Top Fantasy WNBA Sleepers for the 2025 Season
In most fantasy sports, leagues aren't won within the first few rounds of drafts. Rather, the mid-to-late round picks can separate contenders from teams who struggle. Fantasy WNBA leagues are no different, especially considering the proportion of the league that experiences roster turnover during the offseason. Plenty of prominent players leave teams during the offseason, leading to opportunities for others to step up and enter a new tier of fantasy potential.
As WNBA training camp gets underway, there are usually some stories about how rotations will look once the regular season gets underway. However, WNBA coaches and front offices can tend to be a bit more tight-lipped than their NBA counterparts, so there can be some surprise situations that occur once the regular season begins. Let's look at some of the top players in the middle-to-late rounds of drafts who could see increased opportunities and take another step this year.
Leonie Fiebich's Rising Fantasy Potential with the New York Liberty
Leonie Fiebich was the No. 22 overall pick by the Sparks in the 2020 WNBA Draft but elected to stay overseas for a few years before making her WNBA debut last year. Her rights were traded several times during her stint overseas, as she was traded from Los Angeles to Chicago before finally being rerouted to New York, where she spent the 2024 campaign. After a slow start to the regular season, the 25-year-old's production picked up later on, and she averaged 6.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game over 40 regular-season appearances (15 starts).
Fiebich's role significantly increased during the playoffs, as she served as a starter in every postseason matchup and averaged 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 31.0 minutes per game over 11 playoff appearances. She also played at least 30 minutes in each of the team's games in the WNBA Finals. Part of Fiebich's uptick in responsibility was due to a decrease in minutes for Courtney Vandersloot, who returned to the Sky during the offseason. New York replaced her with Natasha Cloud, who should be able to handle more work than Vandersloot this year. However, the Liberty have an opening for increased responsibilities this year, as Betnijah Laney-Hamilton will likely miss the entire season due to a knee injury. New York also has Marine Johannes, but Fiebich is a logical candidate to fill the void left by Laney-Hamilton. Fiebich is ranked No. 44 in RotoWire's fantasy WNBA rankings and is in the seventh tier of the tiered fantasy WNBA rankings, but she could rise even higher if she can maintain last year's postseason momentum in 2025.
Julie Vanloo's Opportunity with the Golden State Valkyries
This section could be categorized as "any player on the Valkyries with WNBA experience." The league's 13th franchise focused mainly on international prospects during the expansion draft, offseason activities and the rookie draft. These international players have some upside in their own right. Still, they can be tricky to project for fantasy purposes, especially if they choose to spend any time overseas during the season.
Julie Vanloo also has an international pedigree, but she made her WNBA debut with the Mystics at 31 years of age last season. She provided some fantasy value, averaging 7.4 points and 4.3 assists in 23.2 minutes per game. Those numbers could rise even higher in 2025. The Valkyries also acquired veteran Tiffany Hayes and youngster Kate Martin to join their backcourt during the offseason, but Vanloo could see even more playing time than she did in Washington, and she proved last season that she's capable of providing strong per-minute production.
Gabby Williams' Role in the Seattle Storm's 2025 Lineup
Gabby Williams missed the start of the 2024 campaign due to overseas obligations, but she rejoined the Storm in August following a strong showing for the French national team during the Paris Olympics. Williams started in all but one of her regular-season appearances with Seattle. She averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 29.0 minutes per game despite joining a roster that looked much different than the one she played with in 2023.
Williams was designated as a core player during the offseason, showing how much the organization values her and her contributions. The 28-year-old carries some risk after the Storm drafted Dominique Malonga with the second overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Still, Malonga has indicated that she could spend time overseas this year competing in EuroBasket. Even if Malonga is with the team for most of the season, Williams should have plenty of opportunities to contribute alongside Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor.
Kia Nurse's Comeback Season with the Chicago Sky
Kia Nurse qualifies as a late-round pick since she comes in at No. 72 in this year's rankings, but she handled a starting role in Chicago's preseason opener against the Brazilian national team Friday and has drawn praise from head coach Tyler Marsh during the offseason. Although the Sky revamped their backcourt during the offseason by acquiring Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins in addition to Nurse, it seems very possible that Nurse will win a starting role over Rebecca Allen. Chennedy Carter was productive last year but is no longer with the team, so Nurse could help to fill that void.
Nurse averaged double-digit points during her final two seasons with the Liberty in 2019 and 2020, but her production has declined over three seasons since then, which were spent with the Mercury, Storm and Sparks. She made 40 regular-season appearances (27 starts) with the Sparks last year and averaged 7.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game, which profiled her mainly as a streaming option. Most of her value may come as a streamer once again this year, but she has some upside heading into the season and at least seems to be worth a late-round pick in case she can bounce back with her new team.
Lexie Brown's Comeback Potential with the Seattle Storm
Lexie Brown's availability has been limited in recent seasons after she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, which is the main reason for her low placement in this year's rankings. She was limited to just 28 regular-season appearances (19 starts) with the Sparks over the last two seasons. Still, she averaged 10.3 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per game when on the court, which gave her decent fantasy value, at least as a late-round option.
Brown indicated at the start of training camp that she feels fully healthy and intends to play in every game this season. It's not yet clear whether she'll ultimately accomplish that goal once the grind of the regular season begins, but since her main drawback in her fantasy WNBA projections is her availability, she could at least be worth a late-round flier in fantasy drafts in case she can remain on the court for an extended period. It's unclear whether the 30-year-old will win a starting role over Erica Wheeler in Seattle, but Brown at least warrants some consideration at the end of fantasy drafts.
