Dream move up in WNBA draft, now poised to make No. 1 pick

NEW YORK –

Atlanta Dream traded two spots to acquire the No. The Atlanta Dream traded up two spots to get the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft to acquire the player they feel can turn around the franchise that has struggled for the past few seasons.

Rhyne from Kentucky and NaLyssa of Baylor are the leading candidates. Players, their families, and friends will be able attend the draft in person on Monday night for the first-time since 2019.

“Rhyne is a pro. She’s a game changer. She’s an elite talent,”LaChina Robinson, an ESPN analyst, said. “When you look at all the different things she can do on the basketball court, she can score it from 3, she has a pull-up game, she can get to the rim. There really just isn’t anything else from a scoring standpoint that you could ask for.”

Atlanta finished last season at 8-24 and has missed the playoffs in four of the five previous seasons. Last year, the franchise was bought by new owners. Tanisha Wright was hired as a coach and Dan Padover is the general manager.

The Dream had the No. The Dream had the No. 1 pick in 2009, and used it to draft Angel McCoughtry.

“We’re in a rebuild right now, and we’re also looking to add pieces that can be with us for a long time,”Padover stated. “I think having the No. 1 pick in 2022, our hope is this person comes in with fresh energy and sparks something underneath our franchise which we need right now, and also embraces the city of Atlanta.”

Indiana will likely draft the second pick of Indiana if the Dream do not take first between Smith, Howard, or Smith. The Fever don’t have a good draft history in recent seasons. In fact, none of their first round picks from the past three seasons are still available on the roster. Lin Dunn was hired by Indiana as interim general manager to ensure stability. Dunn has four picks (2-4-6-6-10 in the first round) to help build a roster.

“In our particular situation, we need a lot,”Dunn stated. “We need help inside. We need help outside. It’s a little bit easier for us to pinpoint our needs because they’re glaring. But we are essentially in that first round with 2, 4, 6 and 10 looking at the best player available”.

Washington was the third pick of the Dream, and coach Mike Thibault is confident that he will be able add another good player to an already strong group.

“We’re a little bit different than the other two teams in that we have some players coming back to our team, with Elena Delle Donne, Alysha Clark, even Myisha Hines-Allen, who missed a good part of last year, that coming in healthy. We’re a different kind of team, we’re a veteran team,”Thibault is also the Mystics General Manager. “So whoever we draft is not going to be expected to play 25 to 30 minutes.”

There are other things you should know about the draft in three rounds:

TRADING No. 1

The No. The No. 1 pick was traded before the draft. New York traded it last year to the Seattle Storm, which then sold it to Dallas Wings. In 2021, Dallas selected Charli Colllier as the first overall pick. With players who could potentially alter the course of the franchise looming in the upcoming drafts — starting next season with Aliyah Boston, South Carolina, and Paige Bueckers, and Caitlyn Carl the year after that — it’s likely that the top selection won’t change hands.

MAKING A SQUAD

It is extremely difficult for draftees with only 144 spots to choose from to make a WNBA roster. It is usually less because of salary cap issues or because some teams only have 11 players. Currently, WNBA rosters contain less than half of the 36 draft picks last year.

RECORD-SETTING WOOLVERINE

Naz Hillmon was a remarkable Michigan player, leading the Wolverines into the Elite Eight for only the second time in school history. The program could have its first draft since Tabitha Pool, a senior forward, was selected by New York Liberty in round two of the 2005 draft.