The WNBA's annual draft will take place on Monday at 2 PM Central time, and the Minnesota Lynx have two picks in the first round. Unlike their male professional basketball counterparts, they've actually been rewarded for a bad regular season with the top overall pick in the selection process.
This is a good thing for the Lynx, as this year there is a consensus top overall pick, and that player is University of Connecticut forward Maya Moore. Moore was the best player for the Huskies in 2011, and won just about every award there is to win for female college basketball players this past season, despite the Huskies falling short of their national championship aspirations. Moore averaged 22.9 points and eight rebounds a game for the Huskies in 2010-11.
So, while the first overall pick has little to no mystery surrounding it, the Lynx also have the fourth overall selection in this year's WNBA Draft, having acquired that pick from the Connecticut Sun. There is a bit more intrigue to that pick, as the Lynx will have several options at that spot. Our friends over at Swish Appeal have the Lynx selecting Amber Harris, a 6'5" forward out of Xavier University. Harris is the two-time Atlantic Ten Conference Player of the Year, and was a four-time All-Conference selection. She averaged 18.8 points and just over ten rebounds a game on the season for the Musketeers.
Other possibilities for the fourth overall selection include Ohio State University center Jantel Lavender, Stanford forward Kayla Pedersen, and Oklahoma point guard Danielle Robinson.
Coverage of the 2011 WNBA Draft will be provided by ESPN. The Lynx will have five picks in the three-round draft. . .they'll pick first and fourth in the first round, the first two picks of the second round (13th and 14th overall), and the second pick in the third round (26th overall).