The Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics will have the top four picks in the 2023 draft, in that order.

Aliyah Boston is likely to be the No. 1 pick, but each team has very different personnel needs. Here’s what the teams should look for come draft night.

Indiana Fever

The Fever have the No. 1 pick, and they also have the most holes to fill.

The team finished last season in last place in the league, with a 5-31 record, and parted ways with coach Marianne Stanley just nine games into the year.

Christie Sides was named the new head coach on Nov. 4. But a new coach doesn’t change the overall outlook of this team. Indiana did well in last season’s draft, picking up NaLyssa Smith, Emily Engslter, Destanni Henderson, Queen Egbo and Lexie Hull. In total, the Fever had seven rookies on their 12-player roster.

This team has solid young players, but what they need more than anything is experience. Right now, the best strategy for the Fever is to draft the best available player rather than trying to decide what gaps to fill, since there are so many. In the next couple of seasons, a clearer picture of their identity will emerge, but for now, they can’t afford to pass on the best player on the board.

Minnesota Lynx

There can’t be a discussion about what the Lynx need without talking about what they lost. After 15 seasons, two WNBA titles, two Finals MVPs and plenty of other accolades, Sylvia Fowles retired from the league at the end of the 2022 campaign.

The Lynx will be hard-pressed to replace her, and there isn’t a one-for-one replacement for a player as talented as Fowles. But the Lynx will need some kind of post presence, whether they get that in the draft or through free agency. The Lynx were an excellent rebounding team last year, but a lot of that was because of Fowles and her 9.8 boards per game.

Napheesa Collier will be back next season, so she will serve as the team’s centerpiece. But after that, they need a little bit of everything. Collier is an excellent playmaker that can benefit from having shooters around her, and the Lynx also need to step up their defense – Minnesota gave up 102.5 points per 100 possessions, ranking 10th in the league.

In other words, the Lynx have a lot of issues to work out besides simply finding someone to try and replace Fowles. Because of that, they should choose the best available player.

Atlanta Dream

The Dream had the top pick last season, and they were blessed with a draft class that had Rhyne Howard, the kind of player to build a franchise around. Howard led her team with 16.2 points per game, but overall, the Dream were 11th in the league in points scored and shooting percentage.

The Dream needs scorers, and more importantly, scorers that aren’t guards. Cheyenne Parker averaged 11.8 points per game at center, but after that, nearly all Atlanta’s production came from guards. The Dream need an inside presence to balance their attack and to provide an efficient option from close range.

Washington Mystics

Washington is the rare team up for the top pick that actually made the playoffs. The Mystics’ position in the lottery comes via a trade last offseason.

The Mystics, who went 22-14 and earned the No. 5 seed in the 2022 playoffs, are in a much different position than a team like the Fever. Washington already features Elena Delle Donne, Ariel Atkins, Natasha Cloud and last season’s No. 3 pick, Shakira Austin.

While the team likely wouldn’t want to pass on an elite talent like Boston if they were in position to take her, the Mystics should also be on the hunt for a shooter. They shot just 33.8% from 3-point range last season, a number that ranked 10th in the WNBA. Bonus points if they can get a shooter who can also defend, adding to the already lethal defensive combo of Cloud and Atkins.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.

Former Stanford leading-scorer Kiki Iriafen is set to join star rising sophomore JuJu Watkins at USC next year, reported ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. 

The 6-foot-3 forward is coming off a breakout season with the Cardinal, where the then-junior led Stanford to the Sweet 16 with an average of 19.4 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Walking away with the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player award and a spot on the All-Pac-12 team, Iriafen entered the portal at the close of last season and was subsequently ranked second on ESPN’s 2024-2025 transfer ranking list.

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At USC, Iriafen will play out her senior year alongside the Women's Basketball Coaches Association’s 2024 National Freshman of the Year JuJu Watkins, forming what could be an explosive partnership for the Trojans as they look to build momentum going into next season. The Southern California side advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994 this year, ultimately falling to UConn in a heated 80-73 battle.

Iriafen wasn’t the only one making choices this past week. LSU guard Hailey Van Lith officially announced her own transfer to TCU on Friday, while Princeton standout Kaitlyn Chen committed to UConn for her final year of college eligibility. Other big names still weighing their options are Oregon State's Talia Von Oelhoffen and Raegan Beers, as well as UNC's Deja Kelly.

With conference realignment on the horizon and team fit a contending factor, the NCAA women's basketball transfer portal has been busier than ever. And while transfers can bolster many types of college programs, this particular offseason has seen talent-rich programs growing even richer.

Legendary WNBA superstar Candace Parker announced her retirement from professional basketball on Sunday, effective immediately.

"I promised I'd never cheat the game & that I'd leave it in a better place than I came into it," she wrote in an Instagram post. "The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it's time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it."

The Las Vegas Aces forward was in the midst of rehabbing a right ankle injury and a left foot fracture after missing part of the 2023 season.

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One of women's basketball's most prominent trailblazers, Parker popularized the play of a "big guard." A back-to-back NCAA National Championship winner with Tennessee, she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2008. She was named both WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year in her debut season with the league. 

Parker exits the pros a three-time WNBA champion, a two-time league MVP, seven-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time NCAA champion, in addition to many more individual accolades. Throughout her 16-year career, she averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, and four assists per game. She remains the only player in WNBA history to earn three WNBA titles with three different teams: LA in 2016, Chicago in 2021, and Las Vegas in 2023. 

In her announcement, the 38-year-old implied the physical toll of league play was a driving factor in her ultimate decision to walk away from the game, despite recently signing a one-year deal with Las Vegas.

"This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating," she wrote. "It’s no fun playing in pain (10 surgeries in my career) it’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only…it’s no fun hearing 'she isn’t the same' when I know why, it’s no fun accepting the fact you need surgery AGAIN.

"I’m grateful that for 16 years I PLAYED A GAME for a living & DESPITE all the injuries, I hooped," she continued. "I’m grateful for family, friends, teammates, coaches, doctors, trainers & fans who made this journey so special."

Fans weren’t the only ones shocked by Parker’s surprise retirement. In a reaction captured on video, Liberty forward Breanna Stewart responded to the news with a jaw-dropped, eyebrow-raised "What? Wow." 

Yet while the Naperville, Illinois native’s time on the court might be over, Parker says she isn't leaving the world of basketball anytime soon.

"This is the beginning," she wrote. "I’m attacking business, private equity, ownership (I will own both a NBA & WNBA team), broadcasting, production, boardrooms, beach volleyball, dominoes (sorry babe it’s going to get more real) with the same intensity & focus I did basketball."