Sparks Are Playing the Future Market
Today is draft day in the WNBA and for the Sparks, it may be the longest day.
The defending WNBA champions will pick 16th--last--in all four rounds of a draft hardly anyone sees as being deep in talent or loaded at any particular position.
Spark officials had trade talks during the off-season, hoping to improve their position in the first round, but couldn’t persuade anyone to deal.
Of course, why would any general manager want to help the team that has gone 56-8 the last two seasons and last year ended Houston’s four-year title reign?
The Sparks, though, have had success with late selections. Of the team’s starters, only DeLisha Milton was a first-round pick, although Lisa Leslie certainly could be considered the equivalent of one. She signed her contract with the league, then was assigned to the Sparks.
But General Manager Penny Toler isn’t making any predictions.
“In the past, we tried to draft a player on their position,” she said. “Some worked out, some haven’t. I’m not saying we can’t get better, but most of our positions this year are already sewn up, so we will take the best player available.”
Which means that Toler and Coach Michael Cooper probably will try to pick someone who could be valuable later.
“The luxury that we have is that we have about six core players and all we have to do is bring our rookies along very slowly,” Cooper said. “ ... Hopefully, they’ll make a contribution in two or three years. That’s how we’re looking at things.”
Seattle has the top pick for the second year in a row. The Storm scored big with Australian Lauren Jackson last season.
Coach and General Manager Lin Dunn knows Jackson could use some help inside but may feel compelled to take point guard Sue Bird, the college player of the year and leader of national champion Connecticut. Quality point guards are as desirable as true centers.
Besides, with the 13th and 28th picks, Dunn may figure a power forward or center will still be there.
Other players who figure to go quickly are Oklahoma’s Stacey Dales-Schuman, Bird’s Connecticut teammates Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams, Iowa State’s Angie Welle, Tennessee’s Michelle Snow, Baylor’s Danielle Crockrom, South Carolina’s Shaunzinski Gortman and Alabama Birmingham’s Deanna Jackson.
The key to the draft may be where guards Sheila Lambert and Nikki Teasley are selected.
Both Lambert, of Baylor, and Teasley, of North Carolina, are immensely talented and figure to go in the first six or seven picks. But they have possibly off-putting medical histories.
Lambert, an All-American who averaged 19.8 points and 6.5 assists, broke her lower right leg during an all-star game between college stars and WNBA pros during the recent Final Four at San Antonio. She may return to the court by mid- or late June, which won’t help a team looking for a draft pick who can play immediately.
Teasley, who averaged 15.2 points and 5.7 assists, sat out the 2000-01 season while battling depression and anxiety.
Lambert and Teasley aren’t the only questions marks:
* Can the Connecticut quartet of Bird, Cash, Jones and Williams perform well as individuals or was it their unique chemistry that made them great?
* Did the tepid Pacific 10 season hurt the chances of Stanford’s Lindsay Yamasaki, Arizona’s Elizabeth Pickney, Arizona State’s Amanda Levins and Melody Johnson, and Oregon’s Felicia Ragland?
One of them could be available when it’s the Sparks’ turn.
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*--* Draft Order A look at today’s first round, which starts at 8:30 a.m. (ESPN2): 1. Seattle 9. Charlotte 2. Detroit 10. Houston 3. Washington 11. Utah 4. Washington (a) 12. Sacramento 5. Portland 13. Indiana (d) 6. Minnesota 14. Utah (e) 7. Charlotte (b) 15. Miami (f) 8. Cleveland (c) 16. Los Angeles a--from Indiana; b--from Orlando; c--from Phoenix; d--from Phoenix; e--from New York; f--from Phoenix
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