WNBA
WNBA draft is over, and the next wave of league standouts now have new homes.
Overall, the Indiana Fever won the lottery that set the first pick in stone, with the team selecting Caitlin Clark. The Iowa dynamo capped off an outstanding college career by reaching the national championship game on the heels of a brilliant season in which she averaged 31.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game. She is poised to be great in the WNBA.
With Clark the obvious No. 1 pick, the rest of the lottery could have been a mix of players. The Los Angeles Sparks possessed two picks in the first five selections, retiring from the Seattle Storm. With the second pick the Sparks decided to roll the dice on Stanford starlet, Cameron Brink. Brink registered an average of 17.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.
Whilst South Carolina can celebrate Kamilla Cardoso, who made history last week by leading the Gamecocks to a national championship. Now Cardoso is a WNBA player also after being selected third overall by the Chicago Sky.
LSU star, Angel Reese, saw her numbers tick down a little bit in 2023, averaging 18.6 points as well as 13.4 boards per game, but she still fell inside the top 10. The given article will be filled with the latest picks and analysis throughout the WNBA draft.
2024 WNBA Draft Results
- Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark, G, Iowa
- Los Angeles Sparks : Cameron Brink, F, Stanford
- Chicago Sky : Kamilla Cardoso, C, South Carolina
- Los Angeles Sparks : Rickea Jackson, F, Tennessee
- Dallas Wings : Jacy Sheldon , G, Ohio State
- Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards, F, UConn
- Chicago Sky: Angel Reese, F, LSU
- Minnesota Lynx: Alissa Pili, F, Utah
- Dallas Wings: Carla Leite, G, France
- Connecticut Sun: Leïla Lacan, G, France
- New York Liberty: Marquesha Davis, G, Ole Miss
- Atlanta Dream: Nyadiew Puoch, F, Australia
- Chicago Sky : Brynna Maxwell, G, Gonzaga
- Seattle Storm : Nika Mühl, G, UConn
- Indiana Fever : Celeste Taylor, G, Ohio State
- Las Vegas Aces : Dyaisha Fair, G, Syracuse
- New York Liberty : Esmery Martinez, F, Arizona
- Las Vegas Aces : Kate Martin, G, Iowa
- Connecticut Sun : Taiyanna Jackson, C, Kansas
- Atlanta Dream : Isobel Borlase, G, Australia
- Washington Mystics : Kaylynne Truong, G, Gonzaga
- Connecticut Sun : Helena Pueyo, G, Arizona
- New York Liberty : Jessika Carter, C, Mississippi State
- Las Vegas Aces : Elizabeth Kitley, C, Virginia Tech
- Phoenix Mercury: Charisma Osborne, G, UCLA
- Seattle Storm: Mackenzie Holmes, F, Indiana
- Indiana Fever: Leilani Correa, G, Florida
- Los Angeles Sparks: Mackenzie Forbes, F, USC
- Phoenix Mercury : Jaz Shelley, G, Nebraska
- Washington Mystics: Nastja Claessens, G, Belgium
- Minnesota Lynx:
- Atlanta Dream: Matilde Villa, G, Italy
- Dallas Wings: Ashley Owusu, G, Penn State
- Connecticut Sun: Abbey Hsu, G, Columbia
- New York: Kaitlyn Davis, F, USC
- Las Vegas Aces: Angel Jackson, C, Jackson State
Turning in the selection that has been virtually set in stone since she announced she would declare for the WNBA draft, the Fever used the No. 1 pick to take Clark. The 5-foot-10 guard joins a team that improved thanks to strong young players last season, going 13-27.
Indiana took Boston College’s Brianne Metchie with the first overall selection last year; Metchie went on to win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award. Now she’ll be part of a backcourt that also includes Mitchell and a frontcourt that includes Boston and Smith, so things should keep trending up in Indianapolis.
The Los Angeles Sparks went 17-23 in 2023. They are looking and hoping that Brink can produce from day one. She will be able to step up and give the team everything it was missing last year. The Sparks lost Nneka Ogwumike to the Seattle Storm this past offseason, and they are looking for Brink to do many of the things that made Ogwumike so successful.
Jackson will also be of a big help, adding massive point production to the Sparks. So in both Brink and Jackson the Sparks have over 40 points per game of offense: that’s an impressive haul.
The Sky got the biggest win with the biggest addition in the form of Cardoso. The Gamecocks star was superb at both ends of the floor last season and is now looking to make her mark in the WNBA. She has proved that she is not just a regular player; she’s here to win. Indeed, Chicago is a few years removed from their WNBA championship, and now they have a new potential star to build around.
Some fans were shocked to watch Reese dropping out of the first five, but that’s to the delight of the Sky. With Reese and Smith on the same team, Chicago has the potential to put up the best frontcourts in the league.