Basketball is an international game. Sometimes, it doesn't seem like the women's game has caught up to that fact as much as the men's game has, but it's coming. One of the top prospects in this upcoming draft class is from France.
But that player — Dominique Malonga — isn't the only international player whose name will be called on Monday night. There are some other enticing prospects from across Europe.
Here are the top four international prospects in the WNBA Draft.
1. Dominique Malonga - C - France
There's no question who the top international prospect in this class is.
Dominique Malonga is the only player in this class — international or not — who has the upside to be better than a healthy Paige Bueckers. She's that good. Really.
Malonga has been dominating in the French league, one of the most competitive in the world. She's the most athletically gifted player in the 2025 draft class, a big capable of running the floor and impacting the game in every possible way. She can get up vertically and attack the rim. She can step back and fire away from beyond the arc.
Malonga still needs to get stronger, but she's also only 19 years old. International players become draft eligible at much younger ages than college players, so Malonga likely has to develop a little more before she's able to be a dominant player in the WNBA. Still, she's a great consolation prize for either Seattle or Washington after missing out on Olivia Miles, who chose to return to college instead of declaring for the draft.
2. Justė Jocytė - G - Lithuania
If you've been around women's basketball for awhile, you've heard the name Justė Jocytė. The Lithuanian guard has been a pro since 2019, when she debuted in the Lithuanian Women's Basketball League. Despite starting her professional career before the pandemic, Jocytė is only 19 years old. When she signed in France later that year, she had just turned 14, becoming the youngest player ever in the French league.
She's still there, in France, playing for Lyon ASVEL where she is teammates with Malonga.
Spending so many years playing professional basketball already makes Jocytė a seasoned pro despite being a teenager. She understands how to run an offense.
The issues, mainly, are that she lacks the high-end speed you want from an on-ball guard. Can she adapt to playing more off the ball at this level? Can she land somewhere that can hide her defensive issues?
3. Ajsa Sivka - F - Slovenia
Some people don't see a huge gap between Ajsa Sivka and Justė Jocytė. Personally, I do, but that isn't to say Sivka isn't a very good prospect who deserves to be drafted in the late first round,
Sivka won't be a star in the WNBA, but she can be a very effective role player, combining her size with a long-range shooting abilty that should translate. She's also got some playmaking skill thanks to her passing ability, though she won't be a primary or secondary ball-handler at this level.
I think there's concern that she's a bit of a tweener, someone who isn't strong enough to play down in the post consistently or fast enough to have an on-ball role — offensively and defensively. That's fair, but Sivka has enough skill to give her a shot of making it in the W.
4. Anastasiia Olairi Kosu - F - Russia
I admittedly don't know a ton about Anastasiia Olairi Kosu. She plays for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a team that was previously a superteam before WNBA players stopped going to Russia.
So, what do you do when you don't know much about a player? You put their name into YouTube and you see what comes up.
What I see there is an incredible athlete capable of doing almost whatever she wants on the court. She can outrun defenses on the break. She can back down her defenders and get to her spot. She can't really shoot that well unless she's wide open, but she makes up for it by crashing the glass and by her defensive contribution, as she has the athleticism and strength to guard any position. She can come in from nowhere to alter the trajectory of a driving player.
But here's the issue: she did that against weak competition. This is not the Russian Premier League from pre-Ukraine invasion, and we don't get to see her play against elite competition in EuroLeague Women, so it's really a big mystery as far as how she'll adapt to the WNBA.
And that's if she even comes over. Just looking at the political climate, there's no guarantee any international player comes over, but there's especially going to be concerns about whether a Russian player heads to the WNBA considering, well ... everything there is to consider.