The Shed at Hudson Yards is all glitz. The cameras roll. The rookies beam — Paige Bueckers among them, poised and polished. And somewhere in the crowd, the price tag hits you — not just the $100 ticket, but the cost of a system still playing catch-up. The WNBA Draft has finally found its spotlight, but behind the scenes, its engine is sputtering.

For Zena Keita, former Warriors executive and now co-host of The Athletic’s podcast, the disconnect couldn’t be more glaring.

“If you follow both the WNBA and the NBA,” she began, drawing on her experience as the Warriors’ Manager of Development from 2018 to 2021, “you know how exhaustive the NBA’s draft process is.” She outlined the NBA’s months-long lead-up—filled with interviews, psychological evaluations, and deep scouting—before turning the mic to her co-host for thoughts on how the W handles its draft.

What journalist Ben Pickman laid out was jarring. “The process for someone like Paige Bueckers or Sania Feagin in this year’s class, or Te-Hina Paopao— players who played in Sunday’s National Championship and then are entering and part of the draft this upcoming Monday. For all other players, it’s once their college season ends… that’s when teams can begin those first hand conversations with prospective draftees.”

So, while Paige, Saniya, and Te-Hina had only about 7 days to get ready for the draft, others like Sonia Citron had a bit more breathing room—17 days after her team’s Sweet 16 exit to TCU on March 28. Kiki Irifinanen, whose team made it to the Elite Eight before falling to UConn, had 14 days. 

The timeline? Brutally short. The margin for meaningful evaluation? Nonexistent. “But you’re right,” Pickman continued, “it’s a much abridged process from the NBA… you think about the NFL — that season ends in what? November, December, January — and that draft isn’t until the end of April. Like, you basically have four months of just mock drafts and rumors and all that kind of stuff. You don’t get any of that in the WNBA because, again, this process is so abridged.”

Imagine trying to figure out if Paige Bueckers’ slick passing will hold up against WNBA pros, or if Sania Feagin’s height gives her an edge in the paint, all in a week. The NBA runs camps and drills to test that stuff—think guys sweating it out at the Combine, getting measured every which way. The W? Teams are lucky to snag a quick workout, piecing it together from college games and gut instinct. That’s a big gap when you’re betting on a player’s future.

Last year, the NCAA women’s basketball season wrapped on April 7, 2024, with South Carolina defeating Iowa to claim the national title. Just eight days later, on April 15, the WNBA held its draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music — a lightning-fast turnaround that left little time for players or teams to prepare. And exactly a month after that, on May 14, the WNBA season tipped off.

That’s a total of just 37 days from the end of college play to the start of professional competition — a brutally tight window with no combine, no extended scouting period, and barely enough time for players to declare, train, or even rest.

In stark contrast, the men’s side follows a much longer arc: the NCAA men’s championship game took place on April 8, but the NBA Draft won’t happen until June 26–27, followed by Summer League in early July, and the regular season doesn’t begin until October 22 — giving rookies nearly half a year to transition.

Bueckers Glows, Draft Groans: Glam on Stage, Chaos Below in WNBA’s Scrambled System

The tight schedule has often created headaches for teams trying to make data-backed decisions. Players can opt in or out of the draft right up to the last minute — and many do. 

Take Azzi Fudd, for example. Or don’t — because she chose to return to UConn, that too in late March 2-3 weeks before the draft night. Lauren Betts? She’s staying at UCLA to play alongside her younger sister. And then there’s Olivia Miles, who had scouts locking her into the No. 2 spot — until she pulled a U-turn and hit the transfer portal, eventually landing at TCU.

“You scout a player all year long, and then—bam—they decide to stay in school,” said journalist Ben Pickman, highlighting the ripple effects of the extended COVID eligibility rule. “It’s been chaos the last few years.”

It’s a pattern that’s been brewing. Even Caitlin Clark held the league in suspense last season before finally declaring. Her decision didn’t just make headlines — it hijacked national conversation.

All of this unpredictability forces teams to either burn hours preparing for prospects who won’t declare or gamble on projections that can flip overnight. It’s a logistical nightmare in a league trying to scale its professionalism and polish.

Still, the WNBA’s ambitions are glossier than ever. This year’s draft at The Shed in NYC is a high-fashion affair — live ESPN coverage, sold-out fan events, and a record-breaking season to set the stage. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called it “a memorable way to welcome the next generation.”

But behind the velvet curtain, cracks are forming. Until the W builds a stronger, more stable draft infrastructure — one that embraces transparency, eligibility clarity, and a longer evaluation runway — all that dazzle risks being undermined by the chaos beneath.

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