Seattle Storm select Dominique Malonga with No. 2 pick in the WNBA Draft
SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm selected Dominique Malonga of France with the number two pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft on Monday.
Malonga, a 6-foot-6 center, helped France win the silver medal at the Paris Olympics this past summer. She was the youngest player on the Olympic team and and played alongside current Seattle Storm forward, Gabby Williams.
The 19-year-old has a bright future in the WNBA. Malonga averaged 15.0 points and 10.3 rebounds so far this season while playing for the French club, ASVEL Feminin (formerly the Lyon Basket féminin). She also became the first Frenchwoman to dunk in an official game last October.
“Dominique is a rising global star and we are thrilled to welcome her to Seattle,” said Seattle Storm General Manager Talisa Rhea. “She brings versatility, skill and a high level of efficiency. We know she’ll be an integral part of our team, now and for years to come.”
Malonga is the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.
“I was so proud to achieve that goal,” Malonga said. “It showed that French basketball has evolved as we’ve seen the past few years on the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher) show that French basketball is great.”
Malonga was born in Yaounde, Cameroon, and began her professional career in 2021 at the age of 15 when she signed with French club, ASVEL Feminin, which is where she returned this past season.
She was the team’s leading scorer during the EuroCup women’s tournament this year, with an average of 18.5 points and 11 rebounds. She was also selected to this year’s All-EuroCup First Team and won European Player of the Year and Center of the Year for the tournament as well.
This is the 29th draft in league history. There will be 13 franchises making a combined 38 draft selections over three rounds. The first round will feature 12 picks with 13 in each of the final two rounds.
Six teams don’t have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
