WNBA draft to be held virtually
The WNBA will hold its player planned — but in virtual fashion.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will announce the picks in the three-round draft live on ESPN2 with top prospects taking part remotely, the league announced Thursday.
Deadline for draft application for eligible players still with NCAA eligiblity is April 7. That include Arizona AllAmerica guard Aari McDonald, who just completed her junior season.
The NCAA still is considering extending another year of eligibility to seniors in winter sports who were not able to complete their season due to the coronavirus pandemic. That decision, on winter and spring sport athletes, is expected to be made before the draft declaration deadline.
During the draft, the WNBA will honor youth basketball players Alyssa Altobelli, Gianna Bryant and Payton Chester, who died in a helicopter accident on Jan. 26. The WNBA also plans to honor the late Kobe Bryant, an advocate of the league, during the draft and throughout the season.
The Phoenix Mercury, after being active in free agency, have the No. 10 (first round), 18 (second) and 29 (third) picks in the draft.
The Mercury currently have 11 players under contract including guard Yvonne Turner, who is injured, and can carry up to 12.
WNBA training camps are scheduled to open April 26 with the season beginning May 15. The Mercury’s first game is May 17 vs. Seattle at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the team will play this season due to renovations at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The Phoenix Suns are expected to complete their season at Talking Stick Resort Arena once the NBA resumes play.
Those dates are all fluid due to the pandemic with
draft
April
17 as various scenarios for possible changes being considered by the league.
The WNBA has unexpected flexibility in its season due to a planned Olympic break July 11-Aug. 15 that is no longer needed due to the Tokyo Olympics being moved to 2021.
“Getting live sports back on television, I think we have almost a public service responsibility to do everything we can,” Engelbert told the New York Times. “Because it’s clear that everybody’s missing live sports.”
Where there could be NBA/WNBA arena conflicts this summer, Engelbert said doubleheaders are possible. Or that “one of our transformational goals is to expand the fandom, expand the reach of the WNBA beyond our 12 cities to get more exposure to our players in our potential fan population. So we could actually be creative here and think about other cities.”