NFL
During an incredibly humorous scene in the classic A Christmas Story, Ralphie daydreams of receiving an unusually strong grade from his teacher. Alas, not every paper or player can receive an A+++. As for the eight most impactful women drafted in the 2024 WNBA draft? Choices made by them, their teams, and even average Jo’s in everyday American society continue to create positive and, sometimes, severe impacts. Which teams aced their theme paper tests? And which will, like Ralphie, have theirs returned with an average mark?
1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
Clark’s sensational college career changed women’s basketball from an entertaining sideshow to the main draw, even for non-sports media. After Indiana made the obvious choice with the top pick, Clark’s rating bonanza continued. Road teams sometimes arranged for larger venues to capitalize on increased curiosity.
After a quick playoff out in 2024, the Fever brought excellent coach Stephanie White out of a sabbatical to aid Clark’s development and serve as a mentor. Unfortunately, Clark missed the 2025 playoffs and several recent games this season with injuries. Worse, internet infidels barrage Clark and her teammates with a torrent of abuse. Also, White and Clark allege unequal treatment by the league and its officials regarding physical play from Indiana’s opponents.
Clark has brought many positive headlines to the league, both in print and online. Through little, if any, fault of hers, life is also more complicated in the W.
Team grade: A+
Clark’s grade: A
2. LA Sparks: Cameron Brink
Brink, the last guardsperson on Tara Vandeveer’s Stanford dynasty, seemed a lights-out layup selection by the Sparks. Although her fame was not quite that of Clark’s, she still served as a strong second on a presumed rookie trifecta: Clark, Brink, and Angel Reese (more on Reese in a moment).
Unfortunately, a torn ACL scrapped most of her rookie season. Further, an ankle sprain she suffered this June takes LA further away from its championship aspirations.
Injuries are rarely, and certainly not in this instance, a player’s moral culpability. The misfortune remains and is amplified when it occurs on a struggling franchise.
Team Grade: B+
Brink’s grade: Incomplete
3. Chicago Sky: Kamilla Cardoso
Sky fans were not quite waving the Sky Guy’s flag in excitement over Cardoso. Granted her continued success, however, those same fans may want Ralphie’s eraser to blot yesterday’s question marks.
Cardoso played a vital role during South Carolina’s dynasty, which ran concurrently with Clark’s success. It was Cardoso, after all, who won the 2024 national championship. She continues to play at a sterling level; however, she does so for a franchise with too much red ink on its blueprints.
Team grade: B+
Cardoso’s grade: A-
4. LA Sparks: Rickea Jackson
Jackson excelled at Tennessee, a program with a declining yet still powerful brand. LA made what seemed to be a future-oriented choice. However, Jackson performed quite well in Hollywood, averaging about 30 productive minutes a game in her two Sparks seasons.
Surprisingly, this offseason, LA traded Jackson straight-up to Chicago for veteran Ariel Atkins. After just four games with the Sky, Jackson suffered a torn ACL, costing her the rest of 2026. Atkins, meanwhile, plays reasonably well in LA (with about eight points a game). The ultimate return for a top-four pick proved modest. A retooling franchise probably needed more.
Team grade (factoring in trade return): B-
Jackson’s grade: Incomplete
5. Dallas Wings: Jacy Sheldon
Sheldon excelled at Ohio State. A long-befuddling Wings franchise, before their more recent draftings of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, turned through talent and draft picks too quickly.
After Sheldon played a sole, underwhelming season with the Wings, Dallas traded her for a basketball rack’s worth of average assets. After another season, this one with Connecticut and Washington, Sheldon discovered a better role as a helpful reserve in Chicago.
Dallas has plenty of star power now. It was only through previous mismanagement, however, that Dallas earned their current clout. And the Sheldon trade specifically did not help Dallas earn the draft stock it needed.
Team grade (factoring in trade return): C-
Sheldon’s grade: B
6. Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards
Washington, still seeking a new era of success post-Elena Delle Donne, made a safe pick in Edwards. Edwards’ ceiling is certainly not that of the retired Delle Donne, yet the UConn star seemed to promise astute leadership for another indecisive franchise.
Washington, unfortunately, experienced two decisively unproductive seasons before trading Edwards to the now-fading Connecticut Sun. The Mystics received Sheldon in the trade, then swapped Sheldon to Chicago for a 2028 pick. That pick could be a strong one, granted Chicago’s continued struggles.
Team’s grade (factoring in trades): incomplete
Edwards’ grade (granted Sun’s uncertain future): incomplete
7. Chicago Sky: Angel Reese
Reese, who gained fame through her national championship run at LSU, brought large smiles and concession lines to Chicago. The Sky finally secured a franchise player who helped the franchise in the balance books and on the court.
Until it didn’t. 2025 was not quite as successful on or off the hardwood for Chicago. Shockingly, the Sky traded Reese to Atlanta this offseason for two draft picks. It makes sense for a franchise without current success to move a talented player for draft capital. When a team makes similar moves too frequently, however, fans may feel frustrated or even disillusioned.
Team’s grade (factoring in trade return): C
Reese’s grade: A-
8. Minnesota Lynx: Alissa Pili
Minnesota originally held the seventh pick in 2024, but traded down with Chicago. More important than the modest return that the Lynx received was the Lynx’s quiet resignation from the draft’s race for Reese.
Pili made only a small impact in Minnesota. After two quiet seasons, Minnesota announced its release of Pili in a shockingly terse message.
The top seven 2024 players leaped taller than the rest of their class. Clark’s, Brink’s, and Reese’s rising tide will especially lift future drafts. The main mistake Minnesota made here was not the selection of Pili specifically, but rather failing to move more aggressively in such a formative year for the WNBA’s future.
Minnesota is in an excellent position this season and, for the better part of 20 years, has been the most well-organized and beloved major-league women’s sports franchise. Did they win the draft just by doing nothing?
Team’s grade: D. But an A+ for the larger course
Pili grade: A. Maximized her talent in an unfavorable situation.
Teacher’s Verdict
Judging by the past three years’ WNBA stories, detailing cybercriminals and allegedly aggressive play, the uninitiated would think that arenas are burning.
Not so! With six new franchises just this decade and a better home for the Sun in Houston, the league has never been better financially or in terms of its athletic entertainment. Issues facing the WNBA are, yes, especially acute this season. If the bravery and poise exhibited by the 2024 draftees are indicators, however, the league’s momentum will continue.
Through 30 years of joys, frustrations, and labor triumphs, the WNBA has the tools needed to continue to wrestle with its critics and enemies. 2024’s legacy demonstrates that some teams will lose, more will succeed, and every woman can realize the imaginings that were only a glimmer in the wondering eyes of her childhood.
