Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The 2024 WNBA Draft delivered several perplexing selections that had analysts and fans questioning team strategies.
- The Valkyries traded Flau'jae Johnson just minutes after selecting her, acquiring only lower-round assets in return.
- The Sky reached for Gabriela Jaquez when more accomplished players were still the board.
The WNBA Draft has historically been known as a draft with some real head-scratching draft picks, though that's changed a bit over the last few years. Gone (hopefully) are the days of players like Stephanie Soares, Kysre Gondrezick and Chelsea Dungee going in the top five.
But that's not to say Monday's draft didn't feature some shockers. From reaches to a player who went way later than expected, here are the four biggest "huh???" moments from this year's draft.
Gabriela Jaquez
Leave it to the Chicago Sky to be the first team to make a massive reach in this year's draft.
Now, look: I think Gabriela Jaquez is going to be a fine WNBA player. I just don't see the value of taking her with the No. 5 overall pick when, for example, her UCLA teammate Kiki Rice was still on the board. I suppose the reasoning boils down to "Chicago wanted a shooting guard more than a point guard after signing Skylar Diggins," but I'm not sure that's enough to justify this pick.
One issue is that Jaquez isn't much of a creator, so the Sky are hoping she provides enough as an off-ball shooter to justify the pick. The problem is that she's been fairly streaky as far as her 3-point shot goes. While she shot 39.0 percent from deep this season, her mark during Big Ten play was only 29.2 percent. That's a big concern considering it was over a 22-game sample.
The Flau'jae Johnson trade
The most baffling moment of the draft wasn't a pick. It was a team trading a player it picked.
Golden State picked Flau'jae Johnson at No. 8 overall, which felt like a major win for the Valkyries. Johnson was once viewed as a potential lottery pick before a senior season where her shooting efficiency dropped and, with it, her draft stock did as well. Still, her upside made her a great bet there.
And then, a few minutes later, the Valkyries traded her. Which, hey — draft day trades happen! Maybe they managed to get some really good value from a team that wanted her...
Oh, no, they definitely did not get good value. Instead, Johnson was traded to the Seattle Storm for Marta Suárez, the first pick of the second round, and a future second-round pick as well.
Second round picks don't have a great track record of working out in the WNBA, but the Valkyries were content giving up a high-upside player in Johnson for a pair of seconds. Is this just a cost-cutting move? Why not just draft Suárez if you wanted her?
Taina Mair
Of the 15 players picked in the first round, I can totally see the argument for 14 of those players to be first-rounders. The one I struggle to see the vision with is Duke's Taina Mair, the Seattle Storm's choice at No. 14 overall.
I legitimately didn't even consider Mair as a first-round option. I'd have thought, at best, she'd go late in the second, but the Storm must have looked at her strong play in the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament and looked past the fact that she wasn't really as impactful before that.
The big concern with Mair is that she's a guard who can't shoot. She knocked down just 41.1 percent of her shot attempts this past season with the Blue Devils, and while there have been glimpses of some prowess from deep, including a 37.8 percent mark from 3-point range as a junior, those glimpses haven't been consistent enough.
I understand that the Storm felt they needed to add a point guard, but Mair was a reach. The team could have taken a player with better upside at a different position and worried about the point guard thing later, or heck — they could have just drafted Charlisse Leger-Walker. I get that this was a bad draft for that particular position, but the Storm really reached to make this one happen.
Ta'Niya Latson
This one isn't confusing on the team's part, but instead on the rest of the league. How did South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson fall all the way to the Los Angeles Sparks at Pick No. 20???
I get there are concerns with Latson, especially as far as her jump shooting goes. She's a bit too undersized to consistently get to the rim in the W, so she has to develop a more consistent jumper if she's going to be able to stick around the league. With that said, though, we're talking about a player who led Division I in scoring before and just spent a season under the tutelage of Dawn Staley. Surely she merited a team taking a risk a little sooner than 20th, right?
I'm reminded a bit of the Te-Hina Paopao situation last year. They're very different players — and I think teams missing on Paopao is even less excusable — but both were South Carolina guards mocked in the first round who suffered surprise falls into the middle of the second. Paopao quickly proved she was worth a roster spot in Atlanta; I wouldn't be shocked to see
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