Thibault’s determination helps kind out the highest of this draft. There isn’t an undisputed No. 1 selection — resembling Wilson in 2018, Stewart in 2016 or Sabrina Ionescu in 2020. Kentucky guard Rhyne Howard and Baylor ahead NaLyssa Smith are extensively thought-about the cream of the crop because the draft arrives at 7 p.m. Monday, however Thibault and his employees imagine three players must be within the dialog.
“The vote we took around the table was, ‘If we don’t know who we’re getting, are we all still good with [picking at] three?’ ” Thibault stated. “Whichever one ends up there, we’re good. And that was the vote.”
On Wednesday, the Mystics traded the No. 1 decide to the Atlanta Dream for the No. 3 and No. 14 picks and the power to swap 2023 first-rounders, with that decide coming from the Los Angeles Sparks. Multiple folks aware of the scenario indicated the Mystics didn’t come to a consensus amongst three prospects within the draft, together with Howard and Smith.
As a senior, the 6-foot-2 Howard averaged 20.5 factors and seven.4 rebounds. A dynamic scorer on all three ranges, Howard is an enormous guard with a quiet, unassuming nature that some understand as passivity.
Analyst Debbie Antonelli stated Howard has each attribute she must thrive on the subsequent stage.
“Her offensive game 100 percent transfers to the WNBA,” Antonelli stated. “People question her motor. … At Kentucky, she’s got to do everything. She’s going to take every shot, look for some offense, handle the ball — everything. And so she might take a break on defense, or she might go into the corner on one offensive set and not do anything like a decoy. Her effort and her productivity and her desire and all of that is going to be much more efficient in the WNBA. … I have zero questions about her.”
Howard heard the criticism. She confirmed as much as a pre-draft assembly with the Mystics in enterprise apparel to ship a message: Don’t let my soft-spoken demeanor, which incorporates an artsy facet, overshadow my on-court manufacturing.
“I think I’ll be a better professional player than a college player,” she stated. “I know I took a couple of plays off, but there’s going to be people better than me, and every day’s going to be a dogfight, even in practice. I’ll be forced to always go hard, or I’m not going to play.”
Smith, a 6-4 rebounding machine, brings a special talent set. There are not any questions on her motor; she averaged 22.1 factors and 11.5 rebounds as a senior and assaults the glass with reckless abandon. Her offensive sport isn’t as wide-ranging as Howard’s, however she’s a bodily submit presence and an underrated passer.
“Can guard every position, rebounds, runs, very physical, body ready,” Antonelli stated. “And then there comes her skill set — around the rim, pull-up jump shot. Now she’s a screen and a roll or a screen and a short pop, but she’s not a screen pop to the three-point line and shoot a three yet. I think she could get that. But I think you draft her because you need help on the glass, multiple defensive capabilities and an evolving offensive game.”
When discussing her future, Smith referenced altering the course of her franchise. Those aspirations come from the identical place that created her “Energizer Bunny” on-floor persona.
“It just comes from the will to win,” she stated. “I hate losing, and I just want to win every single game. So it’s just doing what my team needs me to do to win a basketball game, just wanting to be great. I feel like my purpose on the team is to help this team win a championship.”
Things get tough at No. 3. Thibault’s Mystics usually are not a typical lottery workforce, making an attempt to rebuild; they missed final season’s playoffs on a tiebreaker after they had been hamstrung by accidents. The roster is filled with veterans, and this workforce nonetheless has professional aspirations — when wholesome — so as to add to its championship from 2019 with a core of Elena Delle Donne, Alysha Clark, Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins, Myisha Hines-Allen, Elizabeth Williams and Tianna Hawkins. Whomever the Mystics choose at No. 3 is unlikely to start out or be anticipated to log heavy minutes.
The Mystics may use one other scorer on the wing or one other submit participant after saying goodbye to Tina Charles and Emma Meesseman in free company. As most mock drafts did, ESPN analysts LaChina Robinson and Rebecca Lobo pegged 6-5 Mississippi middle Shakira Austin, the previous Riverdale Baptist and Maryland standout, because the third-best prospect after she averaged 15.2 factors and 9.0 rebounds final season. But Thibault has been recognized to zig when others anticipate him to zag.
Oregon middle/ahead Nyara Sabally could possibly be within the combine after averaging 15.4 factors, 7.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. She solely performed two years with the Ducks; a pair of ACL surgical procedures erased her first two seasons.
“Nyara is loaded with talent — the biggest question is her health,” Lobo stated. “I think that’s going to be a big factor in terms of where she’s taken, but she’s certainly skilled.”
Added Robinson: “I remember being at Oregon and everyone was talking about ‘Nyara, Nyara.’ [WNBA all-star sister Satou Sabally] was still there at the time, and [the talk was] how she was just as good and could be better potentially than her sister as a pro. So, very talented.”
The consensus is that this draft is deeper than final season’s, given the extra prospects accessible after faculty players had been granted an additional yr of eligibility due to the pandemic. That’s why Thibault sought so as to add one other decide. He has dug up some second-round gems, together with Cloud at No. 15 in 2015 and Hines-Allen at No. 19 in 2018. And if the Sparks battle this season, he may have one other excessive decide in what’s anticipated to be a proficient high half of the 2023 draft.
Thibault took a threat by transferring right down to No. 3 in a draft through which two names have dominated the dialog, however 20 years main WNBA franchises made him comfy with that call.