WNBA Draft Lottery

[bschwartz]

Haven't seen anything official but I've heard that it is:

1. Sparks
2.Sky
3.Lynx
4. Shock

I am a little surprised that it isn't on WNBA.com. Will have to see the full order before guesses where Miss Tiff might go. If she comes out, EDD may have to play for a West Coast team.

 

[VAMike23]

I would be 'shocked' if Tulsa got the worst case scenario - and also, what about the Mystics? I didn't even know they were doing the lottery yet (if indeed they are).

Edit: Ooops - I forgot Minnesota has the Mystics' pick.

 

[VAMike23]

Of course, the *really* big lottery is for 2013, when Griner comes out.

 

[easttexastrash]

Next year will probably be the most coveted number 1 pick in the history of the WNBA, although Parker and Moore were pretty big deals. But Griner's talents are still so raw and her upside is so vast that nobody knows to what heights her game will go.

 

[bschwartz]

Here is the full order according to Swish Appeal
1. Sparks
2.Sky
3.Lynx
4. Shock
5. San Antonio

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6. Phoenix ​

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7. New York ​

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8. Washington from Atlanta (L. Harding/T Phillips, K. Miller - 4/11/11) ​

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9. Connecticut ​

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10. Washington from Seattle (K. Smith, J. Monroe/J. Thomas - 4/29/11) ​

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11. Indiana ​

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12. Minnesota ​

 

[VAMike23]

WOW.

So it really did go in precisely reverse order to the prevailing odds. That's something else! Oh well, not a tremendous impact this year in any event.

The Sparks will probably take Nneka unless someone else has a real break-out year. The Lynx may be able to grab someone like Shenise Johnson of Miami at #3.

 

[easttexastrash]

I really hate to say it, but I am guessing that Tulsa will stink it up again next summer and will end up at the top of the draft board next year. I would hate to see Griner end up in Tulsa but there is a good chance she could end up there with Cambage. I hate to wish a bad year on San Antonio, but I would like to see them get a shot at Griner so that she could stay close to home.

If you are Chicago and you already have Big Syl would you keep Griner or trade her?

 

[RoyDodger]

Here is the full order according to Swish Appeal
1. Sparks
2.Sky
3.Lynx
4. Shock
5. San Antonio

6. Phoenix ​

7. New York ​

8. Washington from Atlanta (L. Harding/T Phillips, K. Miller - 4/11/11) ​

9. Connecticut ​

10. Washington from Seattle (K. Smith, J. Monroe/J. Thomas - 4/29/11) ​

11. Indiana ​

12. Minnesota ​

The original concept of a draft was to guarantee that the teams that were down had a chance to improve by having the early draft picks. It was hoped that this would lead to parity. But somewhere along the line someone in basketball came up with the lottery which allows a desperate team like the Shock to pick fourth, instead of first (and ironically BEHIND the champion Lynx). If anyone knows the story of the origin of the NBA andWNBA Lottery, I'd like to hear it.

 

[bschwartz]

The original concept of a draft was to guarantee that the teams that were down had a chance to improve by having the early draft picks. It was hoped that this would lead to parity. But somewhere along the line someone in basketball came up with the lottery which allows a desperate team like the Shock to pick fourth, instead of first (and ironically BEHIND the champion Lynx). If anyone knows the story of the origin of the NBA andWNBA Lottery, I'd like to hear it.

A big part of the lottery rationale was to prevent teams from losing on purpose to get a better draft pick and to screw up gamblers. If there was no lottery this year, the Lynx would get an even better pick because they traded for Washington's pick. So they have that plus their own draft pick in the 1st round. That's what happens when you have good management, good things happen that can appear like luck such as giving up Renee and Tina Charles for Maya Moore (Maya is a better fit for their current roster).

 

[Scotter]

A big part of the lottery rationale was to prevent teams from losing on purpose to get a better draft pick and to screw up gamblers. If there was no lottery this year, the Lynx would get an even better pick because they traded for Washington's pick. So they have that plus their own draft pick in the 1st round. That's what happens when you have good management, good things happen that can appear like luck such as giving up Renee and Tina Charles for Maya Moore (Maya is a better fit for their current roster).

Maya was not in any way involved with the Whalen trade brought Renee and Tina to the Sun. Maya was drafted with Minnesota's own pick, which was the result of Minnesota managing to be one of the worst teams in a terrible Western conference in 2010. That was partly the result of injuries to Augustus and Wiggins, but they still underachieved their way to Maya Moore and needed lottery luck on top of that.

 

[Scotter]

The original concept of a draft was to guarantee that the teams that were down had a chance to improve by having the early draft picks. It was hoped that this would lead to parity. But somewhere along the line someone in basketball came up with the lottery which allows a desperate team like the Shock to pick fourth, instead of first (and ironically BEHIND the champion Lynx). If anyone knows the story of the origin of the NBA andWNBA Lottery, I'd like to hear it.

In the head up to the 1984 NBA draft the Houston Rockets and several other teams were accused of purposefully losing games in order to finish in last pace and get to draft Hakeem Olajuwon. With teams likely to follow the same path the following season with Patrick Ewing set to be drafted the NBA instituted the lottery to discourage teams from tanking. The Knicks would win the first NBA lottery and draft Ewing, and conspiracy theorists immediately began to accuse the NBA of fixing the lottery in order to get Ewing to New York. And there are similar WNBA conspiracy theorists. So you either have a scenario where teams are fixing games or the league is accused of fixing the lottery. The WNBA has a draft lottery because the NBA does and for the same reasons.

 

[RoyDodger]

In the head up to the 1984 NBA draft the Houston Rockets and several other teams were accused of purposefully losing games in order to finish in last pace and get to draft Hakeem Olajuwon. With teams likely to follow the same path the following season with Patrick Ewing set to be drafted the NBA instituted the lottery to discourage teams from tanking. The Knicks would win the first NBA lottery and draft Ewing, and conspiracy theorists immediately began to accuse the NBA of fixing the lottery in order to get Ewing to New York. And there are similar WNBA conspiracy theorists. So you either have a scenario where teams are fixing games or the league is accused of fixing the lottery. The WNBA has a draft lottery because the NBA does and for the same reasons.

Says an awful lot about ethics in professional sports. I can understand this, but it still seems pretty draconian considering that in the next WNBA draft three teams, including the championship team, wind up drafting ahead of the team that needs to improve the most.

 

[Scotter]

Says an awful lot about ethics in professional sports. I can understand this, but it still seems pretty draconian considering that in the next WNBA draft three teams, including the championship team, wind up drafting ahead of the team that needs to improve the most.

A similar situation isn't that uncommon with the team with the worst record picking fourth. The flip side is the lottery allows a team that is doing the right things and win games, but stuck in mediocrity because of talent get out of mediocrity by a talent infusion. Just giving the best talent to the worst team when the worst team likely has existing management and coaching inadequacies isn't necessarily a good thing for the league.