Napheesa Collier had no idea where she would be selected in the WNBA draft. And it didn’t bother her at all.
“I wasn’t worried about it,” Collier told ESPN, “because I knew I could do whatever the coach asked me to do.”
She has done that and more: An All-WNBA first-team honoree and a three-time All-Star forward for the Minnesota Lynx, Collier will be an Olympian for the second time next month. Why, then, was a player this talented — with a résumé befitting a No. 1 pick — taken No. 6?
Because the 2019 draft was one of the deepest in WNBA history. Five years later, the class is making a big impact on the league and could help dictate who wins the championship this season. It’s also the largest draft class currently in the WNBA: 16 players picked in 2019 are currently on WNBA rosters, and 10 of them will play Thursday across all four games on the schedule.
In light of what we now know, both Collier and Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, who went No. 5, would have been lottery picks. They ended up finishing 1-2 in the 2019 Rookie of the Year…
