Dallas control draft with top two picks
NEWYORK— The Dallas Wings basically control the WNBA draft on Thursday night with the top two picks and four first-round choices.
It’s the first time in league history that a team will choose both No. 1 and 2. The Wings acquired the top pick in a February trade after being awarded the second choice in the draft lottery.
“It has made draft preparation a little bit easier,” Wings President and General Manager Greg Bibb said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Typically, you’re trying to figure out what you want to do and what everyone else wants to do, andthat impacts what you want to do. The first two picks, you don’t have to worry about that. It’s a nice luxury to have.”
The Wings also have the fifth and seventh picks as well as the first pick in the second round. This draft completes the second half of the team’s long-term strategy after they traded away Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins over the past few years.
“We pivoted our roster construct from a few superstar players to one which would be a on-the-fly rebuild,” he said. “We made a decision at the time of those players moving on, rather than take back other W NBA players I knew would be of lesser value to become a speculator to aggregate a number of draft picks.”
The Wings drafted Satou Sabally, Bella Alarie and Tyasha Harris last year to complement their young team.
“If we can have the same kind of success this year, we have a very talented young core group that joins Arike Ogunbowale, Kayla Thornton, Isabelle Harrison and Allisha Gray,” Bibb said. “It’s a very talented roster with a window of success that is opening.”
Bibb said that the franchise is looking at a number of players for the top two picks and he hasn’t been shy about heaping praise on Finnish player Awak Kuier. The Wings also could draft Texas’ Charli Collier with one of the top picks.
Other players expected to go early in the draft include Arizona’s Aari McDonald, Louisville’s Dana Evans, and Rutgers’ Arella Guirantes.
For the second straight season the draft will be held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will be announcing picks from an ESPN studio in NewYork and players will be at home when they are drafted.
The other picks in the first round are: Atlanta at 3, Indiana at 4, New York at 6, Chicago at 8, followed by Minnesota, Los Angeles, Seattle and Las Vegas. The Washington Mystics currently have no picks in the draft.