The 2020 NWSL Draft is officially behind us, and given how hectic this offseason has been, it only seems fitting that the draft was equally dramatic. A last-minute flurry of trades radically re-ordered the first five picks just as the selections were getting underway. Many of the deals involved allocation money, immediately raising questions about the new rule. The biggest story of the day, however, was Mallory Pugh being traded from Washington to Sky Blue in a deal that could have a long-term impact on both franchises.

Below, we run through all the biggest NWSL headlines from draft day and beyond:

Portland snags the top two picks, sparking debate: Portland had already traded Emily Sonnett to Orlando ahead of the draft for the No. 1 pick, with which they were widely expected to select Stanford’s Sophia Smith. They did just that, and then shocked the league by trading $70,000 of allocation money and two later picks to the Chicago Red Stars for the No. 2 pick, which they subsequently used on Washington State’s Morgan Weaver. Weaver was a one-woman wrecking crew during Washington State’s magical run to last year’s College Cup, where Smith herself scored a hat trick in the semifinal. Portland now has two young offensive stars to anchor its apparent rebuild.

The trade between Portland and Chicago was one of many on draft day to involve allocation money, which was only introduced this past November. Intended to help teams pay certain players above the salary cap, the new spending mechanism is now already under fire, as coaches (including North Carolina’s Paul Riley) have said it will set a new precedent allowing teams to essentially buy first round draft picks. Expect this to be a hotly-debated issue moving forward.

Sky Blue trades for Mallory Pugh: In a deal no one saw coming, the 21-year-old USWNT forward was traded from Washington to Sky Blue for the 4th, 13th, and 17th overall picks in this year’s draft, as well as a first round pick in next year’s draft. Pugh skipped college to join the Spirit three years ago, but hasn’t quite lived up to, let alone surpassed, the hype that comes with being a teenage wunderkind, and just last week she was left off the USWNT’s Olympic roster. Still, she’s only 21, making this trade a potential franchise-changer for Sky Blue if Pugh can get back on track. A year ago Sky Blue couldn’t even convince their two draft picks to sign with the club. Now they have an A-list name to headline their roster as they move into Red Bull Arena next season, completing a stunning one-year turnaround.

Washington Spirit trade up for Ashley Sanchez: Sanchez, like Sophia Smith, left school early to enter the NWSL draft. Unlike Smith, it wasn’t obvious from the outset where Sanchez would go, and few could have predicted Washington, a franchise that initially had no first-round picks. That changed when they traded Mallory Pugh to Sky Blue, giving the Spirit the opportunity to immediately draft her potential replacement in Sanchez, another dribble-heavy offensive talent who starred for the USWNT at the youth level before being called into the senior team as a teenager. With the additions of Sanchez and Averie Collins (Washington’s second-round pick) to a squad that already includes Rose Lavalle, Jordan DiBiasi, Tegan McGrady, and Andi Sullivan — all of whom are under 25 —  it’s clear the Spirit now have a young core to build around.

Chicago Red Stars rake in players, money, and future picks: After falling in last season’s championship game and watching Sam Kerr decamp to Chelsea, the Red Stars managed to turn four first round picks in this years draft into Rachel Hill, a reported $85,000 in allocation money, five picks in this draft, and a first round pick in next year’s draft. The Red Stars now have four first round picks in next year’s draft, and while neither Hill nor any of the five players selected this year may turn out to be franchise stars, they’re all valuable assets that can be bundled in a variety of ways moving forward as Chicago looks to rebuild on the fly.

Reign FC announce new, controversial head coach: Former OL and PSG head coach Farid Benstiti has officially been named the new head coach of Reign FC. Benstiti won four league titles and three cups during his time in France and has a long track record of developing world-class players. He’s also the coach who told Lindsey Horan she wouldn’t be allowed off the bench until she lost weight. Horan went on to make an entire commercial based on the slight, and though she’s since said that Benstiti’s tough love made her a better player, there’s no doubt this hire — the first to be made by new ownership group OL Groupe — could come under serious fire if Benstiti isn’t able to establish good relationships out of the gates.

