2024 WNBA Draft is insanely loaded

[NBASupes]

https://www.tankathon.com/wnba/mock_draft

[macdaddy]

Wow!  Angel Reese going #6 tells you something.  And the size 1-7 is incredible for women's hoops.  It's basically the heights of our 1-4 LOL. 

[Dnice]

Congratulations I supposed.

 

[lethalweapon3]

It’s time to think bigger!

That’s about where the Atlanta Dream are in the run-up to 2024’s ballyhooed WNBA Draft (7:30 PM Eastern, ESPN). Lots of players who made waves in the NCAAs are about to go pro in That Other Association. Just not enough of them, choosing to do so at once, for the Dream brass to feel comfy about their position at #8.

Atlanta instead traded down, upgrading their backcourt readiness by swapping out Aari McDonald for the Los Angeles Sparks’ Jordin Canada, last season’s WNBA leader in steals and a 2023 All-Defensive first-team member. A two-time champ with the Seattle Storm, Canada spent her offseason down under, winning the MVP award in Australia’s well-regarded WNBL league.

Canada also made strides during what was an otherwise lackluster season for the Sparks, improving her once-nonexistent perimeter shot to a 33.3 3FG percentage. The former Sue Bird understudy also dished out a career-best 6.0 APG.

With the uber-talented All-Stars Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard on the wing, Atlanta (19-21, 5^th in WNBA last season) should now be able to tighten up their defensive-oriented backcourt under Tanisha Wright’s watch.

The Dream could have sat back, seasons ago, and played out the tank game, as Indiana has done, in hopes a certified attendance draw like Caitlin Clark would land in their laps.  That might have worked, but a new WNBA city could have been the beneficiaries, as Atlanta’s fan revenue dried out. The bold approach, under GM Dan Padover, that began with trading up early for Howard in 2022, trading assets for Gray in 2023, and now trading almost out of this year’s first round has the potential to pay off for fans of WNBA hoops in and around the ATL.

Atlanta can again seek to improve depth at the #12 spot, much as they did when selecting Haley Jones midway through 2023’s opening round. But with Aerial Powers brought into the fold along with Canada and the returning Nia Coffey, Atlanta would do well to address frontcourt needs with either their #12 pick or the #20 pick in the second round.

Gray and Howard’s co-All-Star, Cheyenne Parker, is a standout power forward that gets overmatched too frequently by being assigned starting center duties. Parker would be best utilized as a starting PF, ahead of the still-growing duo of Naz Hillmon and Laeticia Amihere. But her ability to slide to PF as Wright subs-in a capable defensive rebounding center ought to be, at minimum, an option.

The developmental plans for Iliana Rupert never materialized, and while 35-year-old free agent pickup Tina Charles, a 2012 MVP and most recently a bounce-back All-Star in 2021, may bounce back once more, there remains a good deal of uncertainty whether that will pan out.

NCAA champion Kamilla Cardoso will be long gone by the time Atlanta picks at #12. Yet there should be ample true-center options that can be ready to contribute by the back half of the season, customarily the time in the schedule when Atlanta (5-10 since Aug. 1) needs all the help they can get.

Taiyanna Jackson of Kansas is arguably the readiest to plug-and-play, particularly as a rim protector. Georgia native Jessika Carter, 6-foot-6 like Jackson, has stabilized on- and off-court at Mississippi State. Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech, despite her untimely ACL tear in the Hokies’ regular-season finale, has the most versatile offensive package, making her suitable of taking Rupert’s place by this time next season. (EDIT: I errantly omitted Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana! She'd be ready to go this season, although she's more of a scoring 4 than a 5.)

It will be difficult to keep Wright from passing on another defensively-skilled guard or wing player, particularly if the talented UConn guard Nika Muhl, UCLA’s Charisma Osborne and especially Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon slip to the end of the first round. But by draft night’s end, Atlanta’s chances at contention beyond just the first round in 2024 will be best balanced by buttressing the bigs at Coach T’s disposal.

 

Let’s Go Dream!

~lw3

[Dnice]

I hope  the well isn't dry by the time 12 comes..

[Spud2nique]

Chicago Sky got a couple good players and this is coming from somebody who hasn’t watched much but seems like a haul. 

[lethalweapon3]

Do the Diew!

~lw3

[Dnice]

Some folks wanted Nika? From Connecticut,  but oh well

 

[lethalweapon3]

Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

We on a World Tour! Villa Nova!

~lw3