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Sparks go into WNBA draft lottery seeking ‘foundational talent’ – OCRegister
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LOS ANGELES — Sparks head coach Curt Miller is the right person to bring the franchise their first No. 1 pick since 2012 on Sunday because he’s the team’s good luck charm, according to the team’s chief administrative officer and general manager Karen Bryant.
“He is our leader on the court,” Bryant said. “I think Curt is also a very excitable guy and he’s super committed to what we’re doing here out in L.A.
“He’s anxious to get to work and anxious to figure out who he’s going to be coaching and who he’s going to battle with, so we just felt like him being out there and continuing to advocate for what we’re doing out here with our build and just talk a little bit about the direction of the team, so he’s our good luck charm for sure.”
For those reasons, Miller will represent the Sparks when the WNBA draft lottery airs live at 1:30 p.m. PST Sunday on ESPN from Bristol, Connecticut. The winner of the lottery will secure the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, which is scheduled to take place April 15, 2024, eight days after the NCAA championship game.
According to the ESPN 2024 WNBA mock draft, Iowa senior point guard Caitlin Clark is projected to be the No. 1 pick and UConn junior point guard Paige Bueckers is projected to go second. Stanford senior forward Cameron Brink is projected to go third, the pick for which the Sparks currently hold the best odds. South Carolina senior center Kamilla Cardoso is projected to be the fourth pick.
“We’re excited about one through four, but certainly that No. 1 pick, you’re in full control,” Bryant said. “You have the opportunity to be really aggressive in your recruiting efforts because you know you’re in the driver’s seat with that first spot and you also don’t have to have as much contingency plans because you’re not following behind other teams and trying to have to factor in what they might do.”
However, there’s uncertainty around those top prospects because they have up to 48 hours after their season is over to decide whether they will stay in college and use an additional year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But teams like the Sparks are banking on having already made key acquisitions via free agency in the winter of 2024, which could be another way to entice talented young players to forgo any remaining eligibility and enter their names into the draft.
“I think it’s a recruiting process right and I think we haven’t been through this before, this exact scenario in terms of the COVID year and the unpredictability of what the draft class is actually going to be,” Bryant said. “But I think it’s a continuation of what we’ve been doing since the 2023 season ended, which is continuing to refine and share our story and the narrative of the next generation of the Sparks.
“Honestly, it’s going to be really important that we have a successful free agency cycle and that we come out of free agency where we have more clarity around that vision and that narrative and really look to recruit and position L.A.”
Bryant said the Sparks’ front office has already begun in-person scouting and coming up with contingency plans for their lottery pick as well as the No. 12 pick, which the team received from the Las Vegas Aces when they acquired All-Star forward Dearica Hamby before last season.
“Because of this COVID year, it’s going to make scouting, we got to be much more comprehensive and we’re going to have more people out this year because there’s a lot of unknowns,” Bryant said.
Bryant, who is entering her second offseason in her dual CAO/GM role, said the organization is also working on hiring a new assistant coach to replace Chris Koclanes, who left to become an assistant coach with USC women’s basketball in September.
Lottery odds are calculated based on the cumulative records of the past two regular seasons (2022 and 2023), in which the Sparks went 30-46, earning the third-best chance (17.8%) at the No. 1 pick. The Sparks finished 17-23 overall last season, ninth in the 12-team league, and missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season, a franchise record over their 27-year history.
“Coming off on Year One, obviously a ton of disappointment in terms of missing the playoffs and injuries, but couldn’t be disappointed with the fight and the effort and just the progress we made in kind of rebuilding the culture and the look and feel of the Sparks on the court and the style of play,” Bryant said. “Obviously, being able to add a foundational talent to that. We’ve got some great veterans under contract and obviously we’re going to work to re-sign others, but having the opportunity to bring in a youth piece is really important to us.
“We obviously got Zia Cooke last year and we’re continuing to invest in her future in the WNBA. She’s actually out here now doing some marketing stuff for us but also some workouts in the gym. And having another youth piece to go along with the veterans and the All-Stars that we have is going to be an important part of Year Two.”
The Indiana Fever has the best odds (44.2%) and is guaranteed at least the third pick, followed by the Phoenix Mercury (27.6%), the Sparks and the Seattle Storm (10.4%).
The last time the Sparks were awarded the No. 1 pick, they used it to select All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike, who is the franchise’s second-leading all-time scorer at 5883 points, trailing only Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie’s 6263 points.
If Ogwumike, 33, who is currently an unrestricted free agent after 13 seasons in Los Angeles, returns to the only franchise she’s ever played for, she would likely break Leslie’s record about midway through the season based on her career average of 16.6 points per game.
When: 1:30 p.m. PST Sunday
Where: ESPN Studios, Bristol, CT
TV: ESPN
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