GSV Expansion Draft Prediction: Dallas Wings
The wind beneath our Wings
The primary index for the whole Expansion Draft Series is here.
SI.com: Kalani Brown
In what was another tough choice, we're predicting the Valkyries to poach Kalani Brown from the Wings. Brown's 6'7" frame alone will make her appealing for Golden State. Despite being Dallas' backup center, she has steadily improved throughout her career and would be a great addition to the Valkyries' roster.
Fansided: Kalani Brown or Sevgi Uzun
If the Valkyries aren't interested in Nelson-Ododa, how about Brown? The 6-foot-7 center was a key role player around stars like Arike Ogunbowale, Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard, averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds to go with 0.6 blocks and yeowoman's work on the defensive end. If the Valkyries are looking for more playmaking, they could opt for Turkey's Sevgi Uzun, who brings intriguing point-forward potential.
Valhalla.Basketball (very detailed analysis at site):
Given that Dallas is expected to protect their most experienced players, the Valkyries are going to have a lot of younger and less proven players to choose from, although they would certainly be happy if the Wings leave one of the players in our top six unprotected. Lou Lopez Senechal will return to Spain, so if she can really showcase her shooting ability, she could at least earn some consideration on the wing. Jaelyn Brown, who played collegiately at Cal, would also be an interesting name who would likely sign at the minimum contract amount. Sevgi Uzun could be a good culture pick who might also be signed at the minimum contract amount, but it might be hard to know her availability for next season. Stephanie Soares could be the high upside pick, which was why she was drafted as highly as she was, but lingering health concerns seem to make her selection rather risky.
Awak Kuier is certainly the most intriguing name if she is a selectable player and left unprotected. The draft happening later in the year could be beneficial as early November will be important in revealing whether Awak Kuier might be interested in playing all of next season. Finland is attempting to qualify for EuroBasket for the first time since 1987 and the two games in that month will provide some indication of whether they should make plans for next summer or not. As the youngest available player, she is certainly an intriguing potential pick even though she was still raw in the last WNBA season.
Also shows why some teams are in the lottery, seems like pretty slim pickings after getting past the protected players. Maybe the strategy is you look at the top 4 or 5 teams (in overall talent) first, build out your starters, and then look at the Dallas's of the world and think about what players would be complimentary depth pieces.
Hey, only two more weeks of armchair GM until they pick for real.
Some interesting names here. Brown is really solid, and really big. If the goal is to field a credible team in year one, having a center who can hold her own must surely be a high priority.
Awak Kuier is super long and lean, kind of in the Kevin Garnett / Ezi Magbegor mold, with good athleticism (she has dunked in-game), but hasn’t really played or produced much to my knowledge. I think she sat out last season for what sounded like personal or mental health reasons, and I wonder if she might just prefer to play in Europe longterm (she grew up in Finland).