The Ringer published a new ranking of the WNBA’s top 25 players under 25 this week, and it was built on what those players have already done, not what they might become. The list reads like a snapshot of the league’s present — one shaped by young stars who are already defining its future.
That framing is why Aja Wilson’s name sits in the conversation even as the ranking itself is aimed at the next wave. The list puts the spotlight on players whose current production matters most, which is exactly why readers are looking for it now: it is not a prospect board, but a measure of who is actually driving games today.
Among the players singled out, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese were described as conversation-shaping superstars, the kind of names that can anchor an era before they have fully settled into it. More than a quarter of the ranking featured international players, and the field was deep enough that France alone could field its own starting lineup from it. That matters because the league’s youth movement is no longer limited to a few headline names; it is coming from rookies, second- and third-round picks, and players arriving from overseas.
The clearest example of how the ranking works comes from Saniya Rivers, who was 21 years and 92 days old and was described as being in a sophomore slump after a promising rookie year. Her 2026 line — 6.5 points, 3.5 assists, 2 rebounds, 31 percent shooting, 14 percent from 3-point range and 70 percent at the line — backed up the downturn, along with a 6.4 PER and minus 0.6 win shares. Rivers still made the list because the ranking rewarded current contribution even when the trajectory was uneven, and Leila Lacan’s return from Europe was said to help her by letting her play off the ball more again.
Chen offers the other side of the same argument. Selected last year by the Valkyries in their inaugural draft, the 24-year-old, who was 24 years and 102 days old, was described as a third-round pick finding real opportunity as WNBA roster spots keep growing. Her profile was built around being a ball mover, a fundamentally sound defender and a reliable shooter, and her 2026 numbers — 7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 49/64/85 shooting, a 16.8 PER and 0.6 win shares — explain why she belongs in a list built on production rather than projections.
The remaining names in the top 25 were not included in the material released with the ranking, which leaves the full shape of the list unresolved. But the point of the exercise is already clear: the WNBA’s next era is not waiting to arrive. It is being played in real time, and the young players on this list are already forcing the league to account for them.
