Let’s talk about breakout players — the type of players that can make a fantasy season. Not to be confused with sleepers, which we will discuss in a separate article, these are players you will need to spend a high pick to acquire but carry skyscraping ceilings.
Kelsey Plum (Los Angeles Sparks)
Plum was a dominant college player and former first overall pick. Despite making the All-Star team in each of the last three seasons, she was relegated to the third or fourth option on the star-studded Aces. After being traded to the Sparks this offseason, she finally has a team of her own. Plum is a skilled ball handler and a three-level scorer, with the passing chops and court vision to be a lead playmaker. Due to the roster construction of the Sparks, she will likely start at SG next to more of a true PG in Odyssey Sims or Aari McDonald, but make no mistake that Plum will have the ball in her hands a lot this season. She will be the go-to crunch time scorer and the recipient for all technical and late-game free throws. Her ceiling looks like 20 points and 5.5 assists per game, a feat that no player in the WNBA accomplished last season. She is well worth her top-15 ADP, and probably deserves to be taken in the first 10 picks.
Skylar Diggins-Smith (Seattle Storm)
It feels odd to call a 34-year-old, four-time first-team All-WNBA, future Hall of Famer a breakout candidate. Yet, after a 2023 season that she missed due to pregnancy and a 2024 season that was already strong, there is still potentially more here. The Storm have a Jewell Loyd-sized usage gap on their roster and elected not to fill it elsewhere. That spot will be filled with lower-usage players in Lexie Brown, Erica Wheeler, and Alysha Clark, opening up both more assist opportunities and shot attempts for Diggins-Smith. Diggins-Smith averaged 15.1 points per game last season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if that number was at least two full points higher in 2025.
Brittney Sykes (Washington Mystics)
The Mystics kept her minutes down last year in what was a lost season for the organization while Sykes battled nagging injuries. Sykes is supposedly fully healthy in 2025 and looks to assume the role of the franchise cornerstone. Fellow co-star last year Ariel Atkins is now with the Sky, opening up all the usage that Sykes can handle. There is uncertainty with a new head coach, and some risk that Sykes is playing more like 28 minutes a game rather than 30+. However, her minutes should certainly be up from last season, and her usage has a chance to be at all-time highs. It is worth noting that the Mystics experimented with her as a lead guard last year, but she will slide back to the 2-guard spot and focus more on scoring this season.
Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun)
The Sun are in the middle of a rebuild, and none of their starting five from last season are returning in 2025. This will be Mabrey’s team, and she will have all of the usage that she can handle. Her ceiling looks something like 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 threes. It is worth noting, however, that she requested a trade in the offseason that the Sun denied. It is possible that they are looking to build their future around her, but it is also feasible that she could get traded midseason. If you draft her in a season-long league, it may be prudent to profit off of her first few months and then see what you can fetch on the trade market ahead of the WNBA trade deadline.
Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever)
The Fever made notable additions in DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard that could take away a little bit of usage from Boston, which is why she doesn’t rank higher on this list. However, they traded NaLyssa Smith away, leaving Boston with all of the center minutes that she can handle. She will also benefit from increased spacing, as Indiana shifts to single-big lineups. Neither of her backups are threats to steal minutes from her like Smith and Temi Fagbenle were last season. In addition, new head coach Stephanie White played her best starters heavy minutes in Connecticut, and rarely if ever rested her players, which could be a great sign for Boston all season. This pick is less about production per minute and more about total opportunity.
