Nika Muhl and WNBA Draft | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Nika Muhl and WNBA Draft

Audi1954 said:
I am thinking Nika Muhl will be drafted in the first round. What WNBA team wouldn’t want her big time after watching her handling of Caitlin Clark last night. Also a great backup point guard, and her shooting has really improved. Nika definitely upped her draft status this game. Anyone else think she will be invited to attend on draft night?
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I always thought so. Total team player and an offensive game still developing. Great defender and passer.
 
Can't she be drafted and then "suspended" or something like that to go play for her Olympic team? Then she gets her chance next year with that team?
 
Players say they want to play in the W so they can compete against the best. That's fine and I understand the sentiment. My issue with the W is that rookie contracts (up to 3 yrs and 4th yr option) barely pay a living wage. The first draft pick doesn't get much more than the last pick and none can make near a $100k a year under the rookie contract. Plus the W has a hard cap so if too many veterans get max contracts a roster spot can't be filled. Why the pay scale is so low has been well chewed over but no matter how good the reasons may be, on just WNBA pay a player will have a hard time finding an apartment they can afford. A player without NIL/endorsement money has to get a second job, either by playing a second season overseas or doing whatever at a non-basketball related job.

So.... I'm in the camp of those who think Nika should blow the W off, and hopefully be able to do better financially and play more overseas.
 
2024 Olympic Women's Basketball Teams

Group A.............Group B.................Group C
Serbia.................Canada...................Germany
Spain...................Nigeria...................USA
China...................Australia................Japan
Puerto Rico.......France....................Belgium
stamfordhusky said:
I didn't think that Croatia qualified for the Olympics.
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You're correct above are the qualifying teams.
 
Viet Vet said:
I think Nika should concentrate on European basketball, where she can make more $, and be close to home. At best, she will be a second round WNBA draft pick. Despite her great defense and adequate three point shot, her ability to create her own shot is suspect.

I have loved her for four years. Her drive, intensity and spirit have been infectious at UConn. But my analysis of her skills is, by necessity,
dispassionate.
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Why can’t she do both like so many others do?
 
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MSGRET said:
I believe that Nika just might go home so that she can prepare for the Olympics with the Croatian National team.
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If she gets a chance to play in the WNBA she should definitely take it. It is the elite league for women's basketball and there are very few slots available. I'm not sure she gets another bite at the apple if she skips this one.
 
On a stream after the North Carolina victory there was some admiration for Nika both for the plan against Caitlin, which many felt NC used as well, and her execution. One comment was "Nika Muhl played her way into a draft spot." And this...

nika baby.jpg
 
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Does anyone think Nika gets invited to the draft event? Or will she just have to sit home and wait for the phone to ring as training camps get underway? Aaliyah will be there... would like to see Nika there too but I think they only invite people that are guaranteed to get picked.
 
Viet Vet said:
I think Nika should concentrate on European basketball, where she can make more $, and be close to home. At best, she will be a second round WNBA draft pick. Despite her great defense and adequate three point shot, her ability to create her own shot is suspect.

I have loved her for four years. Her drive, intensity and spirit have been infectious at UConn. But my analysis of her skills is, by necessity,
dispassionate.
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I agree 100%. Nika will be a star in Europe. Once she starts to develope a jump shot and create her own shot, add in her defense, she'll be the steal of the wnba draft in 2025
 
As with every player in the W, a good fit is required for the player to be chosen and to succeed. I’m sure there are some teams that wouldn’t pick Nika in the first 36. In contrast, there may be some who would draft her in the first 12. The knock on Nika is that she can be reluctant to shoot. If a team is looking for a good distributor, lock-down defender, and Energizer Bunny, Nika may be the best option. I’m not sure she should be at the draft, but I expect she will be in the draft.
 
oldhusky said:
The relatively few openings are somewhat a by-product of the salary cap. Most championship contending teams find it is better to spend the $70,000 or so on upgrading a rotation player, say one of your top 8, than using it for a 12th player. The rebuilding teams might want to try to develop a rookie, and they can't use their cap space sometimes because good free agents don't want to come there.

In addition the high picks go to the weak teams, and the late first round picks in addition to being lesser prospects, go to the better teams that often are shooting for a roster of 11, not 12.
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A bit off topic about Nika but very valid comments about the way the teams in the W use the draft.

As far as Nika, hopefully she gets a chance to play in the WNBA as she would be a great addition to the roster coming off the bench when a spark is needed on defense swell as replacing the SG when needed on offense.
 