Below is every pick from the 2020 draft:

Round 1:

1. Portland — Sophia Smith, Stanford

2. Portland — Morgan Weaver, Washington State

3. Orlando — Taylor Kornieck, Colorado

4. Washington — Ashley Sanchez, UCLA

5. Sky Blue — Evelyne Viens, USF

6. North Carolina — Alleandra Watt, Texas A&M

7. Orlando — Courtney Peterson, Virginia

8. Utah — Tziarra King, North Carolina State University

9. Reign FC — Kelcie Hedge, Santa Clara

Round 2:

1. Orlando — Konya Plummer, UCF

2. Sky Blue — Kaleigh Riehl, Penn State

3. Utah — Kate Del Fava, Illinois State

4. Washington — Natalie Jacobs, USC

5. Orlando — Phoebe McClernon, UVA

6. Chicago — Julia Bingham, USC

7. Chicago — Camryn Biegalski, UW

8. Washington — Averie Collins, Washington State

9. Houston — Bridgette Andrzejewski, UNC

Round 3:

1. Chicago — Zoe Morse, UVA

2. Sky Blue — Amanda McGlynn, Virginia Tech

3. Orlando — Cheyenne Shorts, Denver

4. Houston — Chloe Castaneda, UCLA

5. Washington — Katie McClure, Kansas

6. Chicago — Ella Stevens, Duke

7. Portland — Meaghan Nally, Georgeton

8. Orlando — Abi Kim, Cal

9. North Carolina — Sinclaire Miramontez, Nebraska

Round 4:

1. North Carolina — Addisyn Merrick, Kansas

2. Sky Blue — Chantelle Swaby, Rutgers

3. Orlando — Chelsee Washington, Bowling Green

4. Utah — Cyera Hintzen, Texas

5. Washington — Kaiya McCullough, UCLA

6. Reign FC — Sam Hiatt, Stanford

7. Reign FC — Meg Brandt, Nebraska

8. Chicago — Aerial Chavarin, Yale

9. North Carolina — Brianne Folds, Auburn

Vibes were high and defense was optional at the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday, when Team Collier shattered records as they routed Team Clark 151-131.

Captain and game MVP Napheesa Collier set a new single-game WNBA All-Star record by notching 36 points, surpassing the 34-point mark posted by Arike Ogunbowale last year, while teammate Skylar Diggins claimed the first-ever triple-double in All-Star history.

Even more, the 151 points put up by the Minnesota forward's team are the most in All-Star Game history, knocking down the 143 points from Breanna Stewart's 2023 squad to second on the all-time list.

Players made use of the game's special four-point shots, with Collier hitting four of five attempts while her team went 12-for-28 from well-beyond the arc.

"I'm just all four-point shots, four-point shots. More, more, more," honorary coach — and injured All-Star captain — Caitlin Clark said at halftime.

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All-Stars make a statement amid CBA negotiations

While the game itself proved more congenial than competitive, the players didn't mess around about the current CBA negotiations between the WNBPA and the WNBA.

All participating All-Stars took the court wearing T-shirts showcasing the slogan "Pay Us What You Owe Us," visually responding to the weekend's two meetings between the union and the league.

"The players are taking this seriously," Collier said of the collective action. "We're standing really firm in certain areas that we feel really strong that we need to improve on."

"The players are what is building this brand and this league. There is no league without the players," Collier added. "We're the ones that have put in the blood, sweat, and tears for this new money that's coming in, and we feel like we're owed a piece of that pie that we helped to create."

Ultimately, though All-Star Weekend is all fun and games, players will keep placing the behind-the-scenes issues in the spotlight until the parties agree on a new CBA.

Liberty fans enjoyed their fill at the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend, as teammates Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud executed a New York sweep of Friday's 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge titles.

Cloud took home the Skills Challenge trophy with a winning time of 36.4 seconds — just 1.1 seconds faster than second-place finisher Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm.

Ionescu then nabbed her second career 3-Point Contest title with a final-round score of 30, tying retired Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley for the second-best single-round record in the event's history. Ionescu's 37 points to win the 2023 edition still stands as the event's all-time mark.

