The 2021 WNBA Draft has concluded, with mostly winners and some very unpredictable picks happening in an already talented league.
Here's a breakdown of what exactly happened during the draft, and a look ahead to training camps that start in less than two weeks.
Mock drafts down the drain
Charli Collier and Awak Kuier going to the Dallas Wings as the first- and second-overall picks in the draft was something most people predicted, and even Aari McDonald going third to the Atlanta Dream wasn’t too far off from where most people believed she would go.
“It was just amazing to know that your hard work pays off, no matter what you do, I feel like the best is still yet to come,” said first-overall pick Collier.
After that, the draft picks turned to chaos. The Indiana Fever took Kysre Gondrezick, a forward out of West Virginia. Three international players also went in the first round, with Shyla Heal of Australia going to the Chicago Sky and Iliana Rupert of France going to the Las Vegas Aces to close out the first round.
Some players who were projected to go in the top five slipped lower in the first round, like Rennia Davis falling to the Minnesota Lynx at number nine, but Lynx general manager and head coach Cheryl Reeve has a good track record of turning late round rookies into the league’s best. The most surprising falls in the draft were those of Dana Evans and Arella Guirantes – many people had the guard as a top-five pick due to her performance as a senior at Rutgers, while Dana Evans was projected by most to go sixth-overall to the New York Liberty.
Luckily for Dallas, Evans was still available by the time they picked again, while Guirantes fell to No. 22, where she was grabbed by the Los Angeles Sparks, who had two first-round picks in Jasmine Walker at seventh and Stephanie Watts, another surprise pick, at No. 10.
You know the vibes #CountIt
Take a look at some of the top reactions from tonight's #WNBADraft presented by @StateFarm pic.twitter.com/EGm2nVmSVH— WNBA (@WNBA) April 16, 2021
Aari indeed raised her draft stock
One of the biggest storylines out of the NCAA tournament was that of Arizona senior McDonald, who led the PAC-12 in scoring and steals, had scored in double-digits in 93 consecutive games, and was Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the conference.
On paper, no one played better than Aari. But her size was a concern for most GMs looking to add depth to their frontcourt. After Arizona’s historic run, the world was put on notice of the five-foot-six guard, leading to Atlanta taking her third overall. McDonald joins Chennedy Carter and Courtney Williams under head coach Nicki Colleen, and under new ownership including former WNBA star Renee Montgomery.
“Even just saying my name and Chennedy’s sounds scary already, we haven’t even touched the court together yet,” said McDonald. “I’m really excited to play with her and also Courtney Williams.”
Steals in the second and third round
Guirantes and Evans weren’t the only players to fall to the second round – Natasha Mack, who some had going as high as seventh to the Sparks, fell to 16th to the Chicago Sky, and Stanford’s Kiana Williams went 18th to Seattle. Some players did go higher than expected, with Baylor’s DiDi Richards going 17th to the Liberty, something that Richards herself wasn’t sure could happen.
“I’m still feeling a little anxious, a little nervous, but I’m still excited to see what the next level brings for me,” said Richards before the draft. “I’m learning how to live in the moment, I’m taking it one step at a time.”
Other players who fell below projection were DiJonai Carrington, Richards’ teammate at Baylor, who was a projected first rounder that fell to No. 20 to the Connecticut Sun, though the Sun have a great track record of turning second round picks into league talents. Lindsay Pulliam of Northwestern, another highly sought-after college player, fell to the third round and the Dream swooped her up at 27th overall.
Though in the moment some players may feel disrespected with their draft stock or position, if the league learned anything from Minnesota’s Crystal Dangerfield last year, it’s that it really doesn’t matter in the end.
Story of the night
DiDi Richards became temporarily paralyzed on October 24, 2020. She battled back, and was drafted 17th overall in tonight’s WNBA Draft @Deauzya (via @BaylorWBB) pic.twitter.com/T4kEauDUK1— Overtime (@overtime) April 16, 2021
So much talent, so little league
Many have called for a league expansion, and commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said one is in the near future – this draft class shows just why.
Dallas alone picked up players like Collier, Kuier, Evans and Chelsea Dungee on top of already having talents like Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally. Chicago added Heal and Mack to an already stacked rotation of Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, Diamond DeShields and Candace Parker. Many teams like Seattle also traded their first-round picks, like Aaliyah Wilson, to other teams for current roster members or signed others to training camp contracts.
Not everyone drafted, even in the first round, may make a roster, and many will have to play overseas and try to prove their way back to the WNBA. With the draft classes of future years only getting stronger, the league has some logistics to figure out surrounding expanding rosters or teams, because 144 roster spots just simply isn’t enough when there is so much talent to go around.
