The 2021 WNBA First Round Draft Results were Somewhat of a Surprise
The 2021 WNBA First Round draft results were not the results that many thought they were going to be. The Dallas Wings selected Charli Collier as the No. 1 pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft. The Wings took Awak Kuier as the No. 2 pick. Kuier was the first player from Finland to be drafted into the WNBA.
Collier averaged 19 points and 11.3 rebounds per game at Texas. The Longhorns player shot 51.1% from the field and helped lead the Longhorns to the NCAA Elite Eight. Kuier is 19 years old and is the seventh international player to be selected as top five in the draft. She averaged 8.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in Finland.
The No. 3 pick for the Atlanta Dream was Aari McDonald. The 5-6 point guard draft stock went up after her great performance in the NCAA tournament. She was the first player at Arizona to be selected in the first round.
The draft took a turn after the third round pick. Collier, Kuier, and McDonald were chosen as top five picks but the picks after were a surprise.
Indiana Fever selected Kysre Gondrezick as the No. 4 pick. Gondrezick was the highest drafted player from West Virginia. She was the 10th player from West Virginia to be drafted. The Mountaineer averaged 19 points and 4.5 assists per game. Gondrezick was projected to be a second or third round player.
The Wings’ selected Chelsea Dungee as their third first round pick. Dungee’s selection wasn’t as much of a surprise, since she was projected to be a first round pick. Dungee averaged 22.3 points and 1.5 assists per game. With Dungee added to the list of draftees for Dallas, they will have a much better team this season.
The No. 6 pick was Michaela Onyenwere selected by New York Liberty and the LA Sparks selected Jasmine Walker as the No. 7 pick. The No. 8 pick was Shyla Heal out of Australia who was drafted by Chicago Sky. Minnesota Lynx selected Rennia Davis as the No. 9 pick and Stephanie Watts was selected as the LA Sparks second round one draft pick as No.10. Texas A&M’s Aaliyah Watson was drafted No. 11 to Seattle Storm. Lastly, the Las Vegas Aces chose Iliana Rupert as the last pick of the first round.
The shocking part of this round was that players who were projected to be drafted in the first round were not selected. Dana Evans, Natasha Mack, Arella Guirantes, Kiana Williams, and Dijonai Carrington were included in many mock drafts as first rounders. However, they were all drafted in the second round.
