It is no secret that the WNBA draft is top heavy. Due to the staying power of many of the league’s stars, new spots are hard to find, and they are typically filled with highly-touted first round prospects.

With 12 teams and 12 roster spots apiece, there are just 144 spaces open. Between injuries and other transactions, that number can grow a bit in any given year. In 2019, for example, 157 different players saw the court.

Only the best of the college game and international prospects are able to last.

In 2019, eight third round draft picks played a total of 1,537 minutes, or 1.9% of all player minutes for the season. For comparison, 11 first overall picks played a total of 7,552 minutes. That figure does not include Angel McCoughtry, Breanna Stewart, or Sue Bird, all former first overall selections whose injuries kept them off the court (or Maya Moore, who skipped the season to focus on freeing a prisoner she believes was wrongfully convicted).

Even among second round picks, there were only 37 active players in 2019, for just 17.7% of the league’s total minutes. To say the least, in the WNBA, draft steals are few and far between.

To honor those who beat the odds, I’ve gone back over the past five draft classes to find the best hidden gem from each.

First, some ground rules. A “steal” was defined as a draft pick in the later two rounds who vastly exceeded outside expectations, or, where necessary, a first round pick who has done the same. Extra credit was awarded to contributions to championship-caliber teams.

2015: NATASHA CLOUD

Two All-Stars have come out of the 2015 draft class, the first overall pick Jewell Lloyd and fourth pick Elizabeth Williams. The steal of the draft, however, was Natasha Cloud, taken 15th overall by the Washington Mystics.

Before trading for Elena Delle Donne, the Mystics had historically built through the draft. The longest tenured player, Emma Meesseman, was the 19th pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft. In this, Cloud fits right in. The 5-foot-9 guard was the first player from St. Joseph’s to make a regular season lineup for a WNBA team since Susan Moran in 2002.

During the Mystics 2019 title run, Cloud averaged nine points, 5.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds as the starting point guard. Against New York on June 7, she poured in a career-best 26 points. In the playoffs, she turned it up and improved both her field goal shooting and 3-point shooting by five points to 44.2% and 37.8%, respectively. She also upped her scoring to 13.1 points per game and assists to 6.1 per game during the championship run. Consistently, her playoff numbers exceed those from the regular season.

Five seasons and 150 games later, Cloud’s 6.2 win shares are tied for fourth in her class. In 2019, she set the Mystics single-season assist record with 194. She was also awarded the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award.

2016: TEMI FAGBENLE

It is difficult to imagine a draft being more top heavy than Breanna Stewart as the first overall pick. That was the situation in 2016, when Stewart and then two other UConn teammates were picked one after another.

While no one drafted outside of the top 10 has played four seasons, Temi Fagbenle has put together three consecutive strong seasons. The eleventh pick of the third round by the Minnesota Lynx, Fagbenle decided to take a year off from basketball to finish up her master’s degree at USC after coming over as a graduate transfer from Harvard.

“Then and now, I knew it was the best decision for me,” she said while fighting for a spot at the Lynx preseason camp. “Basketball has a shelf life and I thought if I can finish my education right now, just take a year off and that’s just a short period of time in the grand scheme of things. I got it done and continued to play basketball and that was great. I’m able to do this now, so hopefully I can make the most out of this situation.”

So far, Fagbenle has. As a 24 year old rookie, she not only made the roster, but won a championship in her first season. In total, she has played in 69 regular season games, averaging 9.3 minutes, 3.1 points and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 51.1% from the field.

2017: BRITTNEY SYKES

The 2017 draft in New York City was a tough one. Just 11 players from the draft were active two years later in 2019. Only one player drafted after the first round made it to year three, Indiana Fever’s Erica McCall, selected 17th overall from Stanford. No one has become an All-Star.

Still, Brittney Sykes surprised a lot of people. Not even invited to the draft, many thought that she would be the second player taken from Syracuse after Alexis Peterson. Instead, the Atlanta Dream took Sykes seventh overall, making her the highest drafted player from Syracuse ever. Soon after, she was the Rookie of the Month in July.

