Mercury’s Sulka Is Suddenly in Demand

The most popular man in the WNBA stopped in Los Angeles recently to get a look at what most people say is the Next Big Thing in women’s basketball.

The Next Big Thing is Diana Taurasi, star forward on the two-time defending NCAA champion Connecticut Huskies. Taurasi didn’t disappoint, scoring 25 points as the No. 1 Huskies avoided an upset loss to USC.

The most popular man in the WNBA is Seth Sulka, vice president and general manager of the Phoenix Mercury. Sulka and Phoenix have what everybody else in the WNBA wants -- the first pick in the 2004 draft in April.

Sulka doesn’t expect his popularity to last indefinitely.

“I’m gonna become the most unpopular guy in the league for the many times I’m gonna have to say no,” Sulka said.

But for all those who think that it’s a slam dunk for Sulka to select Taurasi in April, they don’t have the pressure of making the pick.

This draft, by all accounts, will be a defining moment for the WNBA, which lost another team (Cleveland) after last season and can’t shake whispers that it is standing on shaky financial legs.

The talent level in the draft stretches beyond Taurasi, the former Chino Don Lugo High star. The remaining 13 teams figure to get a very good player in the first round, as well as the hidden gems that pop up in the second and third rounds. There will be instant name recognition for the public, which will see many of these players during the college basketball season.

Sulka knows how he and the Mercury staff work the draft can define the franchise for the next several years.

Phoenix finished 8-26 last season and sweated out the league’s draft lottery to get the first pick. But the Mercury, last in scoring and 11th (out of 14) in rebounding, has plenty of holes to fill. Taurasi, as good as she is, can’t fill them all by herself.

Which leaves Sulka in the classic quandary: Does he pick Taurasi, as everyone expects, or does he parlay that pick into a mega-deal that instantly transforms the Mercury roster with five or six players?

Decisions, decisions.

“I do think Diana is the front-runner [as the top pick],” Sulka said. “Player of the year as a junior, so kind of by default it puts her at the top of the class. You add the two championships and add her as a player, and you have to consider her the No. 1 pick.

“But this is a interesting draft. A lot of times, the lottery winner gets the prize of the draft and everything else falls into place. But because of the depth at the top of the draft, with an Alana Beard, a Nicole Powell and a Nicole Ohlde, you’re not going to be a loser.”

The other thing weighing on Sulka -- the 1984 NBA draft.

The draft that scarred the Portland Trail Blazers. They had the second pick between Houston and Chicago. The Rockets took Hakeem Olajuwon. The Trail Blazers picked Sam Bowie.

Chicago chose Michael Jordan.

“No one ever talks about who went first,” Sulka said. “Everyone talks about Portland taking Bowie and passing on Jordan. But you never hear about the player Houston got because Olajuwon was an MVP and he won two titles in his own right. And that’s not to say Houston would not have wanted Jordan, knowing how his career would turn out.

“There’s that type of feeling at the top of this draft. The player you take second or third will have such a good WNBA career. It may not turn out as great as Taurasi’s, but it will be at such a level that you won’t look like you lost out. Again, the depth of this draft makes it special.”

Which means Sulka will watch as many seniors as possible this college season, even though he holds the trump card.

And, Sulka said, he will listen to trade offers even though he expects to turn all of them down.

“It will make sense for our organization to listen to other teams,” he said. “Before, there were only two ways to get better in this league, in my opinion. Either to have been given a great team to start with, or had a No. 1, 2 or 3 draft pick somewhere down the line.

“Unfortunately, as good as Jennifer Gillom and Michele Timms were, Phoenix has never really had either of those things going for us [before now]. But free agency has given you another way to get better. So you don’t want to limit your options.”