Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
The Tamika Catchings era of the Indiana Fever that is, with Catchings as the team’s general manager and vice president of basketball operations has not yet reached the lofty heights once enjoyed by Catchings as a player. A coaching change to Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Marianne Stanley prior to 2020 did little to guide Indiana back to contention, with the Fever missing their fourth consecutive postseason.
As typical of many young management regimes, Catchings and Stanley opted to make significant roster changes heading into the 2021 season. Candice Dupree, who currently ranks fifth on the WNBA’s all-time scoring ladder, decided to join the Seattle Storm as a free agent, while respected veterans Erica Wheeler and Natalie Achonwa moved on to the Los Angeles Sparks and Minnesota Lynx, respectively.
As the countdown to Thursday s 2021 WNBA draft (7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App) continues, the biggest question isn t focused on which player might be selected first. Texas junior Charli Collier remains the projected No. 1 pick.
But with the Wings trading the No. 7 pick to the Los Angeles Sparks before Wednesday s draft trade deadline, now we wonder: Which player are the Sparks targeting for that pick? Dallas still holds four of the first 13 selections, but now the Sparks have two in the first round.
Could Los Angeles be after a local college star in UCLA s Michaela Onyenwere? If point guards Aari McDonald and Dana Evans go in the top six, and Onyenwere is still available, she could be the Sparks choice at No. 7. Los Angeles coach/general manager Derek Fisher said he wants playmakers and versatile defenders. Players such as Onyenwere and DiJonai Carrington also could fit that bill.
Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser /NBAE via Getty Images
In the 2021 WNBA Draft, the Connecticut Sun got a dream scenario at No. 20 and could add two draft picks to their roster, the Chicago Sky got exactly what they needed plus a steal who should both make their roster, the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty did both did a solid job and the Indiana Fever followed up a dull free agency period without a home run in the draft. Here are our draft grades for the East:
Connecticut Sun (A-)
Picks: 20. DiJonai Carrington (Baylor Lady Bears), 21. Micaela Kelly (Central Michigan Chippewas), 30. Aleah Goodman (Oregon State Beavers)
Alabama News
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Jasmine Walker was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 Women’s National Basketball Association Draft on Thursday night.
Walker is the seventh Crimson Tide player to be drafted in the WNBA’s 25-year history and the first since 2005. She is also the second from Alabama to go in the first round, joining Tausha Mills, who went No. 2 overall to Washington in 2000.
It was a year for the record books for Walker, setting the program’s single-game scoring mark with 41 points and working her way into every three-point top-10 list. She also earned several accolades along the way, including WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors and SEC All-First Team recognition and was a finalist for the Katrina McClain Award and was one of 30 on the Naismith Midseason Team.
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