Probably the most anticipated WNBA Draft in latest reminiscence has come and gone. As soon as once more, it was a franchise-changing day for the Indiana Fever, who drafted Caitlin Clark. In the meantime, a number of groups made significant investments of their futures whereas others fine-tuned of their pursuit of a championship within the close to time period.
Let’s check out how nicely every group completed its targets within the 2024 WNBA Draft. The grades are a little bit bit increased throughout the board than final 12 months, however this was a greater pool of gamers. I’m permitting for some optimism.
Nyadiew Puoch (12), Isabel Borlase (20), Matilde Villa (32)
The Dream made three worldwide alternatives, all of whom are 19 years previous, and none of whom undertaking to play within the WNBA through the 2024 season. As such, it’s laborious to say if Atlanta addressed any of its wants as a result of by the point these gamers come over, the roster may look dramatically totally different. Huge image, Puoch and Borlase had been rated as first-round abilities by the overall managers The Athletic surveyed, so to choose up each with just one first-round decide is sweet worth. However the Dream have an opportunity to get higher proper now with Rhyne Howard and Allisha Grey score among the many higher perimeter duos within the league, they usually punted on an opportunity for quick enchancment, even when this trio of alternatives makes an impression down the road.
Kamilla Cardoso (3), Angel Reese (7), Brynna Maxwell (13)
On the one hand, I like the gamers Chicago chosen. Cardoso and Reese may very well be a dominant frontcourt for the foreseeable future, they usually complement one another nicely. Maxwell is an impressive shooter who made 42.7 % of her 3-pointers and 91 % of her foul photographs throughout her five-year school profession. She was ninth within the nation in factors per play (1.17) this previous season.
However I can’t lose sight of what the Sky deserted to maneuver up one spot within the draft. They surrendered a second-round decide in 2025, which can be a deep draft as a result of all the seniors utilizing their pandemic bonus years have to come back out. They gave up on Sika Kone, a promising younger participant. And, they allowed Minnesota to swap first-round picks with them in 2026 — if the rebuild doesn’t go rapidly for Chicago, the entrance workplace may come to remorse that call. The Sky did obtain the rights to Nikolina Milić, however she’s already 30 years previous and isn’t taking part in this season.
The haul Chicago acquired doesn’t fairly make up for the truth that the Sky surrendered beneficial belongings to get right here.
Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso had been battling it out a pair weeks in the past within the SEC Match 🍿
Now, they’re teammates in Chicago. WILD 😳 pic.twitter.com/OlIxiFEGu5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 16, 2024
Connecticut Solar: B-
Leïla Lacan (10), Taiyanna Jackson (19), Helena Pueyo (22), Abbey Hsu (34)
The Solar’s frontcourt is fairly nicely spoken for with Alyssa Thomas, Bri Jones and DeWanna Bonner all returning. What the Solar wanted was reinforcements within the backcourt, they usually took some swings to make that occur. Lacan is a high-ceiling prospect, solely 19 and excelling in France. Nevertheless, the home league schedule makes it difficult for French gamers to come back to the WNBA, so it’s unclear when Lacan will debut for the Solar.
Nevertheless, Connecticut discovered worth later within the draft. Pueyo is a dogged defender who can shoot the ball at a good clip from 3-point vary. Hsu’s dimension at 5-11 is useful for the place, and she or he’s a reasonably strong first step. Taiyanna Jackson appears a little bit duplicative of Olivia Nelson-Ododa, however she was an impressive defensive heart at Kansas and may at the very least present some coaching camp competitors.
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Jacy Sheldon (5), Carla Leite (9), Ashley Owusu (33)
Are you able to inform the Dallas Wings wanted guards? However, even whereas honing in on a positional want, the Wings nonetheless managed to pick out gamers with vital upside. Sheldon is a 3-and-D archetype who excels in transition, making her a pure match for Dallas, which likes to play up-tempo. Leite turns 20 on Tuesday, and she or he already exhibits the power to run a professional offense whereas being a person scoring menace. Even Ashley Owusu has promise. She was the perfect taking pictures guard within the nation as a sophomore, so the expertise is there if she will discover a correct exercise routine and regain her motor.