At 11.3 points per game in her career, she has been the leading scorer in her class, even ahead of Kelsey Plum, the NCAA all-time leading scorer taken first overall. She also shares the WNBA record for most points in a quarter — 22 — with Diana Taurasi, who set the initial record in 2006. Russell scored 22 in the third quarter against Phoenix on July 7, 2019.

In the off-season, Sykes came over to the Los Angeles Sparks, where she has a shot at the starting small forward position according to head coach Derek Fisher. For her career, she has started in 57 of 97 regular season games, including the final 24 games of the 2019 season, as well as all five postseason games with Atlanta in 2018.

2018: MERCEDES RUSSELL

Mercedes Russell was the tenth pick of the second round by the New York Liberty, and the 22nd overall selection. In 2019, Russell’s 1.3 defensive win shares were 22nd in the entire league. The path there was a little less than linear.

In just two regular season games with the Liberty in 2018, Russell averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 16.2 minutes. Then she was cut and signed by the Seattle Storm. During the 2018 championship season, she was a relative afterthought, averaging 4.6 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds off the bench.

That changed in 2019, when the injury bug bit the Storm hard. Russell appeared in all 34 regular season games and started 30. In 25.6 minutes per contest, Russell contributed 7.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 51.7% from the field. Those numbers put Russell in the top 50 in the entire league in player efficiency rating.

On June 14, she notched her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Washington and then on July 3 scored a career-high 19 against New York. Seattle lasted just two games in the 2019 playoffs, but Russell started both and averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds shooting 76.9% from the field.

The 6-foot-6 center from Tennessee had her NCAA title aspirations cut short, but soon after became a WNBA champion. In a class with three All-Stars, Russell was the biggest steal.

2019: NATISHA HIEDEMAN

There has been just one season during which to evaluate the 2019 class, but early signs point to Natisha Hiedeman as the steal of the draft. The sixth pick of the second round by the Minnesota Lynx, Hiedeman became the first Marquette women’s basketball player to earn an in-season contract in the WNBA. But it wasn’t with the Lynx.

The Lynx had already secured Napheesa Collier from UConn, who won Rookie of the Year and was named an All-Star, and Notre Dame’s Jessica Shepard by the time Hiedeman was selected. So the Lynx traded Hiedeman’s draft rights to the Connecticut Sun. With nine returning players from 2018, and Bria Holmes returning from pregnancy, spots were limited. The Sun’s own draft picks, Kristine Anigwe at nine and Bridget Carleton at 21, made the roster ahead of Hiedeman, who was the team’s last cut.

From there, Hiedeman signed with the Atlanta Dream as a EuroBasket replacement for Alex Bentley. By the time Bentley returned, Hiedeman had yet to make an appearance, and was once again waived to make space. Without a team once again, the Sun called her back after Layshia Clarendon suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

“I’d just been back and forth, back and forth,” Hiedeman said. “But, being cut actually helped me a lot because it just helped me accept failure and want to work harder to get to where I want to be.”

Debuting in the second quarter of a game against the Dream, Hiedeman scored 10 points before halftime to re-introduce herself to her team.

FORRRR THREEE!

Hiedeman has 10 this quarter! pic.twitter.com/zvIR1Lw0bb

— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) July 10, 2019

On the season, Hiedeman appeared in 20 regular season games, collecting 3.7 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game for a team that reached the WNBA Finals. Her player efficiency rating was fourth-highest in her draft class and 45th-best in the league, and the 1.9 win shares per 48 minutes is sixth in the class. 45th-best PER.

In seven games in the WNBA Playoffs, Hiedeman shot a combined 60% from the field, 66.7% from beyond the arc and 100% from the line. Twice in the playoffs she scored eight points in nine minutes, first against Los Angeles in the semifinals and later in the fourth game of the WNBA Finals.

2020: ALMOST CERTAIN TO SURPRISE

Teams had to trim their rosters this week to get under the salary cap. That meant a lot of rookie players were cut without ever getting a chance to train in front of their coaches. Once again, the WNBA is proving to be one of the toughest professional leagues to crack.
Still, as the players above show, there’s always hidden gems. And while it might take a few years to determine who will be the steal of this year’s draft, don’t be surprised if it’s someone you never saw coming.

