Can rookie draftees make the roster?

The Sun selected four players in the 2024 WNBA Draft, but only two are expected to actually participate in this season’s training camp. Connecticut took French guard Leila Lacan with the No. 10 pick in the first round, and the 19 year old will remain overseas this year to compete with her national team in the Paris Olympic Games. Guard Abbey Hsu, the Sun’s thirdround pick at No. 34, will also sit out this year’s camp as she completes her senior year at Columbia. Hsu was the first-ever WNBA Draft pick out of Columbia, though she would have been a long shot to make Connecticut’s final roster.

Part of the reason the Sun were willing to defer adding their first rounder for a year is because of how few spots are up for grabs. Four of five Week 1 starters from 2023 return plus seven of nine players that averaged at least 15 minutes per game. All of Connecticut’s free agency additions have at least five years of experience in the league, and three of the team’s training camp contract signees are former first-round picks.

Second-round selections Helena Pueyo from Arizona and Taiyanna Jackson from Kansas will contend primarily with the four players on training camp deals for two available roster spots. Pueyo fills a bigger need for the Sun as an elite defensive guard, and at 6-foot she has a bit more size than most of the team’s returners in the backcourt. She was a two-time Pac-12 All-defensive selection at Arizona, and general manager Darius Taylor called her the “steal of the draft” at No. 22 overall.

Jackson had a breakout senior season for the Jayhawks averaging a double-double, and there’s no question the Sun could use her prowess as a rim protector, but it’s harder to find space of her in the lineup with 6-5 centers Astou Ndour-fall and Olivia Nelson-ododa already complementing the stars in the front court. Ododa is also a Uconn standout and was impactful off the bench of the Sun last year averaging 4.5 points on 53.7% shooting in 15 minutes per game. Ndour-fall won a WNBA title with the Chicago Sky in 2021 and joined Connecticut as a free agent this offseason.