Looking back at 10 years of Storm Draft History
Great picks, bad picks, and trades. What can be learned from previous Storm drafts?
The Seattle Storm have built their franchise through the WNBA Draft. The organization’s biggest cornerstone pieces came from winning the Draft Lottery in four separate years (2001, 2002, 2015, 2016). They hit on all four players in Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, and Breanna Stewart which led to numerous All-Star appearances, multiple MVP awards, broken records, and four WNBA Championships.
However, when the team hasn’t had the number one overall pick the results have varied significantly. It’s also interesting to see how the franchise hasn’t always valued their draft picks. Although maybe saying that isn’t quite accurate. It’s not that they don’t value the draft, it’s that they’ve used their draft assets to acquire veterans which have also seen mixed results over the years. At times it has completely backfired and other times the trades were the correct moves to make.
I wanted to take a look at the Storm’s draft history to see how they’ve fared over the years. To see the decisions they’ve made and how they could impact their future drafts.
2012 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Shekinna Stricklen (Tennessee) - with the 2nd overall pick.
Round 2:
Keisha Hampton (DePaul) - selected 22nd overall.
This draft class has produced four WNBA All-Stars, two in the first round and two in the second. Nneka Ogwumike (1st overall), Glory Johnson (4th overall), Tiffany Hayes (14th overall), and Riquna Williams (17th overall) have all made at least one All-Star game.
Prior to the 2012 Draft, then Coach and General Manager Brian Agler had traded away All-Star forward Swin Cash in order to land the number two overall pick. I was not covering the team at that time but I have to imagine Agler had hoped that either Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins, or Elena Delle Donne would opt out early and join the WNBA in 2012. Even if just one of those three players had done so and ended up being selected number one overall then Nneka Ogwumike would have fallen to Seattle.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and they were left trying to identify the next best player available. They opted for Shekinna Stricklen and while she became a serviceable role player, having her best season in 2013 where she started 21 games and averaged 10.0 PPG. It certainly wasn’t the outcome Seattle had hoped for. Stricklen would play just three seasons with the Storm before being traded to Connecticut alongside Camille Little for Renee Montgomery and multiple draft picks in 2015.
Hampton, selected in the second round, didn’t make the team and never played for the Storm.
2013 and 2014 WNBA Drafts
2013 Round 1:
Tianna Hawkins (Maryland) - selected 6th overall.
2013 Round 2:
Chelsea Poppens (Iowa State) - selected 18th overall.
2014 Round 1:
Bria Hartley (UConn) - selected 7th overall.
2014 Round 2:
Michelle Plouffe (Utah) - selected 19th overall.
In 2013, Brian Agler selected Tianna Hawkins 6th overall. The 2013 Draft class was stacked with talent as six separate players have been named to at least one WNBA All-Star team. The top three are arguably the best of all time in Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, and Skylar Diggins-Smith. Emma Meesseman is the other notable player from this draft selected 19th overall in the second round (one pick after the Storm took Chelsea Poppens).
Looking over the players selected, Hawkins is actually one of the better players to come out of that draft from where she was selected. However, she didn’t get much playing time in her lone season in Seattle averaging less than ten minutes a game while scoring roughly 3.5 PPG.
Hawkins was traded away on draft night one year later in 2014. She would go on to be a serviceable role player with the Washington Mystics for six seasons; having her best season in 2019 averaging 9.5 PPG and 4.2 RPG and putting up similar numbers in 2020.
On draft day in 2014, the Storm used their first-round pick to select UConn point guard Bria Hartley. For a brief moment, this looked like the next heir apparent to Sue Bird. It turns out that wasn’t the plan at all. Instead, Agler was on the phone with Washington’s Mike Thibault as they arranged a trade to send Seattle’s 2013 first-round pick (Hawkins) and their current selection (Hartley) in exchange for two-time All-Star Crystal Langhorne.
