GSV Expansion Draft Prediction: Connecticut Sun

Sun will come up tomorrow

The primary index for the whole Expansion Draft Series is here.

Fansided: Olivia Nelson-Ododa

Tiffany Mitchell's status remains up in the air, but if the Sun keep her, that would likely leave Nelson-Ododa as the odd player out. The UConn product is a very limited offensive player, but at 6-foot-5, she brings legitimate size and rim protection that fits on just about every team — and is an excellent foundation when trying to build a defense from scratch.

SI.com: Nelson-Ododa

This one is interesting. If the Sun are confident they can win a championship with their current core (which they absolutely should be), they have four players they'll almost surely protect: Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington, Marina Mabrey, and Veronica Burton. DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones don't need to be protected because they've spent at least two seasons under core designation. After that, Connecticut's next-best player is Nelson-Ododa, who has become a crucial role player this year and is therefore a potential candidate to get protected. But Connecticut could also elect to protect another player like Tiffany Mitchell, who averaged more minutes per game this season than Nelson-Ododa. If this is the case, we could see Nelson-Ododa becoming one of Golden State's best players next season.

The Ringer: Veronica Burton

Merchant: Connecticut intrigues me because they have a couple of international prospects on the roster that they’re probably going to want to protect. And if you want to protect your first-round pick from last year, Leila Lacan, does that mean Veronica Burton or Olivia Nelson-Ododa becomes available? I like both of them a lot. And then the Sparks intrigue me because I don’t know that they have a depth of great talent, but they’re all kind of even talent.

Valhalla.Basketball (very detailed analysis at site):

Connecticut has a fairly clear top seven so the Valkyries may not have a tough choice based on which player is left unprotected from that group. Leila Lacan would be an interesting pick since there is no guarantee that she is planning on playing in the league next year so her rights could continue to be held for future use compared to picking a player and crowding the training camp roster further. Veronica Burton has proven to be a rotation-caliber player and her reserved status meaning that she could end up signing at the minimum salary would make her an even more valuable pick. The team could take more of a chance as well by selecting Abbey Hsu or Caitlin Bickle, but that seems unlikely.