Yahoo Sports 2024 WNBA Draft: Indiana Fever land No. 1 selection in lottery with Caitlin Clark the presumptive top pick
The Indiana Fever landed the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft and the potential to draft reigning Naismith Award winner Caitlin Clark if the Iowa point guard opts into the draft. It's the second straight season the Fever will have the top overall pick and third straight top-two selection.
The top four picks are completed by Los Angeles Sparks (No. 2), Phoenix Mercury (No. 3) and Seattle Storm (No. 4) as revealed by WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin. The annual draft lottery aired during ESPN’s broadcast of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase tripleheader Sunday. The three-round WNBA Draft is typically held the week after the NCAA championship game, which will be held in Cleveland on April 7.
It is a star-studded draft class, but an uncertain one. It’s the final year of the COVID-19 waiver that allows athletes to stay an additional year because the 2020 seasons were interrupted due to the pandemic.
Clark, who is on pace to break Division I career scoring records, said she’ll make her decision based on her gut. The deadline is late March, unless the player’s team is still in the NCAA tournament. If they are, they have 48 hours after their last game to opt into the draft.
Who will be in the WNBA Draft?
Clark is the presumptive No. 1 pick after leading Division I in assists per game (8.6), 3-pointers (140) and finishing second in scoring average (27.8) as a junior. She remains among the top players as a senior even without her pick-and-roll partner, post Monika Czinano. Her high basketball IQ and ability to see the floor will help any team, but will be particularly intriguing alongside Aliyah Boston on the young Fever squad. It’s also close to her home in Iowa, which would draw a large fanbase that travels well.
Paige Bueckers is the likely No. 2 overall pick, though the 6-foot point guard could also easily go No. 1. Bueckers, the 2021 Naismith winner as a freshman at UConn, has also not made a public decision on if she will enter the draft. She redshirted last season while rehabbing an ACL tear and has two more years of eligibility if she chooses to take them. Bueckers entered college as a generational talent tasked with bringing another title to Storrs, Connecticut, but has endured various injuries throughout her career.
It’s difficult to say Stanford power forward Cameron Brink upped her draft stock already this season since she came into the year a likely lottery pick. But she is certainly asserting herself as a strong WNBA prospect averaging career highs in average scoring, rebounds and blocks. The 6-4 senior has also not spoken publicly about intentions to stay in school or enter the draft. Stanford is in its final season as part of the Pac-12.
Aaliyah Edwards, a 6-3 senior forward at UConn and member of the Canadian national team pool; Hailey Van Lith, LSU’s 5-7 senior shooting guard; Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina's 6-7 center; and Rickea Jackson, Tennessee’s 6-2 senior power forward, could all slot into the lottery spots.
Jackson is the only one of the bunch who is a fifth-year player without the option of an additional season. LSU’s Angel Reese and the Virginia Tech duo of Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley could also enter.
2024 WNBA Draft lottery, order
The Fever came into the day with the best odds (44.2%) at the No. 1 pick. Their cumulative two-year record is 18-58 and they used last year’s No. 1 pick, the first in franchise history, to draft Boston from South Carolina. Boston won Rookie of the Year honors and is the foundational block for the Fever’s rebuild.
The Mercury came in with the second-best odds (24-52, 27.6%), followed by the Sparks (30-46, 17.8%) and Storm (33-43, 10.4%).
The Mercury haven’t drafted in the first round since 2020 and not in the lottery since 2013, when they drafted Brittney Griner out of Baylor at No. 1. The Sparks last drafted in the lottery in 2012 when they took Nneka Ogwumike at No. 1 out of Stanford. And the Storm last drafted in the lottery in 2016 when they took UConn star Breanna Stewart at No. 1 overall.
The first-round draft order, with pick Nos. 5-12 as determined by 2023 standings, is as follows:
1. Indiana
2. Los Angeles
3. Phoenix
4. Seattle
5. Dallas (from Chicago)
6. Washington
7. Minnesota
8. Atlanta
9. Dallas
10. Connecticut
11. New York
12. Los Angeles (from Las Vegas)