Two key upsets headlined Thursday's WNBA bill, sending the Phoenix Mercury soaring into third place in the league standings while the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries continued to outwit opponents.

The red-hot Mercury snagged their fourth straight win by taking down the No. 2 New York Liberty 89-81 on Thursday night, overcoming an 35-point performance from two-time MVP Breanna Stewart with five double-digit Phoenix scorers.

Meanwhile out West, the Valkyries stifled a surging No. 7 Fever, downing Indiana 88-77 in part by holding star guard Caitlin Clark to just 3-for-14 from the field — and 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

"We were being disruptive, we know that she doesn't like physicality, we know that she wants to get to that left step-back," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said about the Valkyries' strategy to effectively contain Clark.

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Though the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and 2024 WNBA champions New York still hold court atop the table, Thursday's actions proves that other squads are making some unexpected in-roads.

Putting together an impressive road record are the Mercury, who will ride a 4-2 away record into their Saturday matchup against the No. 11 Chicago Sky — the last stop on a four-game road trip that's been perfect for Phoenix thus far.

Already flipping the script on expectations is Golden State, with the 2025 expansion team rising despite relying on a hodgepodge roster as several players compete at EuroBasket 2025. The Valkyries will aim to keep their winning momentum in their Sunday clash with the No. 12 Connecticut Sun.

How to watch the Mercury, Valkyries this weekend

Both of Thursday's victors will be back in action this weekend, with Phoenix facing Chicago at 1 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ABC.

Then on Sunday, Golden State will host Connecticut at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

In another weekend full of WNBA action, all eyes are on Las Vegas, as the No. 8 Aces will try to curb a two-game losing streak against two formidable opponents.

A successful weekend for Las Vegas could hinge on three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's potential return from injury, with the star forward recently upgraded to "questionable" after landing in concussion protocol last week.

Overall, the margin for error has narrowed in the middle of the WNBA pack, as talented teams continue to translate quality performances into consistency.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Aces will try to end their free fall in Friday's head-to-head battle with a Seattle side that can beat anybody at their best.

• No. 7 Indiana Fever vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 3 PM ET (ESPN): Las Vegas next faces a Fever team still smarting from Thursday's away loss to the Golden State Valkyries, with both teams narrowly clinging to positions above the playoff line.

• No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, Sunday at 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Liberty have a comfortable hold on second place, but with two losses in their last three games, New York is flirting with danger entering their Sunday game with Seattle — particularly if star big Jonquel Jones is out after suffering a knock to the ankle on Thursday.

Ultimately, there's no rest for the weary in the WNBA, as a series of difficult matchups can see a single error quickly slide into a losing streak.

The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.

With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.

Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:

• No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.

• No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.

• No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.

The LPGA Tour has turned its attention to Texas, with the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the third major of the pro golf season — teeing off in Frisco to a flurry of first-round action on Thursday.

All of the sport's Top 100 athletes are participating in this week's event, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, who sits in a 14th-place tie with an even-par first-round performance, and surging US dark horse No. 50 Lexi Thompson, who tied for 10th in her Thursday return from a brief retirement.

However, leading the pack heading into Friday's second round is Thailand's world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who finished the first day of competition atop the leaderboard with a score of 4-under-par.

Australia's No. 24 Minjee Lee also posted a strong start, capping Thursday at 3-under to sit in second place.

While the sport's best chase victory on the links, the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is already making history off the green.

Not only is it the first-ever women's major to tee off at Frisco's Fields Ranch East, the tournament also increased its purse to $12 million on Tuesday — nearly tripling the $4.5 million prize pool from just four years ago and tying the US Women's Open for the LPGA Tour's highest payout in the process.

How to watch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The third LPGA Grand Slam of 2025 continues through Sunday.

Friday's second round will air live on the Golf Channel, while coverage of Saturday and Sunday's final rounds will air across NBC and Peacock.