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Unrivaled co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart remained with their original teams, but the 2026 draft brought plenty of change elsewhere (Photo credit: Unrivaled)
Unrivaled aired its 2026 draft last night and revealed the six developmental players who’ll fill in when regulars are unavailable (Laeticia Amihere, Emily Engstler, Aziaha James, Haley Jones, Makayla Timpson and Hailey Van Lith). Expansion teams (Breeze and Hive) held the first two picks, last year’s playoff teams (Laces, Lunar Owls, Rose and Vinyl) were allowed to protect two players and the others (Mist and Phantom) were allowed to protect one in exchange for forfeiting their first available draft pick each time. Up next: some snap takes in 99 words or fewer. Teams are alphabetical, as are their players.
Players: Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, Rickea Jackson, Dominique Malonga, Kate Martin, Aari McDonald
Coach: Noelle Quinn
Judging by the lightning-quick sellout of all of their jerseys, I’m not the only one who declared this their favorite team. Can you blame us with the top two picks in the last WNBA draft (Bueckers and Malonga) joined by two top-four picks in the 2024 draft (Los Angeles Sparks teammates Brink and Jackson)? There are storylines galore, but here’s the most awkward: Malonga, whose presence in Unrivaled is already a major headache for the Seattle Storm, is reunited with her former Storm head coach Quinn just weeks after she was fired from that post.
Players: Monique Billings, Sonia Citron, Natisha Hiedeman, Ezi Magbegor, Kelsey Mitchell, Saniya Rivers
Coach: Rena Wakama
I think Hive has a chance to be a lot like the Lunar Owls last season, largely overlooked during the hype cycle before proving to be one of the league’s best teams. Every three-player combination I come up with out of this group seems tailor made to play in Unrivaled, particularly the ones that put two of Citron, Hiedeman, Mitchell and Rivers on the floor with Magbegor. A WNBA All-Defense pick four years running slowing down the likes of Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas while her guards get buckets sounds like a winning formula to me.
Players: Jordin Canada, Naz Hillmon, Maddy Siegrist, Brittney Sykes, Alyssa Thomas*, Jackie Young*
Coach: Andrew Wade
The first thing that jumped out is that Laces’ two protected stars just faced off for the WNBA title, with Young’s Las Vegas Aces sweeping Thomas’ Phoenix Mercury. They’re joined by four newcomers, in part because three members of last year’s team won’t be in Unrivaled this season. Among those newcomers are a pair of 2025 Atlanta Dream teammates (Canada and Hillmon), and of course any team with former Villanova star Siegrist on it has a place in my heart. Rounding out the roster is Sykes, the only 2025 Unrivaled champion playing with a different squad in 2026.
Players: Rebecca Allen, Rachel Banham, Napheesa Collier*, Skylar Diggins*, Aaliyah Edwards, Marina Mabrey
Coach: DJ Sackmann
Protected stars Collier and Diggins are the only players returning to “hootie hoo” with the team that ran away with the best record in the inaugural season before being stunned in the semifinals. It was always going to be hard to surround Phee and Sky with a group that could match last year’s trio of Shakira Austin, Allisha Gray and Courtney Williams, but there’s no shortage of toughness or long-distance shooting in Allen, Banham and Mabrey. Edwards is also likely happy to be back in Unrivaled, where she was last year’s one-on-one champion, after a frustrating WNBA season.
Players: Veronica Burton, Allisha Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Alanna Smith, Breanna Stewart*, Li Yueru
Coach: Zach O’Brien
As a New Yorker, I cackled when I saw that Smith and Stewart, the players involved in the (bogus) foul call that ultimately gave the New York Liberty the 2024 WNBA title, are teammates. I imagine Minnesota residents reacted more severely. I hope we get behind the scenes content of the pair talking trash about it either way. Beyond that, I’m not sure a lineup of point guard Stewie, wing Smith and center Li would be effective, but I’d enjoy it. The three-guard permutation of Burton, Gray and Ogunbowale? Baby, you got a Stewie-free stew goin’.
Players: Aliyah Boston, Natasha Cloud, Dana Evans, Kiki Iriafen, Kelsey Plum, Satou Sabally*
Coach: Roneeka Hodges
Phantom could only protect one player from last season’s roster in Sabally, but also brought Cloud back in the draft. So, there’s a bit more continuity than for the other team to miss the playoffs, Mist, which brings back only Stewart. Like Thomas and Young on Laces, Evans (Aces) and Sabally (Mercury) are coming off a meeting in the 2025 WNBA Finals. Boston, whose Indiana Fever lost to the Aces in the semifinals, can commiserate with Sabally. Those with refined palates will also note a distinct Pac-12 flavor, as Iriafen, Plum and Sabally starred in the conference.
Players: Shakira Austin, Kahleah Copper*, Chelsea Gray*, Lexie Hull, Azurá Stevens, Sug Sutton
Coach: Nola Henry
The reigning champs bring back a league-high four players from a team that rallied from 1-4 to an 8-6 finish. Copper (Mercury) and Gray (Aces) are another pair coming off the 2025 WNBA Finals, joined once again by Hull and Stevens. The other spots last year belonged to Angel Reese, who opted out of this year’s Unrivaled festivities, and Sykes, who was poached by Laces. Filling their shoes are a pair of Washington Mystics teammates coming off of arguably their best WNBA seasons in Austin, who had a strong showing with Lunar Owls last winter, and Unrivaled newcomer Sutton.
Players: Rae Burrell, Brittney Griner, Dearica Hamby*, Rhyne Howard*, Erica Wheeler, Courtney Williams
Coach: Teresa Weatherspoon
The runners-up after stunning Lunar Owls in the semifinals, Vinyl’s only returning players are its protected stars Hamby and Howard. They were its top two scorers by a wide margin during a 5-9 regular season. The club will hope to get more out of its supporting cast this season as it brings in one of the best guards in the WNBA in 2025 in Williams, along with another explosive guard coming off an excellent WNBA season in Wheeler. Rounding out the roster are a 2025 WNBA teammate of Hamby’s (Burrell) and one of Howard’s (Griner).
No. 22 Oklahoma State plays again tonight after routing East Texas A&M 97-59 last night behind 22 points from Haleigh Timmer, but don’t fret for the Cowgirls as tonight’s opponent (Langston) is an NAIA school. Also somewhat notable tonight is No. 17 TCU becoming the last preseason-ranked team to debut (vs North Carolina A&T). No. 3 UCLA (vs UC Santa Barbara), No. 5 LSU (vs SELA), No. 10 Maryland (vs UMBC), No. 11 North Carolina (vs Elon), and No. 24 Kentucky (vs Monmouth) are poised to cruise at home as well.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats newsletter. We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Hudl. Hudl’s industry-leading tools – Sportscode, Instat, and Fastmodel – elevate the preparation, performance, and player development of WNBA and NCAA teams. We appreciate their support and look forward to working with them to help bring more insight about the women’s game to you.
You can find me on Bluesky and HHS on Bluesky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.