The @DallasWings latest addition to their roster…Jacy Sheldon. 🙌@JacySheldon goes No. 5 within the first spherical of the @WNBA draft. pic.twitter.com/kiuzUGJ4r0
— Huge Ten Ladies’s Basketball (@B1Gwbball) April 16, 2024
Indiana Fever: A
Caitlin Clark (1), Celeste Taylor (15), Leilani Correa (27)
After all, anybody in Indiana’s place would have taken Caitlin Clark, however who cares? The Fever made themselves a beautiful vacation spot for Clark, offering her with the motivation to declare from the draft, and did the plain factor as soon as she declared. In case you decide a generational expertise, the draft grade goes to be an A.
Past Clark, I just like the alternatives of Taylor and Correa. Each are large guards, becoming with Lin Dunn’s philosophy (she drafted Grace Berger final 12 months, in spite of everything). Correa can shoot a little bit, whereas additionally attending to the rim regularly, and Taylor is a nasty defender who could make issues troublesome on Clark in coaching camp and in observe. Indiana has its tentpoles in place — all the selections now needs to be to optimize Clark and Aliyah Boston. Taylor is somebody who can play subsequent to Clark and make her life simpler, and Correa is an efficient flier to take at this level within the draft.
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Las Vegas Aces: B
Dyaisha Honest (16), Kate Martin (18), Elizabeth Kitley (24), Angel Jackson (36)
The Honest decide obtained many of the hype, contemplating she is the third-leading scorer in Division I girls’s basketball historical past. Nevertheless, I merely don’t see the necessity for an additional bucket-getter on a group that already has A’ja Wilson, Jackie Younger, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Grey. The Aces want function gamers who can fill within the gaps round their core 4. That’s why their decide of Kate Martin intrigues me. Martin won’t be a WNBA-level athlete, so this choice may very well be moot, however Martin completely is aware of find out how to amplify star expertise. She hits open photographs, she cuts laborious, she units good screens, and she or he performs greater than she is on protection. Martin is likely to be extra expert than Kierstan Bell, so why couldn’t she take that spot on the Aces’ roster?
Moreover, getting Kitley on the finish of the second spherical is a heist. Though she will’t play this season as she recovers from an ACL damage, maybe it’s higher for Kitley to be a stash. In that situation, she will wait out Candace Parker’s eventual retirement to fill that frontcourt gap within the roster. There are issues about Kitley’s footspeed, however she’s a three-time ACC Participant of the 12 months who constantly figures out a option to produce. If she will develop her vary — and that is the place being on the identical roster as Megan Gustafson may actually pay dividends — Kitley has a future on this league.
Los Angeles Sparks: A
Cameron Brink (2), Rickea Jackson (4), McKenzie Forbes (28)
This was a house run of a draft for Los Angeles. The Sparks obtained the nationwide defensive participant of the 12 months in Brink, somebody whose defensive metrics alone made her a lottery decide. However Brink can also be an impressive playmaker and inside scorer with a burgeoning perimeter sport as soon as L.A. lets her stretch her wings. At No. 4, the Sparks chosen the second-best scorer within the draft, somebody who can rating from wherever on the court docket and demonstrated the capability to get her shot off in opposition to Group USA in a November exhibition. Brink and Jackson are an attractive ahead mixture that may scale up if L.A. goes small but additionally can play with one other large, whether or not that’s Dearica Hamby or another person the Sparks purchase down the road.
Choosing Forbes within the third spherical is simply good enterprise. USC coach Lindsey Gottlieb has been touting Forbes as a first-round decide all 12 months. Even when she didn’t fee that extremely for WNBA groups, she nonetheless is a prolific shot-maker who reads the ground nicely, takes care of the ball and can deliver the rising Trojans fan base together with her to Crypto.com Area, solely two miles away from the place USC performs its residence video games.