This was the opposite approach the team took in 2012. In 2012, they traded away an established veteran All-Star in Cash to land a top prospect. In 2014, Agler traded away two young first-round prospects for an established starter in Crystal Langhorne.
This trade certainly worked out better for Seattle than the Cash one did. Langhorne would finish her career with the Storm playing her final seven seasons with the team. And while she was never named to another All-Star team after arriving in the 206 she did provide the Storm with quality starter minutes and production. She was a legit post-presence for Seattle averaging in double figures in three of her first four seasons, leading the team in scoring in 2014 and 2015. Langhorne was a starter her first four seasons in Seattle and was still a reliable reserve off the bench in 2018 and 2019. She won two WNBA Championships with the Storm in 2018 and 2020.
The 2014 draft class has developed eight WNBA All-Stars, some more deserving than others. Those players include Chiney Ogwumike (1st overall), Odyssey Sims (2nd), Kayla McBride (3rd), Alyssa Thomas (4th), Natasha Howard (5th), Stefanie Dolson (6th), Shoni Schimmel (8th), and Chelsea Gray (11th).
2015 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame) with the number one overall selection.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn) with the third overall pick.
Round 2:
Vicky McIntyre (Oral Roberts) was selected with the 8th pick of the 2nd round - 20th overall.
This draft class has produced four WNBA All-Stars including Jewell Loyd (1st), Elizabeth Williams (4th), Dearica Hamby (6th), and Betnijah Laney (17th).
Seattle lucked out big time as just days before the 2015 WNBA Draft, Jewell Loyd announced that she would be leaving Notre Dame early and declared for the draft. Loyd coming off a 63-53 National Championship defeat to Breanna Stewart and the Connecticut Huskies made the decision that she was ready for the next level of competition.
Amanda Zahui B. also announced she’d be leaving school early to enter the draft. The top two prospects in 2015 were these two draft-eligible Juniors.
Seattle had the first and third overall picks in this year’s draft thanks to the Shekinna Stricklen and Camille Little trade with Connecticut. Next, they had to decide on which player to take number one overall between Loyd and Zahui B.
Fortunately, Alisha Valavanis and the Storm made the correct decision. Since then, Jewell has developed into one of the league’s premier shooting guards, she’s earned three All-Star selections (it’d be more if not for the Olympic rule and Pandemic season), won rookie of the year in 2015, and was named All-WNBA first team in 2021. She has averaged double figures in all seven seasons she’s played and has a career average of over 15.0 PPG. Loyd has been a key cog in the Storm’s re-emergence as one of the league’s best teams and played a critical role in helping Seattle win WNBA titles in 2018 and 2020.
The front office was not as successful with the third overall pick in which they selected Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis from UConn. I was always surprised they didn’t take a post player with this pick. At the time of the draft, I thought they’d take Elizabeth Williams since they had already selected Loyd with the first overall pick. Williams was one of the top Center prospects of the draft and it made sense with the team already selecting a shooting guard.
In retrospect, Dearica Hamby likely should have been the selection but Mosqueda-Lewis was chosen instead. KML was an incredible talent in college averaging over 15.0 PPG throughout her four years at UConn. She also likely benefitted from the UConn “rub” that highlighted her profile and allowed her to play with other top talents like Breanna Stewart. She also shot an incredible 49% from three-point range during her senior season at Connecticut.
Ultimately, Mosqueda-Lewis’ game just didn’t translate to the WNBA as Seattle would have hoped. She struggled defensively and wasn’t able to get her shot off as easily against WNBA competition. KML would play five seasons in Seattle never averaging more than 5.8 PPG. Her three-point shooting percentage was below 30% in two of her five seasons in Seattle, a stark contrast from her near 50% shooting from beyond the arc at UConn. In later seasons, Mosqueda-Lewis found her role diminishing as Sami Whitcomb had become a more effective contributor off the bench. KML was traded prior to the 2020 season to the Connecticut Sun. She won a championship with the Storm in 2018.
