Germany’s shooting star Frieda Bühner has come a big step closer to her dream of jumping into the North American professional basketball league WNBA. The 21-year-old was selected 17th by Portland Fire, but it is unclear whether she will start immediately.
The German basketball players in the North American professional league WNBA can welcome another national player into their ranks. Top talent Frieda Bühner was selected by the Portland Fire at the draft in New York City on Monday evening (local time). Luisa Geiselsöder, a German player, is already under contract with the newly founded team from the northwest.
The 21-year-old basketball player, who was born in Georgsmarienhütte in Lower Saxony and made it into the national team via Osnabrücker SC, most recently played for the Spanish top team CB Estudiantes in Madrid. Despite her young age, she was just as one of the top performers there as she was in the ambitious German national team.
Bühner may not go to Portland until later
However, it is not certain that Portland will use Bühner this year. It is quite possible that she will initially stay in Europe before the home World Cup in Berlin in late summer (September 4th to 13th). That was the case with Leonie Fiebich and Geiselsöder, both of whom were drafted in 2020 but didn’t go to the WNBA until a few years later.
At the home world championship in September in Berlin, Bühner will be one of the main players alongside the other WNBA professionals around the sisters Satou and Nyara Sabally, Fiebich and Geiselsöder. The 1.86m tall winger shone at the 2025 European Championships and most recently in the World Cup qualification in March as the best German point collector.
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Even before the draft, there were many transfers among the four German players in the WNBA. Top star Satou Sabally moved to New York Liberty, her younger sister Nyara recently went from there to the second new club Toronto Tempo. Fiebich is still under contract in New York, Geiselsöder came to Portland from the Dallas Wings.