"It's fun — I was so excited for [Cloud]," Ionescu said after her win. "We were talking about it before we even came out here, about being able to participate in it together and cheer each other on."

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The hefty prize pool raised the stakes for both players, with a heightened $55,000 going to the Skills Challenge winner while the 3-Point Contest champ picked up $60,000.

Cloud credited her motivation to securing a property down payment with Liberty teammate and partner Isabelle Harrison, saying "You're gonna get that house."

As for Ionescu, her winner's check will be fulfilling a pre-competition promise she made to rookie contender Sonia Citron, who will receive half of Ionescu's earnings while the other half goes to charity.

"That takes a lot of courage to be able to do that [3-Point Contest] as a rookie...I was really proud of her," said Ionescu after the competiton. "The other half will go to my foundation to continue to be able to give back in communities that mean a lot to me."

The UEFA Women's Euro 2025 locked in the semifinals over the weekend, with world No. 2 Spain, No. 3 Germany, No. 5 England, and No. 13 Italy all advancing past fierce quarterfinals to secure a spot in the tournament's final four.

The only quarterfinal decided by more than one goal was Spain's 2-0 Friday victory over No. 23 Switzerland, while Italy's 2-1 thriller against No. 16 Norway narrowly avoided extra time last week.

Both England's Thursday battle with No. 6 Sweden and Germany's Saturday clash with No. 10 France needed seven rounds of penalties to determine a winner, with the prevailing nations mounting steep comebacks to punch their semifinal tickets.

"I really had a sense throughout the game, even when we were down, that it wasn't our time to go," England defender Esme Morgan said of her team's poise after falling behind 2-0 early in the match.

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Penalty kicks have remained a hot topic throughout this year's tournament, with players converting just 24 of 41 attempts across the competition so far — a well below-average rate of 58.5%.

With a combined nine missed penalties on Thursday, England and Sweden's 36% conversion marked the worst rate in Women's Euro history.

Also making unflattering tournament history this weekend was Germany, who became the first Women's Euro team on record to register a comeback win after seeing a player sent off, following defender Kathrin Hendrich's 13th-minute straight red card offense.

How to watch the 2025 Euro semifinals

The 2025 Euro semifinals begin with England facing Italy on Tuesday before Germany takes on Spain on Wednesday.

Both matches kick off at 3 PM ET on their respective days, with live coverage on Fox.

Upstart 3×3 league Unrivaled Basketball stole some of the WNBA's thunder over the 2025 All-Star weekend, with the offseason venture announcing Saturday the signing of 13 NCAA stars to new NIL deals.

Headlining the group is USC guard and 2025 National Player of the Year JuJu Watkins, with the Trojan junior joined by Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU), Ta'Niya Latson (South Carolina), Syla Swords (Michigan), Audi Crooks (Iowa State), Madison Booker (Texas), and Olivia Miles (TCU).

Rounding out the new signees are a pair of reigning national champions in UConn guard Azzi Fudd and forward Sarah Strong — the 2025 National Freshman of the Year — as well as a trio of UCLA Bruins: guard Kiki Rice, center Lauren Betts, and forward Sienna Betts.

The younger Betts sister, Sienna, is notably the only incoming freshman inked by Unrivaled.

Bringing the 3×3 league's current college class to a total of 14 players is LSU guard Flau'Jae Johnson.

Unlike the 13 other players, Johnson's NIL deal is a renewal, with Unrivaled extending their partnership with their second-ever college signee.

Last season, Unrivaled inked just two NIL deals with NCAA stars, partnering with Johnson after signing former UConn guard and current Dallas Wings rookie All-Star Paige Bueckers.

While Bueckers and Johnson both secured equity in the league last year, this year's deals — with Johnson as well as the 13 other NCAA players — do not include that benefit, though Watkins holds an additional unique position as one of Unrivaled's initial investors.

Despite the NIL partnerships, Unrivaled does not guarantee any future roster spots to the 14 athletes.

While the league is targeting a two-team expansion for the league's 2027 season, Unrivaled plans to keep their core roster number at 36 next year, though injury replacement players are again on the table.