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2017 WNBA Draft: Lynx Pick 12th

The WNBA draft is tonight. Another Lynx season is on the way.

By Eric in Madison
WNBA: Los Angeles Sparks at Minnesota Lynx Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

WNBA Draft
6:00 pm CDT
ESPN2

I always view the WNBA draft as the unofficial kick-off of the new season. Unlike the NBA draft, it comes just a month before the season starts, which for the Lynx will be on May 14th at their temporary home the Xcel Energy Center.

Draft picks have not been a priority for the Lynx in recent years as they have competed for (and won) titles with a veteran squad, and have not had high picks nor roster spots to spend on a lot of young talent. It’s left them without much in terms of players for the future, and once again they will be picking last in the draft order tonight thanks to their league-best record last season.

We’ll have more preview content for the Lynx and the league as a whole over the coming month, but you will notice that the Chicago Sky got the second pick this draft from the Washington Mystics; this is part of what they received for trading star Elena Delle Donne in the biggest trade of the off-season.

Here’s the order as it stands right now:

  1. San Antonio Stars (Likely to draft Kelsey Plum from Washington.)
  2. Chicago Sky (from Washington.)
  3. Dallas Wings
  4. Dallas Wings (from Connecticut.)
  5. San Antonio Stars (from Phoenix.)
  6. Washington Mystics (from Seattle.)
  7. Atlanta Dream
  8. Connecticut Sun (from Indiana.)
  9. Chicago Sky
  10. Dallas Wings (from New York.)
  11. Los Angeles Sparks
  12. Minnesota Lynx

Three teams (Sky, Wings, Stars) have multiple picks in what appears to be a strong and deep draft, giving them real rebuilding opportunities. The Mystics got an All-Star in Delle Donne and still have a good pick.

The Lynx remain a strong contender, but it isn’t going to get any easier, and finding talent at the end of the draft is difficult. They definitely need some talented youth for the inevitable roster transition that won’t happen this year but is coming soon.

Here is the Swish Appeal mock draft, which has the Lynx selecting Leticia Romero, a Spanish National Team player and Florida State Seminole who is a terrific three point shooter, and the ESPN mock, which has them taking Alexis Peterson, a guard from Syracuse who put up big numbers and might be a scorer off the bench.