I predict Nika will be drafted in the second half of the second round. Whether she will make a roster is a different issue.
 
hoopsfan22 said:
Does anyone think Nika gets invited to the draft event? Or will she just have to sit home and wait for the phone to ring as training camps get underway? Aaliyah will be there... would like to see Nika there too but I think they only invite people that are guaranteed to get picked.
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She may be a difficult call on getting invited. Based on pure draft projections maybe not, but many would like to see her be there so from a ratings standpoint maybe yes. I hope she gets invited and goes even if she has to wait a bit to hear her name called.

I wonder if the criteria is even the same this year. As I understand it they are in a much bigger venue this year, maybe because of the Caitlin affect. if so they might be able to invite far more players and families than in the past.
 
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hoopsfan22 said:
Does anyone think Nika gets invited to the draft event? Or will she just have to sit home and wait for the phone to ring as training camps get underway? Aaliyah will be there... would like to see Nika there too but I think they only invite people that are guaranteed to get picked.
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Yes she will!
 
oldhusky said:
She may be a difficult call on getting invited. Based on pure draft projections maybe not, but many would like to see her be there so from a ratings standpoint maybe yes. I hope she gets invited and goes even if she has to wait a bit to hear her name called.

I wonder if the criteria is even the same this year. As I understand it they are in a much bigger venue this year, maybe because of the Caitlin affect. if so they might be able to invite far more players and families than in the past.
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They really should invite more, but it may be uncomfortable for some to sit there while cameras keep sweeping across the room and they haven’t been picked.
 
It's such a hard league to assess. Some players you would expect to make it didn't and vice versa. I know Didi Richards had a couple of seasons in the league and she wasn't the shooter Nika is. Idk, I think a lot of teams even make sense for her. I don't think Phoenix has a backup point guard. Atlanta also, even Chicago although they seem to have quite a few signed for training camp. I don't see y Nika can't be a Helen Darling type, like at worst.
 
huskeynut said:
Ask Maddie Siegrist. She got very few minutes last season. What a waste of talent.
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Maddie is a liability on defense. The WNBA still plays a little D and if you are one dimensional then you will struggle a couple years for playing time. I think she is one that will have a chance to succeed but may need a year or two to develop.
 
According to this WNBA mock draft Nika could go 1st round!
2024 WNBA Final Mock Draft

FIRST ROUND

  1. Caitlin Clark, Iowa - Indiana Fever
  2. Cameron Brink, Stanford - Los Angeles Sparks
  3. Rickea Jackson, Tennessee - Chicago Sky
  4. Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina - Los Angeles Sparks
  5. Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State - Dallas Wings
  6. Aaliyah Edwards, UConn - Washington Mystics
  7. Angel Reese, LSU - Minnesota Lynx
  8. Nyadiew Pouch, Australia - Chicago Sky
  9. Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech - Dallas Wings
  10. Alissa Pili, Utah - Connecticut Sun
  11. Charisma Osborne, UCLA - New York Liberty
  12. Nika Muhl, UConn - Atlanta Dream
 
RSHERMVIKES said:
According to this WNBA mock draft Nika could go 1st round!
2024 WNBA Final Mock Draft

FIRST ROUND

  1. Caitlin Clark, Iowa - Indiana Fever
  2. Cameron Brink, Stanford - Los Angeles Sparks
  3. Rickea Jackson, Tennessee - Chicago Sky
  4. Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina - Los Angeles Sparks
  5. Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State - Dallas Wings
  6. Aaliyah Edwards, UConn - Washington Mystics
  7. Angel Reese, LSU - Minnesota Lynx
  8. Nyadiew Pouch, Australia - Chicago Sky
  9. Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech - Dallas Wings
  10. Alissa Pili, Utah - Connecticut Sun
  11. Charisma Osborne, UCLA - New York Liberty
  12. Nika Muhl, UConn - Atlanta Dream
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Well considering Amoore is playing at Kentucky next year, not sure how valid this list is.
 
