Frieda Bühner: The Olympic Forward

The Pick

Pick seventeen. Portland's second selection in their first WNBA Draft, and GM Černivec went international again. Černivec called Bühner a "sniper" who can "cause damage around the hoop," and the numbers back it up: 17.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game across 22 EuroCup Women games for Movistar Estudiantes in Spain. Those are starter numbers in any league. She's 21.

Growing Up German

Bühner was born May 28, 2004, in Germany. She came up through the German basketball development system, which has produced increasingly competitive national teams in recent years. She played in youth international tournaments early, putting up numbers that announced her as a future star: 15.4 PPG and 10.3 RPG at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup, 18.6 PPG and 9.1 RPG at the 2024 U20 EuroBasket. At the youth level, she was a walking double-double.

Then Germany called her up to the senior team. At 20, she was on the roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Three games, 6.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG. Not the biggest role, but she was there. An Olympian before she was old enough to legally drink in the United States. By 2025, she was a central piece of Germany's EuroBasket squad: 15.0 PPG and 5.2 RPG across 6 games. The trajectory is unmistakable.

Florida and Back

Bühner took a brief detour through American college basketball. She attended the University of Florida in 2022-23 and played four games for the Gators. Four games. Then she went back to Europe and turned professional with Movistar Estudiantes in Spain. The EuroCup numbers explain why: 17.0 PPG and 7.1 RPG across 22 games. She doesn't need four years of college ball to prove she can play. She's already proven it against professional competition.

The Portland Fit

Portland's frontcourt is getting interesting. Bridget Carleton and Emily Engstler are the veteran forwards. Megan Gustafson and Luisa Geiselsöder anchor the center spots. Serah Williams brings Big Ten defensive pedigree. Bühner adds another dimension: a young, high-scoring forward who has produced at every level of international basketball and brings the kind of versatility that modern offenses demand.

At 6'1", she can play the three or the four. She scores from multiple levels. And she's experienced pressure: Olympics, EuroBasket, EuroCup. Over a 44-game WNBA season, Coach Sarama will need depth in the frontcourt, and Bühner gives him a player who can contribute immediately.

What to Watch in 2026

The EuroCup numbers are impressive (17 PPG), but the WNBA is a different animal. The athleticism, the pace, the physicality. Every international player goes through an adjustment period. The question isn't whether Bühner can play. She can. The question is how quickly she adjusts to the WNBA game.

What to look for: her scoring versatility (can she get her shot against WNBA length?), rebounding (7.1 RPG in Europe suggests she competes on the glass), and how she handles the expansion team chaos of a first season. The Moda Center crowd is going to embrace her. Portland loves international players with edge.

The Person

German. Twenty-one. An Olympian. A professional basketball player since her teens. She tried American college basketball for four games and went back to Europe because she was already better than the college game could contain. That's not arrogance. That's a player who knows where she needs to be to keep growing.

Portland's first WNBA team folded because the city couldn't sustain it. This time, 15,000 season memberships were sold before there was a single player on the roster. The community is ready. And Bühner, who has played professionally across Europe and represented her country at the Olympics, is exactly the kind of player who understands what it means to play for a city that actually cares.