In North American sports, total failure can sometimes lead to total victory down the road. That’s the good news about the end of the Toronto Tempo’s injury riddled first season, which left the newest WNBA team with a record of 11-33 by the end of the season. However, this summer of difficulty means that the Tempo are in for fantastic lottery odds, tied for first overall with the newly minted Houston Comets. While this doesn’t guarantee Toronto the first overall pick, it does mean that the Tempo will
be in the lottery, able to snag a valuable asset.
Toronto is a team that is extremely guard-heavy, and unfortunately, the 2027 draft class is looking to be guard-heavy as well. That doesn’t mean that the Tempo are losing out, but it does make the decision of who to draft trickier when considering the need to balance minutes amongst the Tempo’s starters.
The W won’t hold their draft for several months, but developing an understanding of where Toronto might find itself next year is certainly worth it as the women’s college ball season is set to commence. Keep an eye on these players, because they might end up wearing the Tempo blue and Bordeaux come next year.
Juju Watkins (G, USC)
Watkins is a 6’2” sensation out of the University of Southern California, and if there were ever a year for Toronto to have the best chance at the first overall pick, it would be this year.
The past several drafts have had a number of generational players who look poised to impact the game at its highest level, and Juju Watkins is no different. And, depending on who you ask, she might be even better then some of the names to go top three over the past few years.
Ahead of the NCAA Women’s Basketball season, Watkins is the consensus Number One overall pick, despite missing the entirety of the 2025-26 season with a torn ACL. That alone should speak to her prominence. Over two seasons, Watkins has averaged 25.5 points, 7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, winning a litany of awards, and leading her conferences in scoring both years.
She’s a bucket-getter in the truest sense of the word, able to score from all three levels with a clean jump-shot and good finishing abilities coupled with solid defensive chops. All together, no team is in a position to pass up on Juju. Despite Toronto’s full backcourt, passing up on Juju Watkins for someone else is like the Trailblazers saying “no thank you” to Michael Jordan in ‘84. While the weather might be nice, the Tempo should stay far away from the example of Portland.
Madison Booker (F, Texas)
Booker is a forced to be reckoned with on the court. The 6’1” forward has been an All-American all three years of college, earning her stripes with her terrific jumpshot, scoring prowess, and defensive energy, touted bythe Last Word On Sports for her two-way abilities, and her physical readiness for the professional game.
Her Texas Longhorns lost in the Final Four to eventual champions, UCLA, in a rough game, where Booker shot 3-23 from the field. Nevertheless, the willingness to keep shooting shows a level of grit and self belief that will take the young forward far in her professional career.
Seeing Booker on the court makes her look like a woman amongst girls, as the powerfully built forward reliably gets to her spot and gets buckets from the midrange. Being able to make the difficult shots is an important quality in a player, and playing off of guards like Kiki Rice and Marina Mabrey could really elevate her shot diet and alleviate some responsibility from Toronto’s scorers, without being a defensive liability.
Hannah Hidalgo (G, Notre Dame)
Hannah Hidalgo gets as many steals as she is tall. Standing only at 5’6”, the senior out of Notre Dame led the Atlantic Coast Conference in both scoring and steals last season, while winning three ACC steals titles, the last one, with an average of 5.6 strips per game.
Looking at Hidalgo, her presence on the court confounds the mind. Seeing the pint-sized guard run, shoot, pass, and finish looks almost unreal. She’s shifty, prodding, making steals and threading needles with passes like a boxer, prodding for holes in an enemy’s defence with her quick jabs.
Watching Hidalgo play, one gets the impression that she has the potential to be one in a long line of small guards whose flashy play lets them above their size. She could inspire a generation of kids to pick up the basketball.
Because, if Hannah can do it, why can’t they?
There’s a lot of Fight in this Irish, and the Tempo would be adding both an offensive and a defensive menace to their team with her as a draft pick. The major concern comes with Hidalgo’s size, and how well she could hold up when guarding bigger players in the pro leagues. Her ability to force turnovers is not in question, but when it comes to dealing with mismatches, the guard could potentially have some issues on the defensive side of the ball.
The Tempo are in a very exciting lottery this year, with potential to add a franchise cornerstone to next season’s roster. Any of these three players could easily slot into a role on Toronto’s squad, and regardless of who the Tempo select, they are sure to be more competitive entering their sophomore season.