Vicky McIntyre, selected in the 2nd round in 2015, did not make the team and never played in the WNBA.
2016 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Breanna Stewart (UConn) with the number one overall pick.
Round 2:
No 2nd round picks this year.
This draft class has also produced four WNBA All-Stars including Breanna Stewart (1st), Jonquel Jones (6th), Kahleah Copper (7th), and Courtney Williams (8th). On top of that, this class has produced league MVPs (Stewart - 2018, Jones - 2021), and Finals MVPs (Stewart 2018, 2020, Copper 2021).
Selecting Breanna Stewart was an absolute no-brainer for the Storm’s front office. Stewart won four Most Outstanding Player Awards in the NCAA Tournament as she led the Connecticut Huskies to four straight NCAA championships. Not only has Stewart won league MVP and Finals MVP (twice), but she won Rookie of the Year in 2016, has been named to three All-Star teams (2017, 2018, 2021), and is a three-time All-WNBA First Team selection (2018, 2020, 2021).
The Storm 100% lucked into good fortune as the WNBA decided to implement a new rule that combined two seasons’ worth of records to give new lottery odds for the top four picks. This rule came into effect in 2016 which gave Seattle the best odds to land Stewart with the number one overall pick. Had this rule not been implemented the (then) San Antonio Stars led by Coach Dan Hughes at the time, would have had the best chance to land Stewart.
Sometimes it’s important to be lucky. The Storm got lucky by not only the lottery odds changing in their favor the year Stewart came out but they also got incredibly lucky that Jewell Loyd decided to leave college one year early. Had she not, Stewart would have been the number one pick and Loyd would have (likely) been drafted by San Antonio.
The back-to-back number one overall picks completely changed the course of the franchise ushering in a new era.
2017 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Traded away their first-round pick to acquire Carolyn Swords.
Round 2:
Alexis Peterson (Syracuse) selected third in the second round (15th overall).
Round 3:
Lanay Montgomery (West Virginia) selected 6th in the third round (30th overall).
This was a relatively weak draft overall. The only player that has been named to a WNBA All-Star team in this draft class is Brionna Jones. Kelsey Plum (number one overall) did win the 6th person of the year award in 2021.
While the 2017 draft class hasn’t produced multiple superstars there have been plenty of players that have carved out a nice role for themselves in the WNBA. Seattle ended up trading their first-round pick (#6 overall) to the Washington Mystics as part of a three-team trade with New York for Carolyn Swords.
From the get-go, I wasn’t a fan of this move. Carolyn Swords has never been a standout player in the WNBA. Through her first five seasons, she averaged roughly 4.0 PPG and a little over 3.0 RPG. While teams need players that do the “dirty work”, can bang down low, and make the hustle plays that don’t always show up in the stat sheets. I still didn’t see the value in acquiring Swords compared to a first-round pick just outside of the Top 5.
I was high on Brionna Jones coming out of college and thought she’d be a target for the Storm prior to them trading away their draft pick because they needed another post player. While it did take her a few years to get established in the WNBA, Jones is now proving to be an excellent center in the league. Jones made the All-Star team in 2021 while averaging 14.7 PPG and 7.3 RPG.
Even if the team didn’t believe in Jones or preferred to draft a wing, Brittney Sykes would have been available. She was taken 7th overall by the Atlanta Dream. Sykes has been a consistent 10.0 PPG scorer in the WNBA while averaging 4.0 RPG throughout her career. On top of that, she is an elite defender.
Maybe more confusing was how the team played Swords after acquiring her. Swords played less than 10 minutes per game during her lone season in Seattle while averaging just 2.6 PPG and 1.5 RPG. Swords left Seattle in free agency after just one season and joined the Las Vegas Aces in 2018. This trade was a complete bust for the Storm.
