Undrafted rookies like Sydney Taylor and Pauline Astier are changing the WNBA

The WNBA has traditionally had an issue with rookies, which is that because of the limited number of roster spots, players drafted outside of the first round have struggled to even make rosters. But with expansion around the league as well as advances in international scouting, we're not just seeing players from the second and third round play well in 2026; we're seeing undrafted players perform well in a way they haven't before.

Four of the 10 highest-scoring rookies this season — Sydney Taylor, Jovana Nogic, Pauline Astier and Laura Juskaite — are undrafted, though none went undrafted in this particular draft. You might read that fact and think "huh?," but it's an interesting wrinkle in the WNBA.

Expansion is creating more opportunities for a type of undrafted player

Of those four aforementioned players, none went undrafted from the 2026 WNBA Draft. This isn't like the NFL, where UDFAs can often use the extended training camp and preseason time in that league to impress coaches and earn a roster spot. There's very little time between the end of the college season and the start of the WNBA season, so you have two things that are both hurting undrafted rookies: 1) limited time to adjust to the change in competition level and 2) limited to show you're better than the players that the team just drafted.

But unlike other major American sports, the WNBA exists in a kind of symbiotic relationship with international leagues. The WNBA season happens at a different time than international leagues do, so for years, players played in both. I don't need to lay out the entire history of this situation — prioritization, Unrivaled, etc., etc., — but I will say that because of this, international leagues exist as a kind of extended chance to look at prospects against stronger competition than they face in college, as these international leagues draw a lot of WNBA talent.

And so when you add expansion into things and have more roster spots to fill, teams have a choice: use that additional space on a college player you took in the late rounds or signed post-draft, or sign a player who has experience playing overseas and who, then, might be more pro-ready.

With the league up to 15 teams this year and with the addition of the developmental player slots, we're seeing a change in how rosters are built. An extended player pool has teams looking to sign players in Europe rather than signing the same handful of players who seem to go through training camp every year.

Another thing at play here: all international players (i.e., players who didn't go through the college basketball system) are eligible to enter the draft at Age 20, which is younger than when college players are. Because of this, younger players can slip through the cracks and go undrafted, but a few years later could be playing at a level that makes a WNBA team take notice.

Top undrafted rookies in 2026

Pauline Astier is an example of this. She wasn't a WNBA-level talent during her draft year, but her continued improvements in Europe led to her drawing interest. Now, the Liberty were able to sign a very good player who is in her prime, and that allowed her to quickly ascend into the Liberty starting lineup, giving the team a key player who was almost instantly able to bypass the glut of wings on this Liberty roster.

Now, she's a starter on a playoff team who is shooting 53.9 percent from the field. She's provided the team with some off-ball creation and solid perimeter defense, and the Liberty have a plus-3.1 net rating with Astier on the floor.

There's also another kind of undrafted rookie: college players who have spent time overseas, using that time as a springboard back to the premier American league. Chicago's Sydney Taylor — the second-leading scorer among rookies — fits that mold.

Undrafted out of Louisville in 2024, Taylor went overseas for two seasons, where she was able to showcase her skills, which paid off: Taylor not only signed with the Chicago Sky this season, but also will now be playing internationally at Galatasaray, one of the top teams in the EuroLeague.

So yeah — this feels like the year of the undrafted rookie, but not necessarily in the way a casual fan might think of that idea. Expansion has just allowed something that was already happening to happen on an even larger scale, as there's now more room for these players who've developed overseas to come to the league and get a real shot to play.

More WNBA news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow