OT - 2019 WNBA Draft

[ZagDad84]

For those who are interested in the WNBA draft, it is being held this Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 4:00 PM PT. The first round will be televised on ESPN while rounds 2 & 3 will be televised on ESPNU.

ZagDad

[ZagDad84]

The WNBA draft is completed and the results as follows:

1st Round
1 Las Vegas Aces - Jackie Young - Notre Dame - Guard
2 New York Liberty - Asia Durr - Louisville - Guard
3 Indiana Fever - Teaira McCowan - Mississippi State - Center
4 Chicago Sky - Katie Lou Samuelson - Connecticut - Guard/Forward
5 Dallas Wings - Arike Ogunbowale - Notre Dame - Guard
6 Minnesota Lynx - Napheesa Collier - Connecticut - Forward
7 Los Angeles Sparks - Kalani Brown - Baylor - Center
8 Phoenix Mercury - Alanna Smith - Stanford - Forward
9 Connecticut Sun - Kristine Anigwe - California - Center/Forward
10 Washington Mystics - Kiara Leslie - N.C. State - Guard
11 Atlanta Dream - (Traded to Phoenix) - Brianna Turner - Notre Dame - Center
12 Seattle Storm - Ezi Magbegor - Australia - Center

2nd Round
1 Phoenix Mercury - (from Indiana via Las Vegas) - Sophie Cunningham - Missouri - Guard
2 New York Liberty - Han Xu - China - Center
3 Chicago Sky - Chloe Jackson - Baylor - Guard
4 Minnesota Lynx - (from Las Vegas) - Jessica Shepard - Notre Dame - Forward
5 Dallas Wings - Megan Gustafson - Iowa - Forward
6 Minnesota Lynx - (Traded to Connecticut) - Natisha Hiedeman - Marquette - Guard
7 Los Angeles Sparks - Marina Mabrey - Notre Dame - Guard
8 Minnesota Lynx - (from Phoenix) - Cierra Dillard - Buffalo - Guard
9 Connecticut Sun - (from Connecticut via Atlanta) - Bridget Carleton - Iowa State - Guard
10 Dallas Wings - (from Washington) - Kennedy Burke - UCLA - Guard
11 Atlanta Dream - Maite Cazorla - Oregon - Guard
12 Seattle Storm - Anriel Howard - Mississippi State - Forward

3rd Round
1 Indiana Fever - Paris Kea - UNC - Guard
2 New York Liberty - Megan Huff - Utah - Forward
3 Chicago Sky - Maria Conde - Spain - Forward
4 Indiana Fever - (from Las Vegas) - Caliya Robinson - Georgia - Forward
5 Dallas Wings - Morgan Bertsch - UC Davis - Forward
6 Minnesota Lynx - Kenisha Bell - Minnesota - Guard
7 Los Angeles Sparks - Ángela Salvadores - Spain - Guard
8 Phoenix Mercury - Arica Carter - Louisville - Guard
9 Connecticut Sun - Regan Magarity - Virginia Tech - Forward
10 Washington Mystics - Sam Fuehring - Louisville - Forward
11 Atlanta Dream - Li Yueru - China - Center
12 Seattle Storm - Macy Miller - South Dakota State - Guard

Some interesting observations about today's draft.

A. All 5 ladies of ND's starting line-up were drafted in the first 19 selections.

B. Was surprised that 6'7" Kalani Brown of Baylor fell to L.A. at pick 7. I can understand Dallas passing if Liz Cambridge is coming back. I can also understand Minnesota selecting Napheesa Collier since Maya Moore is taking this year off on a sabbatical. Chicago on the other hand was one of the most offensive team's in the WNBA but one of the worst defensive teams in the WNBA. By selecting Katie Lou Samuelson they have increased their offensive potential, but have done little to help them in the middle defensively.

C. Han Xu - China - 6'9" Center is the first man or woman selected from the NBA/WNBA academy set up by the NBA in China.

D. 5 of the 36 selections were nationals from foreign countries; 2 from Spain, 2 from China and one from Australia. The rest of the draft picks were USA college players. None of the draft picks were USA nationals that were playing overseas entirely.