Alexis Peterson made the team as a second-round pick (15th overall). Peterson played in 17 games averaging roughly seven minutes per game where she averaged around 2.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG, and 1.0 APG. Peterson played just one season in Seattle and was cut the following off-season.
Lanay Montgomery also made the team as a third-round pick. A rarity in the WNBA. Montgomery got very limited minutes in seven games before being waived by the team.
Looking through the list of players selected in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the draft, Seattle’s selections of Peterson and Montgomery were fine. They didn’t miss out on any elite players with the draft selections they had available.
2018 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Jordin Canada (UCLA) selected 5th overall.
Round 2:
No draft selections (traded for Natasha Howard)
Round 3:
Teana Muldrow (West Virginia) selected 29th overall.
This draft class has developed four WNBA All-Stars including A’ja Wilson (1st), Diamond DeShields (3rd), Ariel Atkins (7th), and Kia Nurse (10th). Wilson was also named League MVP in 2020.
Prior to the draft Alisha Valavanis made the best move of her tenure as Storm General Manager. She acquired Natasha Howard from the Minnesota Lynx by trading the team’s 2nd round pick to Minnesota and agreed to swap picks with the Lynx in 2019 if Seattle finished with a worse record. Seattle would finish the 2018 season with a better record than Minnesota which meant all they gave up was a second-round pick for Natasha.
Howard would play three seasons in Seattle, helping the Storm win Championships in 2018 and 2020. She also led the team to the 2nd round of the playoffs in 2019 while the team was without both Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird. Howard finished the 2019 season as an MVP candidate averaging 18.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.2 SPG, and 1.7 BPG. Howard would go on to win Defensive Player of the Year that season. In totality, Howard averaged 13.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 1.7 SPG during her time in Seattle.
During the draft, Seattle selected Jordin Canada 5th overall in the first round. Canada fit a major need for the Storm, a consistent backup point guard behind Sue Bird. Canada played four seasons with the Storm helping them win two championships. She also became the starter in 2019 when Bird was out with another knee injury. In that season, Canada put up career-best numbers averaging 9.8 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 2.3 SPG.
Seattle didn’t have a 2nd round pick thanks to the Natasha Howard trade. They did select Teana Muldrow with their 3rd round pick. Muldrow actually made the team and played limited minutes in three games with the Storm before being waved.
The Storm were very fortunate as they were able to claim Mercedes Russell (22nd overall in the Second Round) off of waivers after she started her career being drafted by the New York Liberty. She played in two games with New York before being cut by the team. While Russell didn’t see much action with the Storm in 2018, she became a starter in 2019 with Breanna Stewart out injured. Russell finished that season with career-highs in 7.5 PPG and 6.1 RPG. Along with Myisha Hines-Allen, Mercedes has become one of the best players in that draft class that wasn’t selected in the first round. She has been a steady force in the middle for Seattle over the past three seasons and recently signed a new three-year contract extension with the team.
Alisha Valavanis hit on both the trade (for Natasha Howard) and the draft picks in Canada and Russell. These moves were the building blocks to go along with the cornerstone franchise pieces in Loyd and Stewart that allowed Seattle to develop into a championship caliber team.
2019 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Ezi Magbegor (Australia) was selected 12th overall.
Round 2:
Anriel Howard (Mississippi State) was selected 24th overall.
The 2019 draft class has produced two WNBA All-Stars in Arike Ogunbowale (5th overall) and Napheesa Collier (6th). Collier was also named Rookie of the Year.
This class has also produced several other key role players and some starters including Jackie Young (1st), Teaira McCowan (3rd), Katie Lou Samuelson (4th), Brianna Turner (11th), Ezi Magbegor (12th), Sophie Cunningham (13th), Natisha Hiedeman (18th), and Marina Mabrey (19th).
To me the 2019 draft stands out as a reminder that just because you have a late first-round pick doesn’t mean you can’t get a high-quality player. I understand certain drafts are deeper than others and 2019 definitely had a ton of talent. But it should be a reminder to General Managers that all first-round picks can be extremely valuable.
