Sun opt for help in the backcourt
Select three guards, including Baylor's DiJonai Carrington, in WNBA Draft
Connecticut Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller said prior to Thursday night's WNBA Draft that the team was looking to add "offensive pop" off their bench.
Connecticut tried to fill that need by going guard-heavy. The Sun selected Baylor's DiJonai Carrington and Central Michigan's Micaela Kelly with the 20th and 21st overall picks, respectively, in the second round.
The Sun added Oregon State's Aleah Goodman with the 30th overall pick in the third round. Carrington and Goodman are shooting guards, Kelly a point guard.
“(The trio are) certainly three very talented guards who can really score at different levels,” Miller said. “Aleah is one of the premier three-point shooters in the country. Obviously, Micaela had a fantastic year from the arc, also. DiJonai scores at all three levels, so we're really excited about the competition that we brought into camp.
“It played out as well as we could've hoped, so we're really excited tonight.”
The 5-foot-11 Carrington averaged 14.1 points and 4.9 rebounds her senior season with the Bears. She shot 42.6 percent from the floor and earned both Big 12 Sixth Woman of Year, Newcomer of Year and All-Big 12 honorable mention honors after transferring to Baylor after three seasons at Stanford.
Miller was surprised that Carrington was still available at No. 20 and thought that she might go 12th overall (first round) to the Las Vegas Aces.
"We thought (she) may go early in the second (round (or) late first," analyst LaChina Robinson said about Carrington during ESPN's draft broadcast. "She can score at all three levels, but it's her defense, her toughness, her relentlessness — her father (Darren) played in the NFL, she plays with that kind of physicality to her game."
Kelly, 5-6, was a four-year starter who averaged 23.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals as a senior and helped Central Michigan win the 2021 Mid-American Conference tournament. She was also the MAC Player of the Year as a junior.
Goodman, 5-9, averaged 16.2 points as a senior and was a 47.9 percent 3-point shooter (48-of-98).
Connecticut didn't have a firstround pick for the second straight draft after trading three of them to Phoenix for DeWanna Bonner last offseason. Two of those first round picks were in 2020. Bonner earned 2020 All-WNBA second team honors.
The Sun's bench averaged 18.9 points last season, the third-lowest in the league according to statistics compiled by Paul Swanson of the Minnesota Lynx.
Connecticut's bench only has guards Natisha Hiedeman (18.5 minutes per game) and Kaila Charles (17.9) and forward Beatrice Mompremier (8.9) returning. Charles and Mompremier were rookies last season.
The Sun need more consistent outside shooting as much as anything, though. They were thirdto-last in field goal percentage (42.7) last year.
Miller's offense is predicated on playing fast and using 3-point shooting to create space dating back to his days as a college coach. Last year's shooting struggles made that difficult. They averaged the most field goal attempts within five feet of the basket (23.7).
Connecticut also ranked ninth out of 12 teams last season in 3-point attempts per game (19). It was second-worst in three-point percentage (31.2) despite shooting fewer than most.
The Sun certainly have needs but not a lot of openings. Miller said that they will carry 11 players. Guards Briann January, Jasmine Thomas and Charles, and forwards Brionna and Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas and Bonner are locks to make the roster barring the unforeseen.
Reserves Hiedeman and Mom premier both have a good chance to make the final roster, too. That would leave two openings.
Connecticut will be shorthanded overall as Alyssa Thomas' salary will count towards its salary cap even though the odds are against her playing this year. The Sun veteran tore her Achilles tendon while playing overseas this offseason but was a free agent at the time. That meant that she would have the option to be paid this season no matter who signed her.
Thomas was one of the top free agents on the market and was a priority for Connecticut to re-sign. The two parties agreed to a four-year deal in February.
Should those nine players make the final roster, then the Sun would only have two openings. They also signed five players to training camp contracts prior to the draft —guards Tanaya Atkinson, Kamiah Smalls and Sydney Wallace and forwards Morgan Bertsch and Stephanie Jones (Brionna Jones' younger sister) to training camp contracts.