Today, host Hunter Cruse is joined by co-hosts Lincoln Shafer and Emily Adler from The Next to talk about the best picks, biggest surprises, and winners and losers from the 2025 WNBA Draft from earlier this week.
The trio starts with who they think had the best drafts, and Hunter explains why he liked what the Dallas Wings did.

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“I really like what Dallas did in general,” getting paid shares is a win. ” he said. “Getting Paige Bueckers is a win, and then adding defense behind that. That is a win by itself, kind of stocking up on defensive bets. Behind that is something that’s very interesting to me, and that’s Maddie Scott is a tremendous athlete and a very solid defender.”
Later on, Hunter adds why he liked what the expansion Golden State Valkyries were able to do in their first draft.
“I like Golden State in general,” he said. “Like everybody thought of (No. 17 overall pick) Shyanne Sellers as a top 10 pick in this draft, pretty much, and you get her at 17. You also get a 19-year-old guard in Juste Jocyte (No. 5 overall) who can drill, pass, shoot, and is fast. They’re not trying to contend, they’re trying to go for it next year.”
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