edn, point guard, Avenida (Spain)<\/p>\n

50 FV \u2192 Draft-and-stash (~30 FV)<\/p>\n

Teenagers generally get fundamentally better every year, but that hasn\u2019t been the case with Iyana Mart\u00edn this season. After missing the opening of this LF Endesa season with an illness, she had a slow start that hasn\u2019t gotten much better in the two months since, both on the stat sheet and on tape. Her shooting accuracy is the worst it\u2019s been since she went pro, her turnovers are way up, and her 3-point attempt rate is way down. She still barely drives to her weak-handed side and doesn\u2019t finish with that hand either, and her shot-creation has not improved. Her defense is still the worst of anyone on our draft board. Although her playmaking numbers would look significantly better if not for her teammates frequently blowing highlight passes, the overall package has plateaued enough that it makes little difference.<\/p>\n

Ta\u2019Niya Latson, combo guard, South Carolina<\/p>\n

55 FV \u2192 45 FV<\/p>\n

Ta\u2019Niya Latson<\/a> got a bump in her FV grade upon transferring to South Carolina because of the work Dawn Staley<\/a> and co. have done with just about every backcourt player who\u2019s come through Columbia. While Latson has looked a bit better defensively in garnet and black, going from a 4-out spread pick-n-roll system at Florida State to an almost-two-post system with the Gamecocks has exposed a massive issue in her decision-making. She already often made decisions too late and attacked downhill without a good way out, regardless of whether she had a numbers disadvantage. But the added congestion of South Carolina\u2019s offense has at best rendered her unable to create advantages with the ball in her hands. At worst, she has been running directly into double teams and burning time off the clock in the half-court. This portends even greater problems when she has to deal with the speed and timing of WNBA defenders collapsing the paint against her drives, and certainly points to an inability to play in more condensed lineups.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

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Howard Megdal\u2019s newest book is here! \u201cBecoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar\u201d captures both the historic nature of Clark\u2019s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lot has changed since November: the\u00a0ACC favorite, the Big Ten race, and our assessments of 2026 WNBA…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":477300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[67442,68016,93427,216170,216171,145399,216172,216173,62,177658,67,132,68,232,21829,177472,216174],"class_list":{"0":"post-477299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-2026-wnba-draft","9":"tag-azzi-fudd","10":"tag-gabriela-jaquez","11":"tag-iyana-martin","12":"tag-laila-phelia","13":"tag-ncaaw","14":"tag-nell-angloma","15":"tag-raven-johnson","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-taniya-latson","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-wnba","22":"tag-wnba-draft","23":"tag-wnba-draft-prospects","24":"tag-yarden-garzon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115802167479927453","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}