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Mechelle VoepelESPN.com
The 2021 WNBA draft can best be remembered for three things: a potentially dynamic duo for the Dallas Wings with 1-2 selections, Charli Collier and Awak Kuier, teams betting on young international talent, and Indiana playing a few throwing unexpected curveballs that appear to be surprisingly brilliant or far from base.
At most, there are only 144 positions in the 12-team WNBA. However, not every team is expected to carry 12 players this year, due to contractual obligations and below the salary limit, there may be even fewer places to win. If you think about how good the rosters are already, the chances for those who make it into the league in its 25th year of existence will be difficult for most.
We saw international players like Kuier (Finland), Shyla Heal (Australia) and Iliana Rupert (France) go into the first round. Everyone is 19 years old and already plays professionally. It is not uncommon for international players to be drafted once they are eligible (if they are at least twenty in the year the draft is being held) and then possibly have to wait a year before joining the WNBA.
We’ll have to see how many in the draft play in the league in 2021, but it’s pretty certain that some teams have selected players, knowing they’ll probably not make a roster this year, but will in the future.
Here are the grades for the 11 teams that participated in the draft. The Washington Mystics had no choice. The 2021 season tips on May 14th.
Dallas Wings: A-plus
Choices: 1. Charli Collier, Texas, C; 2. Awak Kuier, Finland, PF; 5. Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas, SG; 13. Dana Evans, Louisville, PG
We also gave the Wings an A-plus grade last year, and then they did not make the playoffs. The number of players and this year’s squad should nevertheless fill a good foundation for the future of the Wings, giving them a place to sleep for the season at least this year.
We’ll have to see how Collier and Kuier both develop as big post players – Collier and Kuier are both 6 foot-5 – with high ceilings. Dungee gives the Wings another version of Arike Ogunbowale – a guard who can always create her shot. And Evans, which some say could be a lottery, looks like a second round.
For new coach Vickie Johnson, the task is to make all these 2020 and 2021 choices bear fruit.
Minnesota Lynx: A
Choices: Rennia Davis, Tennessee, SF
With just one pick, of course, it was not a busy draft for the four-time WNBA champions, but coach / general manager Cheryl Reeve should be glad that Davis, who apparently had a lot of traction as a lottery pick, fell. 9.
No one is going to replace Maya Moore. But getting a 6-2 wing that can bounce back and have a good points total looks just like the Lynx was looking for.
Los Angeles Sparks: A-minus
Choices: 7. Jasmine Walker, Alabama, PF; 10. Stephanie Watts, North Carolina, SG; 22. Arella Guirantes, Rutgers, SG; 28. Ivana Raca, Wake Forest, SF; 34. Aina Ayuso, Spain, PG
Based on what coach / general manager Derek Fisher said he wanted to get into the draft, the Sparks did pretty well. When they exchanged with Dallas on Wednesday to get the No. 7 pick, Walker was one of Fisher’s hoped targets.
But if Watts were a surprise in the first round, Guirantes was an even bigger surprise that dropped to the second round. There was no player who projected the media higher, but who was lower than Guirantes, so she could be really motivated.
Raca had just completed a great career at Wake Forest, and Ayuso spent her lonely college season in Oregon in 2017-18 before becoming a pro. But these players are not all making the Sparks series this year.
1:14
The Chicago Sky selects Shyla Heal of Australia as the overall number 8 in the WNBA draft.
Chicago Sky: A-minus
Choices: 8. Shyla Heal, Australia, PG; Natasha Mack, Oklahoma State, PF
Heal showed great promise at a young age, and it must be nice to see her learn from Courtney Vandersloot. In that sense, the Sky got exactly what they were looking for in the concept.
It was a pleasant surprise to get Mack, a potential first-time player who kept blocks in Division I for the first time this season. She has a lot upside down and brings the necessary defensive mindset to the Sky.
Las Vegas Aces: B-plus
Choose: 12. Iliana Rupert, France, C; 14. Destiny Slocum, Arkansas, PG; 36. Kionna Jeter, Towson, G
Like many European players, Rupert may decide to wait at least a year to play in the WNBA. But even if she does not play in the league in 2021, it is a good choice. The 19-year-old could be the center for the Aces. Liz Cambage turns 30 in August and has missed several WNBA seasons since his draft in 2011. Rupert is therefore part of a long-distance plan.