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Somehow I landed on the mailing list for "The Next", an email newsletter about WBB, both college and pro. This morning they produced a new mock draft with extremely detailed evaluations of each player. They had Aaliyah at #4, behind only Clark, Brink, and a Spanish point guard. They projected her "Future Value" as an above-average WNBA starter. More relevant to this thread, they have Nika at #13. I'm going to take a slight liberty (no pun intended) and try to paste in their full evaluation of Nika, since I don't have any way to link to an email. Here it is:

13. Nika Mühl, point guard, UConn​

Age: 23
Height: 5'10
Wingspan: 5'9
Offensive style: Primary ball-handler
Defensive style: Point of attack
Similar to: Ticha Penicheiro, Ricky Rubio
​
Nika Mühl has shown exactly the kind of player she is over and over in her time at Connecticut: A hard-nosed defender who will take on the most difficult perimeter assignment, run the offense, and hit the occasional spot-up three at a fairly high rate.
Mühl is very much a traditional point guard. She is the all-time assists leader at UConn, an excellent passer and active playmaker who runs offense at a very high level. She has proven herself to be a reluctantly capable shooter, and isn’t going to do much in terms of creating her own shot. Mühl’s shooting form is clunky and she does not have the quickest release, but she has made 37% of her 3-pointers over the last two seasons. She can pass off of the drive as well, but given her reluctance to actually get to the rim and finish, defenses don’t exactly go into rotation to have to stop her.
Defense is what makes Mühl a WNBA prospect. She doesn’t have gaudy block or steal numbers but she’s fundamentally sound, supremely quick and extraordinarily strong for a guard. She consistently blows up actions before they can get started because of her positioning and anticipation, and provides elite ball pressure and ball-denial. She loves to pick up opposing ball handlers full-court and deny them the ball in the halfcourt, and she does it all without fouling much — as Clark learned the hard way last Friday. But for a guard as good at defending in isolation as Mühl is, she is surprisingly average at navigating ball screens, though given her ability to flip her hips on the drive, that may be teachable.
Why she'll succeed: Mühl shows herself to be one of the best guard defenders in the world and ups her shooting volume to command enough defensive attention to open her passing and game-management.
Why she'll fail: Mühl continues to pass up open shots, fails to make defenses care about her when she has the ball, and her defense slides a bit with more ball screen reps and without the Huskies’ defensive infrastructure.
Ceiling comps: Jasmine Thomas, Rajon Rondo
Floor comps: If Tully Bevilaqua was a reluctant shooter, Kendall Marshall

Their overall evaluation is that she is a draftable reserve in the WNBA.
 
Viet Vet said:
I think Nika should concentrate on European basketball, where she can make more $, and be close to home. At best, she will be a second round WNBA draft pick. Despite her great defense and adequate three point shot, her ability to create her own shot is suspect.

I have loved her for four years. Her drive, intensity and spirit have been infectious at UConn. But my analysis of her skills is, by necessity,
dispassionate.
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NYCHUSKIES said:
I agree 100%. Nika will be a star in Europe. Once she starts to develope a jump shot and create her own shot, add in her defense, she'll be the steal of the wnba draft in 2025
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I agree with your views, but I think Nika should still go through the WNBA draft experience this year. Learn how it's run, make some contacts with agents and coaching staffs, maybe talk about what they're looking for and what she's missing. Actually making a team is super hard and probably unlikely for Nika but some personal contact with folks in the WNBA world can help inform her plans going forward.
 
Rowdy831 said:
Maddie is a liability on defense. The WNBA still plays a little D and if you are one dimensional then you will struggle a couple years for playing time. I think she is one that will have a chance to succeed but may need a year or two to develop.
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With her trouble covering Caitlin Clark... this Siegrist comment reminds me of
5'7" (maybe) Hailey Van Lith. Good luck to Maddie and Hailey, and Amari,
and Ines... and those hundreds of PORTAL and WNBA hopefuls.
 
RSHERMVIKES said:
According to this WNBA mock draft Nika could go 1st round!
2024 WNBA Final Mock Draft

FIRST ROUND

  1. Caitlin Clark, Iowa - Indiana Fever
  2. Cameron Brink, Stanford - Los Angeles Sparks
  3. Rickea Jackson, Tennessee - Chicago Sky
  4. Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina - Los Angeles Sparks
  5. Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State - Dallas Wings
  6. Aaliyah Edwards, UConn - Washington Mystics
  7. Angel Reese, LSU - Minnesota Lynx
  8. Nyadiew Pouch, Australia - Chicago Sky
  9. Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech - Dallas Wings
  10. Alissa Pili, Utah - Connecticut Sun
  11. Charisma Osborne, UCLA - New York Liberty
  12. Nika Muhl, UConn - Atlanta Dream
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IMG_2111.jpeg

IMG_2112.jpeg
 
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