Steph Curry posted this video on his Instagram story, supporting Cameron Brink whereas watching the WNBA draft protection. His Mother Sonya is there with the Brink household, & Steph obtained a shoutout on the published as nicely. All the time respect his help of girls’s sports activities ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻 #WNBADraft pic.twitter.com/ytZGo8SbwB
— Kylen Mills (@KylenMills) April 16, 2024
Minnesota Lynx: A
Alissa Pili (8), Kiki Jefferson (31)
It virtually doesn’t matter who the Lynx took at No. 8 — the fruits of the commerce they made with Chicago would have earned them a excessive grade regardless. Nevertheless, Minnesota ended up with Pili, probably the most unguardable gamers within the nation. Perhaps we don’t know what place Pili will defend, however opponents must defend her, and that doesn’t appear nice. I really feel lots higher about Pili’s WNBA future understanding she is beneath the tutelage of a seasoned and profitable head coach like Cheryl Reeve.
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Marquesha Davis (11), Esmery Martinez (17), Jessika Carter (23), Kaitlyn Davis (35)
Realistically, the Liberty have at most one accessible roster spot, and the one want they’ve is a defensive-minded guard. I’d have most popular Nika Mühl on this spot as a result of she is an outstanding defender and likewise may have realized the purpose guard place from Courtney Vandersloot as a succession plan. Davis is a greater athlete and maybe a extra versatile defender — her steal share is astounding — however Mühl is a greater shooter and playmaker and covers the purpose of assault simply as nicely. With a group like New York that’s contending immediately, I’d choose a extra well-rounded participant.
Martinez and Carter are fascinating coaching camp gamers, each have a physicality that the Liberty didn’t all the time play with in 2023. New York introduced that Kaitlyn Davis can be competing for the 2025 roster, so she seems to be a home draft-and-stash, very similar to fellow USC product Okako Adika, who New York drafted in 2023.
Esmery Martínez, recién elegida en el #WNBADraft por @nyliberty, recibiendo la medalla de plata 🥈 de los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe #SanSalvador2023.
Esto sucedió hace 10 meses.
¡Una miembro de la selección nacional 🏀🇩🇴 en la @WNBA!pic.twitter.com/JrAsVm6Gzy
— Richard Bazil (@RichardBazil) April 16, 2024
Charisma Osborne (25), Jaz Shelley (29)
The Mercury have roster spots for the taking, they usually addressed that by choosing two fifth-year seniors who may realistically contribute as rookies. Osborne was among the many 15 invitees to the draft; she has the pedigree of a better decide and needs to be able to defend on the very least. Shelley additionally will get after it defensively and performs with moxie; she’s all the time keen to take large photographs and shoots a excessive quantity of 3s. Phoenix is all the time in want of extra perimeter protection as long as Diana Taurasi occupies one of many different guard spots, and neither of those rookies can be intimidated by the personalities on the Mercury roster.
Charisma caught up with @sportsiren after she was chosen by the Mercury! 🎙️▶️#GoBruins x #ProBruins | @CharismaOsborne x @PhoenixMercury pic.twitter.com/h840Gr0sr8
— UCLA Ladies’s Basketball (@UCLAWBB) April 16, 2024
Nika Mühl (14), Mackenzie Holmes (26)
Seattle is one other group that wants bench contributors, and Mühl would possibly already be the fourth-best guard on the roster. She will chip in as a backup level guard and play subsequent to the opposite Storm ballhandlers, simply as she did with KK Arnold and Paige Bueckers at UConn. After taking part in in three Last Fours, Mühl shouldn’t be fazed by the strain of being on a group that desires to win proper now. There’s a robust custom of Huskies excelling in Seattle, so maybe Mühl is the most recent in that line. Holmes already introduced that she’s going to bear surgical procedure to deal with some lingering accidents and won’t play in 2024.
Aaliyah Edwards (6), Kaylynne Truong (21), Nastja Claessens (30)
There isn’t actually something improper with the Mystics’ draft. They took two gamers who fee nicely statistically in Edwards and Truong, however I had hoped a franchise at this level in team-building would have taken a extra aggressive method. Washington has Shakira Austin as a focus, but it surely wants one other star, and I’m unsure any of the gamers it chosen have the upside of an all-WNBA participant. Admittedly, that’s a excessive bar. Nevertheless it’s additionally what’s required of the perfect groups within the league.
The second @AaliyahEdwards_ turned a member of the @WashMystics 💙 pic.twitter.com/TFKIbkSOdz
— UConn Ladies’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 16, 2024
(Images of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Rickea Jackson: Sarah Stier / Getty Pictures)