The best use of the Aces’ second round was on a points guard and we will see if Slocum can win a place on the rankings.
Seattle Storm: B
Choices: 18. Kiana Williams, Stanford, PG; 23. N’dea Jones, Texas A&M, PF; 35. Natalie Kucowski, Lafayette, PF
The Storm took Aaliyah Wilson of Texas A & M on their first round at No. 11 and then traded her to Indiana for former UCLA player Kennedy Burke, who was able to find a spot at Seattle.
Williams gives the Storm another option at point guard, one that is a productive three-point shooter. Jones was a double-double machine for the Aggies and is worth looking at the pro level, just like Kucowski, who led Division I in a rebound average this season (13.3 RPG).
Connecticut Sun: B
Choices: 20. DiJonai Carrington, Baylor, SG; 21. Micaela Kelly, Central Michigan, PG; 30. Aleah Goodman, Oregon State, SG
With no choice in the first round, the Sun had to hope that at least one player fell further than expected – and that is what happened to Carrington. She has been excellent for Baylor all season and has shown both offensive and toughness especially offensively and defensively during the NCAA Tournament.
Coach / general manager Curt Miller was looking for an extra offensive punch if possible, and Kelly (23.9 PPG) and Goodman (16.2 PPG) each led their teams to record this season.
2:13
Michaela Onyenwere’s grandmother gets up from the couch and breaks out some incredible dance moves after Onyenwere was set up.
New York Liberty: B
Choices: 6. Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA, SF; 17. DiDi Richards, Baylor, PG; 25. Valerie Higgins, Pacific; SF; Marine Fauthoux, France, PG
There’s nowhere to go to New York after last season’s 2-20 battle, and there’s at least a chance that both Onyenwere and Richards – who are both delivering great energy – can help Liberty. Onyenwere needs to adapt to be wing, but she’s someone who can make things happen across the track. Richards is not a shooter, but she has been one of the best overall defenders at university for the past few years and offensively she manages the court well and creates opportunities for others.
Higgins started her career at USC before moving to the Pacific and is yet another player who you think would have a better chance of being on the leaderboard if the league had a few more teams.
3:10
Aari McDonald is selected in the WNBA draft in 2021 by the Atlanta Dream overall number 3, making her the first Arizona player to be drafted in the first round.
Atlanta Dream: B-minus
Choices: 3. Aari McDonald, Arizona, PG; 15. Raquel Carrera, Spain, PF; Lindsey Pulliam, North West, SG
Yes, the Dream bench on the Aari McDonald we saw in the NCAA Tournament, and it’s the one we’ll see in the WNBA. And that the Pac-12 player of the year will continue to get better. But does this choice give the Dream some too many similar guards? Or does a backcourt featuring McDonald, Chennedy Carter, Courtney Williams and Odyssey Sims, among others, deliver the high-octane pace that coach Nicki Collen wants?
Carrera, again like some of the other European players, may prefer to wait at least a year to join the WNBA.
Indiana fever: D
Choices: 4. Kysre Gondrezick, West Virginia; PG; 11. Aaliyah Wilson, Texas A&M, SG; 19. Unique Thompson, Auburn, PF; 24. Trinity Baptiste, Arizona, SF; 26. Chelsey Perry, UT Martin, PF; 31. Florencia Chagas, Argentina, PG; 33. Maya Caldwell, Georgia, G
By adding Wilson to a trade with Seattle, the fever ended with seven choices in this draft – including two that virtually no forecasters in Gondrezick and Wilson considered first-round. Gondrezick led West Virginia by scoring 19.5 PPG this season, so maybe the fever is on something others are not.
Thompson was a constant double-double for Auburn, and could be Indiana’s best choice.
General manager Tamika Catchings and coach Marianne Stanley may have the last laugh for everyone, but the initial answer to this concept is, “Huh?”
Phoenix Mercury: No Grade
Choices: 32. Ciera Johnson, Texas A&M, C
There is not much to rate for this concept, though the Mercury was a third choice. Johnson was a stalwart for the Aggies, but it will be difficult for her to make the list.
What Mercury will be judged on brings two former UConn first-round players, Kia Nurse and Megan Walker, into a February deal with New York for the No. 6 pick (Liberty has Michaela Onyenwere taken) and for the first time in 2022. We will see if Nurse and Walker thrive in Phoenix.