Brianna Turner, Ezi Magbegor, Sophie Cunningham, and Marina Mabrey are all players taken in the last part of the first round or in the second round that have developed into starters or important reserves off the bench for their respective teams.
Seattle was extremely fortunate to have Magbegor fall to them at 12th overall. They made an agreement with Ezi for her to stay overseas in Australia for the 2019 season and join the roster in 2020. She averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 2021. In one of her first career starts she put up 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Las Vegas Aces. She scored a career-high 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds against the Chicago Sky on August 15th, 2021. She is just scratching the surface of her untapped potential.
In the second round, Seattle selected Anriel Howard from Mississippi State. She made the team out of camp and played in three games. Unfortunately, Howard would be cut due to the team’s desperate need for another point guard. With Sue Bird out this season and Jordin Canada hurt that required her to miss a few games, the team had to sign Blake Dietrick as another point guard option.
After being cut, Howard would never play another game in the WNBA. Instead, she took time off and began training to become a professional wrestler. She’s currently working in WWE’s (World Wrestling Entertainment) development league called NXT. She goes by the character name “Lash Legend” and had a match on TV recently. You can watch the highlights at the Youtube clip below if you’re interested.
2020 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Kitija Laksa (USF) selected 11th overall.
Round 2:
Joyner Holmes (Texas) selected 19th overall.
It’s too early to really grade this overall draft class. So far, only one player has been named to a WNBA All-Star team which was Satou Sabally (2nd overall pick).
Kitija Laksa was asked to stay overseas for the 2020 season, similar to Ezi Magbegor during the 2019 season. Laksa was brought to training camp for the 2021 season but was ultimately beat out for a roster spot by Stephanie Talbot. Laksa never played an official game with the Seattle Storm or any WNBA team.
Joyner Holmes was also cut and did not make the team. However, she was picked up by the New York Liberty and played 19 games with them in 2020. She’d play one more game with the Liberty in 2021 before being cut. She was picked up by the Las Vegas Aces but only saw minimal action in four games.
The Storm have since acquired Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (Kiki Harrigan) who was the 6th overall selection of the 2020 draft by the Minnesota Lynx. Seattle used the Phoenix Mercury’s 2022 first-round pick which they had acquired from the New York Liberty during the Natasha Howard trade. That pick ultimately turned into the 8th overall selection for this year’s draft (2022).
Harrigan averaged roughly four points and two and a half assists per game during her rookie season with the Lynx in 21 games. Her three-point shooting was a bright spot as she averaged over 42% from beyond the arc.
She played in just one game with the Storm in 2021 in very brief minutes before it was announced that Harrigan was pregnant and would be suspended for the remainder of the season. With the addition of Jantel Lavendar to Seattle’s roster, Harrigan will be competing against her and a couple of other players to make Seattle’s roster in 2022.
2021 WNBA Draft
Round 1:
Aaliyah Wilson (Texas A&M) selected 11th overall and traded to Indiana for Kennedy Burke.
Round 2:
Kiana Williams (Stanford) selected 18th overall.
N’dea Jones (Texas A&M) selected 23rd overall.
The 2021 Draft class may go down as one of the weakest in recent WNBA history. Although, it’s still too early to tell about some of these prospects. The number one overall pick ended up being traded twice prior to draft night. First from New York to Seattle in exchange for Natasha Howard. And then from Seattle to Dallas in exchange for Katie Lou Samuelson.
While the trade of the number one overall pick for Katie Lou appeared to be a poor return on what is normally a highly coveted asset, the lack of elite talent in this class made the deal more fair than first impressions would lead one to believe.
The number one overall pick, Charli Collier, would average just 3.4 PPG and 3.6 RPG her rookie season. By comparison, Samuelson averaged 7.0 PPG and 3.5 RPG. The rookie of the year, Michaela Onyenwere, averaged 8.6 PPG and 2.9 RPG and was selected 6th overall.
