(image via Sporting News)
“Hey, ladies!” Another potential championship run for the Atlanta Dream begins soon, and just around the corner is the 2019 WNBA Draft (Wednesday, 7 PM Eastern, ESPN2 for the 1st Round, ESPNU for the 2nd and 3rd Rounds), where a strategic addition or two could firm up team depth in advance of this year’s campaign.
If I ruled the world, who would I want to be the next young representative for Atlanta? Why, this gal, right here!
That young lady wearing out the poor lil’ fellas at Midtown’s Central Park has put on just a few more pounds, and added a couple inches, to her frame since that 2008 TV spot aired. Scoring guard Asia Durr grew to become a two-time Miss Georgia Basketball winner at St. Pius X High. She then won ACC Player of the Year during each of her past two seasons, following in the superstar footsteps of former All-American Angel McCoughtry at Louisville.
The bad news is that Asia is unlikely to fall anywhere near 11th in the Draft, where Atlanta picks following a near-Dream season in 2018 – a franchise record 23 wins, a surprising Eastern Conference regular season title, and just one quarter and six points shy of a trip to the WNBA Finals without McCoughtry, who injured her ACL late in the season. With triple-double trouble junior Sabrina Ionescu sticking around at Oregon, it’s quite possible that Bill Laimbeer stacks Las Vegas’ shooting guard rotation by taking Durr first overall.
The good news for Atlanta is there are, in my estimation, at least 11 surefire impact players going in the first round. In some way, all of them are suitable for addressing some of the Dream’s most pressing short-term and long-term needs.
While there will be no high-caliber point guards in the first round, several superb and sizable shooting guards will follow after Durr.
Most notably, the versatile Jackie Young, a 22-year-old junior who, in the coming hours, will decide if she declares for the Draft after a star-caliber late-season run with Notre Dame. Indiana's all-time leading high school scorer (for men or women), Young may prove irresistible as a draw for the struggling Fever at #3. Her smaller Fighting Irish teammate and the ultimate clutch performer, combo guard Arike Ogunbowale, will also be hard for many teams to pass up.
Shot precision has long been the Dream’s biggest shortcoming, an offseason priority as expressed by 2018’s WNBA Coach of the Year, Nicki Collen. UConn’s Katie Lou Samuleson has the size, marksmanship (inclusive of Atlanta’s other bugaboo, free throws), rebounding and passing skills to fit comfortably alongside any of Atlanta’s veteran wings.
The likeliest Huskie to come off the board, first, is not Katie Lou but Napheesa Collier, who is similarly versatile but more likely to support either of the forward positions. Canadian hoopster Bridget Carleton raised eyebrows late while winning the award for being the nation’s best small forward this year, although the Iowa State star projects more as a shooting guard in the pros.
McCoughtry’s rehabbing ACL may cause the All-Star to miss some, if not most, of the regular season, a factor that would cripple aspirations for all but a handful of teams as stacked as the Dream. Any of the above prospects being available to support Tiffany Hayes and Brittney Sykes would be awfully enticing at #11.
“You Can’t Teach Size!” remains a prevailing sentiment throughout the WNBA, and an array of skilled bigs will come off the draft board quickly. Mississippi State’s imposing shot-blocker Teaira McCowan and Baylor’s national champion pivot Kalani Brown (ex-NBA star P.J.’s daughter) will vie to be the first 6-foot-7 players to go.
A couple of stat-stuffing Pac-12 frontcourt stars, Cal’s Kristine Anigwe (Defensive Player of the Year), and Stanford’s Alanna Smith ought not be far behind. That says nothing of the country’s leading scorer and National Player of the Year out of the Big Ten, Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (only non-guard to ever surpass 1,000 points in Division I women’s hoops).
Fully rehabbed from an untimely 2017 ACL tear, Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner lived up to her surname with some head-turning defensive plays in 2019’s NCAA tournament. She and fellow Fighting Irish frontcourt stalwart Jessica Shepard will be solid options in the late-first and early-second rounds.
Some international women of mystery may be reasons why some aforementioned players may fall to #11 in this draft. China’s 6-foot-9 center Xu Han, and Australia’s young sensation Ezi Magbegor have drawn plenty of attention through overseas and international play. Should Ezi need directions from Hartsfield-Jackson, she can always call her brother, Ovie, who played a collegiate season of basketball in nearby Carrollton with West Georgia.
Many more developmental prospects, at all positions, will be available in the later rounds, where the Dream currently hold the #23 and #35 picks. Making the cut for Atlanta’s opening-day roster next month could be a stretch, especially if the team adds another veteran free agent prior to training camp. But accomplished players from major collegiate programs (like UGA’s Caliya Robinson), and even less heralded schools like Buffalo and Grambling State (guards Cierra Dillard and Shakyla Hill, respectively), will be worth a flyer.
For the reigning WNBA Executive of the Year, Chris Sienko, there won’t be much benefit to giving up assets to move up in this Draft. Just let the blue chips fall where they may, and someone worthy of playing in Atlanta’s crowded rotation will be right there. Even if it’s not a Georgia peach like Durr, a great choice for the Dream will be ripe for the picking.
Let’s Go Dream!
~lw3
She joined the Ducks after starring for U19 teams in Spain!
