{"id":106373,"date":"2026-01-22T12:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=106373"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:59:14","slug":"wnba-rookie-class-looks-ahead-to-2026-debuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wnba-rookie-class-looks-ahead-to-2026-debuts\/106373\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA rookie class looks ahead to 2026 debuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex flex-col text-sm pb-25\">\n<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&:has([data-writing-block])>*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:80212e28-c322-487a-9267-01e99aaf8551-20\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-18\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"6f290cd4-fffb-43cf-bb8a-f44efb733682\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-mini\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word dark markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"48\" data-end=\"202\">The WNBA has released its schedule for the 2026 regular season. The incoming rookie class now knows when they could play their first professional games.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"204\" data-end=\"453\">The 2026 WNBA Draft is considered very strong. Top prospects include Lauren Betts, Awa Fam, Azzi Fudd, and Olivia Miles. The Dallas Wings have the number one pick again. They get to choose who will join their star Paige Bueckers for years to come.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"455\" data-end=\"714\">Many believe there might be a clear favorite. Azzi Fudd, who played with Bueckers at UConn, is having a historic senior season. She is shooting over 49 percent from the floor and nearly 46 percent from three-point range. Her defense has also improved a lot.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"716\" data-end=\"1016\">Fudd has the lowest personal foul rate of any WNBA draft prospect since 2011 who had at least a 2 percent steal rate and a 1 percent block rate. She also turns the ball over very little. Her 9.1 percent turnover rate is the second-lowest of any high-volume three-point shooter in the past 15 years.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1018\" data-end=\"1344\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Experts say Fudd\u2019s game is nearly mistake-free. Her strong shooting and disciplined defense make her a perfect fit alongside Bueckers. Reuniting the two players in Dallas seems more possible now as Fudd continues to add new skills to her game. Meanwhile, her undefeated Huskies are chasing a second straight NCAA championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The WNBA has released its schedule for the 2026 regular season. The incoming rookie class now knows when they could\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":106374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[14195],"class_list":["post-106373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","tag-wnba"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}