With Seattle’s initial draft pick, the Storm selected Aaliyah Wilson and immediately traded her to the Indiana Fever for Kennedy Burke. Burke had a disappointing season in 2021 where she was limited to less than eight minutes per game. She averaged 2.9 PPG and 0.8 RPG with the Storm.
Burke may be given more of an opportunity to increase her role this upcoming season, assuming she is on the final roster.
Wilson did not play much of a role with the Fever earning just 8.5 minutes per game, 1.1 PPG, and 0.9 RPG. Wilson would then be cut by the Fever during the 2022 off-season.
The Storm used their second round picks on Kiana Williams and N’dea Jones. Kiana Williams played in ten games with the Storm before being waived by the team. Jones was waved after training camp and was briefly brought back during the season but did not get out on the court.
It’ll be interesting to see if any of the players from this draft class really develop into star players. For now, it looks like Seattle’s trades for Katie Lou and Kennedy Burke weren’t a huge success but they also weren’t a massive blunder either.
2022 WNBA Draft
New Storm General Manager Talisa Rhea took over for the team just prior to the 2021 draft. She traded away the team’s first-round pick in 2021 for Kennedy Burke. During the 2022 off-season, Rhea once again traded away the team’s first-round pick (9th overall) along with Katie Lou Samuelson to acquire Gabby Williams from the Los Angeles Sparks.
Over the next couple of years it’ll be interesting to see if Rhea continues to favor trading draft picks away for established talent or if these were just specific moves she wanted to make.
The team is banking on Gabby Williams being a significant upgrade over Katie Lou Samuelson this season; both from a defensive standpoint and being more efficient on the offensive side of the ball.
Williams just earned the MVP award of the Euroleague Final Four where she averaged 14.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 3.5 SPG. Williams led Sopron Basket to the Euroleague Championship. Gabby has not played in the WNBA since 2020 so it’ll be interesting to see how much she’s improved since then from her overseas experience.
Seattle holds three draft picks in the 2nd round (17th, 18th, and 21st overall). They also hold the 33rd overall pick in the 3rd round.
The Storm don’t really have roster space for any of their draft picks. This leads me to believe that they may opt for a foreign player that they could stash overseas for a year with at least one of their second-round picks.
Jade Melbourne, a point guard out of Australia, could be a prime target for Seattle if she remains on the board. Serena Kessler, a shooting guard from France, could be another option although she may be more a target for the third round.
A list of collegiate players Seattle may target include the three players from UConn (Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa), point guards Nia Clouden (Michigan State), Khayla Pointer (LSU), Destanni Henderson (South Carolina), and Veronica Burton (Northwestern). The latter two aren’t likely to still be available when Seattle selects at 17 but if they were you’d have to imagine the front office would jump at that opportunity.
The last thing we can’t rule out is the possibility of additional trades. The Indiana Fever currently hold the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 10th picks in the first round this year. Dallas has the 7th overall pick and likely doesn’t have space on their roster for that pick without cutting another recent draft pick from 2020 or 2021. We’ve already seen the Minnesota Lynx deal their 8th overall pick to the Las Vegas Aces for that very same reason.
Is there a player in the draft that Seattle would want to move up to get even if it meant trading away next year’s first round pick? Seattle could also deal a player like Kennedy Burke, Kiki Harrigan, or even Stephanie Talbot as another option. I’m not saying they should do that but it could be an option.
If the Storm are satisfied with the roster as is, they can just select a foreign player to stash for a year overseas or choose best player available on their board and see how they perform in camp.
The 2022 WNBA Draft takes place on Monday, April 11th at 4:00PM PDT and will air on ESPN.
Notes: A special thanks to all my subscribers for all of your support! The season quickly approaches and will be very exciting! Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Storm Photography.
Follow my Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)