E. Players from the P-6 conferences dominated the draft. The only mid-major players drafted included; Cierra Dillard a guard from Buffalo at pick #20 by the Minnesota Lynx, Morgan Bertsch a forward from UC Davis at pick #29 by the Dallas Wings, and Macy Miller a guard from South Dakota State at pick #36 (the last pick in the draft) by the Seattle Storm.

ZagDad

[Zag Swagger]

Thanks for the update and summary ZD.

[ZagDad84]

Her is a breakdown of the draft by conference.

ACC - 11 draftees (5 by ND, 3 Louisville, 1 UNC, 1 Georgia & 1 NC State)
AAC - 2 Draftees (2 by UConn)
Big 10 - 2 Draftees (1 by Iowa & 1 by Minnesota)
SEC - 4 (2 by Miss St., 1 by UNC & 1 by Georgia)
Big-12 - 3 Draftees (2 by Baylor & 1 by Iowa State)
Pac-12 - 5 Draftees (1 by Stanford, 1 by Oregon, 1 by UCLA, 1 by Utah & 1 by California)
Big East - 1 Draftee (1 by Marquette)
Mid-Major - 3 Draftees (1 by Buffalo, 1 by UC Davis and 1 by South Dakota State)
Foreign Born - 5 Draftees (1 from Australia, 2 from Spain & 2 from China)

If you notice, the only teams with more than 1 draft pick are ND with 5, Louisville with 3, Baylor with 2 and UConn with 2. 3 of the 4 final-4 teams had more than 1 draft pick and the remaining team (Oregon) would have had 2 draft picks if Ionescu had come out. The only other team with more than 1 draft pick was Louisville who was beat in the Elite 8 by UConn. Maybe having more than one WNBA draft pick on your team would have something to do with making the final four?

ZagDad

[seacatfan]

Thanks for all the posts ZagDad. I watched most of the draft. ESPN couldn't help themselves and toward the end stopped paying any attention to the draft picks and piled on a huge helping of fawning all over Notre Dame and Ogunbowale in particular, like they hadn't done that non stop all season long. Seriously Arike was the #5 pick but she had by FAR more face time than anybody else. So tiresome.


I think Seattle might've gotten the steal of the draft. The Australian Magbegor projected toward the top of the first round and they got her w/ the last pick of the first round. She may not come to the U.S. to play immediately, but she's young and it's not like they are lacking for talent, having just won the Championship. Most of their core is fairly young. Bird can't play forever but most of their players have plenty of years ahead of them and you potentially add another very good post player in a couple years, they should be set for a while. Of course Canada will eventually have to take over PG duties when Bird decides to retire.

[ZagDad84]

SeaCat,

Ezi Magbegor is 6'4" is 19 years old that was born in New Zealand to Nigerian parents and moved to Australia when she was 6. One of the highlights showed her getting a rebound and driving the length of the court for a lay-up. In Australia they are calling her the next Lauren Jackson, high praise indeed.

You are right she might not come to Seattle this year as the Storm have retained their entire 11 person roster from last year's championship team and WNBA teams must carry at least 11 players but can only carry maximum of 12 or 13 players.

How much did Baylor guard Chloe Jackson improve her stock by hitting that game winning shot against ND. Before this year she was an off-guard that was forced into the point guard position this year due to injuries and she hits the game winning lay-up for the National Championship. She was drafted at #15 by the Chicago Sky.

ZagDad

[seacatfan]

How much did Baylor guard Chloe Jackson improve her stock by hitting that game winning shot against ND. Before this year she was an off-guard that was forced into the point guard position this year due to injuries and she hits the game winning lay-up for the National Championship.

ZagDad

I'm willing to bet a large sum of money ESPN won't show the replay of this year's game winner an infinite number of times unlike last year's. I started to develop a Pavlovian response to it (well not drooling, but yelling at the tv), they showed it so stinkin' many times all season long. They even worked it in tonight during the draft.