WNBA eyes NCAA bounce
The WNBA Draft is this week and there are a slew of intriguing prospects, including South Carolina center Aliyah Boston, who is expected to go first to the Indiana Fever. But as the talent in the league increases, roster spots haven’t, and many of the 12 WNBA teams, because of finances, refrain from keeping the maximum 12 players.
That could result in many of the 36 players drafted this week being waived, even first-rounders.
A WNBA first-round pick doesn’t receive a guaranteed three-year contract like their cohorts do in the NBA, and leaving school early is a calculated risk, especially with potential NIL deals now available in college.
“I think one of the biggest concerns is just losing some of the talent. There is a lot of talent that’s out there, and being able to keep that talent here in the States,” Atlanta Dream coach Tanisha Wright said. “I think the league will have expansion eventually. Nobody knows exactly when that’ll happen, but I do think it’ll come. And when it comes, we’ll be able to give opportunities to the young ladies that are coming from college and all this energy that’s surrounding women’s hoops right now.
“So, we’ll be able to bottle that up and bring it to the W, and hopefully in the interim, start to get some college fans in support of the W because some of their favorite players are now translating to the professional league.”
The WNBA is banking that support from the NCAA Tournament, which had the most successful rating rise in history that featured personalities such as Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, will spill over to the professional game. (Though Reese and Clark are not yet eligible for the draft.)
“I think that we all want the same thing, with regard to expanding our league, not only in teams but perhaps roster size,” Minnesota and Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We think that’s a healthy space for the situation you’re talking about, and certainly life in the WNBA, as we’ve talked about in past years. When the time is right, that’s going to happen.
“That’s obviously higher than all of our pay grade that’s on here now. I think that if you look at — and I’ve done this recently because the narrative was so strong — we’re kind of defenseless, some of the things that are being said about either opportunities in our league or when you get to our league what’s available to you versus what they have in college.”
The reality is it’s difficult for rookies to make WNBA rosters and make an impact. There has been long-term talk of expansion with cities such as Oakland and Toronto interested in teams but no real traction toward fruition.
“I think that one of the narratives is — I’m not sure that the percentage — to make a team or be a professional is all that different than it is in the NBA,” Reeve said. “I think there’s about a 1 percent chance in the men’s game, if
I’m not mistaken, in terms of what I’ve researched, and I don’t think we’re far off of that.
“I think if you look at last year in the [WNBA] draft, I believe half the second round made a team, in addition to most first-rounders. That’s pretty significant. Whether that happens this year or not remains to be seen.”
Top college prospects have to ponder whether it’s worth it to leave school early when making a roster is no guarantee.
UCLA guard Charisma Osborne declared for the draft and then rescinded her name this past week. Sedona
Prince and Endyia Rogers of Oregon and Arizona’s Esmery Martinez also took their names of out of the draft.
“The WNBA is a tough league to make, so I always feel like staying in school and developing your skills and becoming more versatile is an asset,” ESPN analyst LaChina Robinson said. “But you could also come out and go to the league and have better draft position, depending on what that year looks like and go play overseas and develop and just make that big of a difference in your second year.
“It’s situational, and more attractive to do NIL, quite honestly, in some situations, to stay in school, because these student-athletes are making significant money at the college level playing basketball. Every situation is different, but I was definitely intrigued and kind of crossing names off the list and adding some. It was an interesting countdown to the draft for sure.”
Reese and Clark could potentially make more money with NIL and endorsements in college than as WNBA first-round picks. The current top salary in the WNBA is $234,936.
“Right now we’re riding some incredible momentum in terms of the excitement surrounding women’s basketball because of the viewership numbers of the Final Four and the national championship game and the stars that we were watching throughout the course of the NCAA Tournament,” former UConn standout and Naismith
Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo said. “I can say this: A lot of coaches and GMs are looking forward to 2025 when they no longer have to account for the possibility of players returning for their fifth year and a COVID year.
“It makes it really hard when they’re trying to figure out, all right, do I want to trade? What is this draft class going to look like? Even next year you have Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers and Cameron Brink all as players who could make it a huge star-laden draft, or they could all return and then they’re not available until 2025.”
There is no guarantee that any of those three standouts will make themselves available for the 2024 draft. NIL has made staying in school more attractive. The WNBA will have to make itself more appealing to prospects with improved salaries and travel conditions.
“I think the COVID year has certainly impacted things because when you look at a projected draft class and how good it’s going to be,” Lobo said. “It’s been really challenging for people to do that the last couple years because you don’t know exactly which players are going to be eligible or make themselves eligible versus which players are going to return for that fifth year at their school.”
Layups
The Pelicans have made a spirited run to claim a play-in spot, but their run is likely to continue without Zion Williamson. The team released an update on the former All-Star’s hamstring injury and said he was making progress but will continue to work toward full recovery. That means he won’t be available for the play-in game and is unlikely for a potential first-round series. When the season ends, Williamson will have played in 114 of a possible 308 games in his four-year career, or just 37 percent. He missed all of last season with a foot injury and played in only 29 games this season. Williamson, who was taken first overall in 2019 over Ja Morant,
was expected to be a franchise-changing player, but his career has been marred by injuries to his lower extremities. Williamson signed a five-year maximum contract last summer and the Pelicans are being cautious with his health, but he’s missed almost two entire seasons . . . Andrew Wiggins is back practicing with the Warriors after missing the past two months attending to his ill father Mitchell. The Warriors have suffered defensively in his absence but there is renewed enthusiasm that Golden State could be a playoff factor with Wiggins and a healthy Gary Payton II. Of course, the Warriors still have no idea whether they’ll have to participate in the play-in tournament in the convoluted Western Conference, but they will not have home-court advantage in any of their playoff series, partly because of their poor road record . . . Former Celtics coach Ime Udoka could emerge as a viable candidate for open positions in coming weeks. There could be openings in Toronto, Detroit, and Houston, while situations in Washington and Dallas are also ones to watch. Udoka has maintained a low profile since being suspended by the Celtics for inappropriate actions in a consensual relationship with a team employee, but he is interested in coaching again and could be a top choice. In Detroit, the Pistons have been one of the most disappointing and injury-plagued teams this season and coach Dwane Casey
could be bumped up to a front office position. Former Celtics assistant Jerome Allen could also be in the mix for that position. He’s been Casey’s top assistant the past two years. The Pistons will have another high lottery pick in addition to young cornerstones such as
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and
Jalen Duren.