Miller hopeful despite late pick
Sun looking to draft one more piece of a potential title team
Curt Miller heads into Monday’s WNBA Draft with three chances to improve his team.
The Sun head coach and general manager is looking for the final piece or two that may put his squad over the top. Connecticut has the 12th, 24th and 36th picks.
“You have the last pick in each round because we had the best record in the league last year,” Miller said. “The great news is we haven’t really had high picks my entire tenure other than my first year. So that means we’ve had some really successful regular seasons. The blessing and the curse.”
In Miller’s tenure the Sun have been one of the best teams in the league. The last two seasons they have lost in the semifinals and in 2019 fell to the Washington Mystics in the finals.
The Sun have a strong core they bring into 2022. The trio of Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones helped lead Connecticut to a league-best 26-6 record in 2021. Jones was named MVP and signed a multiyear deal in February to stay with the Sun. Bonner was second on the team in points averaging 15.2 and adding 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Jones was third on the team, averaging 14.7 points.
“We do have one the strongest frontcourts, if not the strongest frontcourt, in the league,” said Jen Rizzotti, the Sun team president. “Jonquel is returning as the most valuable player and Brionna as the most improved player. We feel good about the core group and the little bit of depth there.”
Finding talent that will supplement the core is critical, but that presents its challenges.
“While there are particular needs in terms of the position that we look for each draft,” Miller said, “we are always at the position, like this year No. 12, that you have to
consider taking the best available position on the board.
“Is the best available player good enough to not take the number one position that you need? Or does the position supersede the best player on the board at that time? That’s always the rub in the draft room.”
Last season the Sun drafted three guards: DiJonai Carrington, Micaela Kelly and Aleah Goodman. Of the three only Carrington made the team, playing in 24 games, and remains on the 2022 roster.
Connecticut also finds itself in a unique position as Alyssa Thomas, a former all-star, continues to round back into form from the Achilles tear she suffered in 2021. She came back late last season, playing two games and averaging 5.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 17.5 minutes.
As Thomas gets back to form, Miller has to factor that in.
“We try not to be prisoners of the moment,” he said. “We try to stay focused on the biggest need long-term and balancing out the best available player on the board at that time.”
Last season the Sun had six players that played significant minutes: Jonquel Jones, Bonner, Brionna Jones, Briann January, Jasmine Thomas and Natisha Hiedeman. With Alyssa Thomas back, the rotation will expand. Hiedeman led the bench in scoring with7.6 points and the Suns are hoping to gain scoring talent through the draft.
“In this draft, like most drafts, I am trying to create as competitive of a training camp as we can,” Miller said. “The goal is to add to the spark of the bench and contribute to the core six that are either reigning all-stars or have been an all-star during their WNBA career.”
Currently, ESPN’s latest mock draft has the Sun selecting UConn’s Christyn Williams in the first round. Williams could provide scoring punch for Connecticut after she averaged 14.2 points in her final season at UConn.
But Miller will evaluate more than just the talent of potential picks.
“I am in the mindset that championships are won in the locker room before they are won on the court,” he said. “I believe in culture. I believe in drafting great people that represent the franchise on and off the court. I am really drawn to great teammates. I am really drawn to people that can contribute to what we believe is a really good culture in Connecticut.
I am blessed with not only talented players but even better people.
“I like to coach players that will fight for the role they want, but be a champion in the role they earn.”
But it’s not easy to project how personalities will mesh.
“I haven’t always got it right,” Miller said. “We’ve made some mistakes. We didn’t add players that contributed to the championship culture in the locker room or off the court. That’s the challenge of the WNBA. We don’t fly people into markets. There are no combines. There’s no Wonderlic Test.
“We are speed-dating with these players in a very, very short window. You don’t always get it right.”
Ultimately, Miller knows a storyline this season will be on how the Sun hasn’t won a championship. Still, he feels his team is ready to win it all and on Monday, nailing the draft picks may get them one step closer.
“I know the negative narrative,” he said. “We’ve come up short. I know the narrative is, ‘We’ve yet to win a championship.’ We are hungry. We believe we are still in the window to compete for championships.”