Olivia Miles is having a historic start to her WNBA career. But it may not have turned out this way had she entered the league in 2025, when she was widely projected to go No. 2 overall. Instead of making the jump immediately, she chose a completely different path, which now appears to be paying off professionally.

Olivia Miles actually transferred to TCU in 2025 instead of entering the WNBA Draft. And according to her, that move played a massive role in shaping the player she has become. “And then ultimately, TCU, the offense that he runs down there. It’s very pro-like,” Miles said while speaking to Sue Bird on her Bird’s Eye View podcast.

For Miles, the system at TCU was going to prepare her for the professional game long before she officially entered the league. As she explained, “I felt like I’d be getting a lot of reps before I actually went pro.”

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Looking at how things have panned out, with Olivia Miles now leading the Minnesota Lynx offense while posting elite numbers across the board, it is safe to say that the time spent at TCU is now serving its purpose.

Miles herself pointed that out as well. “I feel like it’s kind of translated well, just ball screen reads, being aggressive, turning the corner, reading downhill options quickly. I feel like I got all of that at TCU, so that was my goal,” Miles said.

But beyond simply becoming more pro-ready, another major reason Olivia Miles decided to stay back was to get herself physically and mentally stronger again. During her time at Notre Dame, she suffered an ACL injury that ruled her out for the entire 2023-24 season.

And even though she returned in the 2024-25 campaign and still performed well enough to remain a projected top-two pick, Miles still believed there was more work to do physically and mentally before taking the next step. “It was a mixture of that and also feeling more ready with my body and my mind and obviously my injury I had a few years prior,” she said.

Lottery picks enter the league and still need time to adjust before they truly hit the ground running. But Olivia Miles appears to be one who deliberately took the extra time to prepare herself properly.

That decision has translated perfectly at the professional level. She has already established herself as a frontrunner for WNBA Rookie of the Year. And, in many ways, she’s an indispensable piece of the Minnesota Lynx roster. One that head coach Cheryl Reeve can hardly afford to lose.

Olivia Miles Factored WNBA CBA Talks Her Draft Decision Alongside Desire to Fully Prepare for the League

Apart from getting herself fully prepared physically, mentally, and in terms of basketball development, Olivia Miles also made some major financial considerations in her decision to defer entering the WNBA Draft for one more year in 2025.

When asked what role money played in that decision, Miles admitted that it absolutely mattered. “I mean, it definitely was a factor. I would say I laid out my main priorities, but it definitely was something that I was thinking about.”

For Miles, thinking long-term also became extremely important after already experiencing how quickly injuries can impact a player’s career. As she explained, “Obviously, going through a major injury already, how can I set myself and my family up for the long term?”

In the process of making that decision, Miles also believed delaying her entry into the league could allow more clarity around the WNBA’s financial future and overall growth. “And you know, giving one more year for the WNBA to really figure out its future and its growth obviously worked in my favor.”

And of course, that is another aspect of the wait that ended up working massively in Miles’ favor. If she had entered the league in 2025, she would have earned a base salary of just $78,831 annually. But with the new WNBA CBA now in place, Miles enters the league earning a base salary of $466,913.

The fact that the new CBA almost failed to reach finalization in time however made the entire situation a little scary for Miles. As she said, “The new CBA and talks, it was scary cuz it almost didn’t get signed in time. So, I truly didn’t even know if it would even happen.”

Amidst all that uncertainty, however, she remained focused on improving herself. “I really focused on my growth this year, but definitely taking into account my future,” she said.

Looking at how everything has unfolded so far, it now appears that Olivia Miles made the perfect decision for both her basketball development and long-term future. She became physically prepared to enter the league under a far stronger financial structure. The extra year ultimately worked out exactly as she hoped.