All-American guard Olivia Miles is one of the newest members of the Lynx, who picked her second overall Monday night in the WNBA Draft.
"You know, just an incredible feeling," said Miles after being selected by Minnesota. "It's hard to describe in words. I really don't know what's going on right now, to be honest. I need to take a deep breath and really actually reflect on it, but just very grateful, like I said, for Minnesota taking that chance."
Miles played college basketball at Texas Christian University after playing for four years at Notre Dame. She was considered the top guard available in the draft. Miles decided to stay in college last season instead of enter the WNBA draft. She transferred from Notre Dame to the Horned Frogs. She helped the team reach the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year.
“Deep breath that’s why I got emotional,” Miles said of finishing her journey. “It’s finally here, finally heard my name. This is what this was for.”
Miles talked about what she brings to the team, and how she loves to get out and run thanks to her innate ability to defensive rebound, unusual for a point guard. She averaged over 7 rebounds a game for the Horned Frogs.
"I thrive in a high pace, high tempo offense, and that starts with a rebound and getting a stop," says Miles, who had the third most triple-double games in NCAA history. "So yeah, I just, I try to be aggressive on the glass because I know when the ball's in my hands and I'm in a flow, it's hard to stop."
If Miles has a weakness, it's on the defensive end, which Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve was quick to point out to her during their first conversation post-draft.
"Bring your defense y'all, bring your defense," Reeve told Miles who responded, "I'll pack it in my bag."
Reeve also told the media that despite having one of the best point guards in the league in Courtney Williams, Miles brings more of a traditional point guard role to the team. Williams is a score-first type of player, while Miles brings the team incredible passing ability, a ball-sharing attitude and the ability to set teammates up with easy shots.
Later Monday, the Lynx selected Utah guard Lani White with the 39th overall pick, in the third round. White is a 6-foot guard, who averaged a team-high 15.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in her senior year, shooting 40.4% from 3-point range. A proven scorer in college, White could give the team some pop off the bench.
They rounded out their training camp roster by signing six free agents. But the Lynx also lost a number of free agents off of last year's team, as the new league Collective Bargaining Agreement went into effect, drastically increasing salaries and allowing players to seek bigger free agent deals elsewhere.
Gone off of last year's squad are Bridget Carlton, Alanna Smith who was co-defensive player of the year, backup center Jessica Shepard, bench sparkplug Natisha Hiedeman, and DiJonai Carrington, who the Lynx traded for midseason.
Also still unknown is the status of star forward Napheesa Collier. She's recovering from ankle surgery in the offseason, something that kept her from playing in Unrivaled, the three-on-three league she co-founded with New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
The Lynx did keep their starting guards, Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride, in addition to adding Miles and White along with free agents Natasha Howard and Nia Coffey.
The Lynx begin their 2026 WNBA regular season at home against Atlanta on May 10.
Dallas reunites Fudd and Bueckers with first overall pick
Azzi Fudd is on her way to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting for the former UConn star. A record-setting six UCLA players followed her into the league.
Fudd will pair again with former Huskies teammate and Hopkins, Minnesota-native Paige Bueckers, who was the Wings’ top pick last year. Bueckers — who along with Fudd gave UConn a record seven No. 1 selections — was in attendance at the draft along with Fudd’s Huskies teammates.
“Paige is an incredible player, everyone knows that,” Fudd said. “She’s someone that makes playing basketball with easy.”UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez went in the top five, a little over a week after leading the Bruins to their first NCAA championship.
Their teammate, Kiki Rice, went sixth to Toronto, the first pick for the expansion franchise. The Tempo chose to have the higher pick in the college draft after winning a coin toss, giving the Portland Fire the top choice in the expansion draft earlier this month.
UCLA broke UConn’s record of having four players drafted in the first round, a mark the Huskies set in 2002, when Angela Dugalic went ninth to Washington, teaming her again with Betts. And, Giannna Kneepkens was chosen by Connecticut with the last pick of the opening round.
The Bruins later broke the mark for the most players drafted from one team when Charlisse Leger-Walker was selected by Connecticut with the third pick in the second round. Tennessee (1997, 2008), Notre Dame (2019) and South Carolina (2023) held the previous record with five players taken.
The new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last month gave huge pay raises to rookies. Fudd will make nearly seven-times what Bueckers earned last season as the top choice. The No. 2 and No. 3 picks will get $466,913 and $436,016, respectively.
Second- and third-round picks will make $270,000 — which is more than the previous maximum salary in the old CBA.
