2024 WNBA Mock Draft: Round 1 Picks & Predictions

by Luke Monaldo |
Apr 12, 2024

I know what you’re thinking: WNBA Draft? Wasn’t the Women’s National Championship just last Sunday? You would be correct. In the extremely condensed timeline of events between college basketball (a winter season) and the WNBA (a summer season) rookies, especially those on title contenders, step right off the college court and onto the draft stage. They essentially play almost a year straight, and this is the next step in the women’s basketball transition gauntlet. Everyone knows Caitlin Clark is going #1 overall, but let’s take a look at who lies beyond The Caitlin Clark Experience.

2024 WNBA Mock Draft – First Round

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark (PG – Iowa – 6’0)

Season stats: 31.6 PTS | 8.9 AST | 7.4 REB |1.7 STL | 5.2 3PM

What can be said that hasn’t already been said a million times over about Caitlin Clark’s generational game and what she has done to elevate the sport of women’s basketball? She is hands down the #1 overall pick in an absolutely stacked Draft class, a true leader who leads by example, and a home run pick. Even the Fever, who are back here picking #1 again, can’t mess up this pick. No brainer, deluxe.

2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink (PF/C – Stanford – 6’4)

Season stats: 17.4 PTS | 11.9 REB | 3.7 BLK | 51.1 FG%

Cameron Brink and all of her 6’4 glory averaged upwards of four blocks a game last year and was a force on a Stanford team that fell short of expectations. Brink has a championship pedigree, having won a National Title as a freshman. That sort of instant team success seems much less likely on a rebuilding Sparks team with two picks in the top four, but Brink is an excellent inside presence and rim protector to build around.

3. Chicago Sky: Kamilla Cardoso (C – South Carolina – 6’7)

Season stats: 14.4 PTS | 9.7 REB | 2.5 BLK | 59.4 FG%

Size kills, and last season, the South Carolina product would have been tied with Dallas’ 6’7 duo of Kalani Brown and Teaira McCowan as the tallest women in the WNBA behind 6’9 Brittney Griner. Cardoso showed just how much of a size advantage she brings to the table. During this year’s Tournament, the Brazilian averaged a 16.6 point/10.8 rebound double-double capped off by a 15-point/17-rebound performance in the National Championship game against Iowa.

4. Los Angeles Sparks: Rickea Jackson (SF – Tennessee – 6’2)

Season stats: 20.2 PTS | 8.2 REB | 2.3 AST

The earliest victim of the aforementioned condensed timeline is Rickea Jackson. Partially due to the recent increased exposure, tournament juggernaut Kamilla Cardoso has leapfrogged Rickea Jackson on most draft boards thanks to recency bias. It turns out to be a stroke of luck for the Sparks as they are able to add Jackson and her 20.2 points per game to the aforementioned Brink’s inside dominance, giving the city of Los Angeles, another potentially awesome inside-out duo for years to come in the vein of Kareem/Magic and Shaq/Kobe.

5. Dallas Wings: Aaliyah Edwards (PF – UConn – 6’3)

Season stats: 17.6 PTS | 9.2 REB | 1.7 STL | 1.0 BLK | 59.3 FG%

Aaliyah Edwards was a three-year starter at UConn and reached the Final Four three times (’21, ’22, ’24), playing for a Natty in 2022. Edwards excels on both ends of the court, and her 6’3 frame is solid enough to translate to the next level. She is automatic on proximity shots and connects on nearly 60% of her shots from anywhere on the floor. Edwards should establish an instant inside-out game in Dallas with 3x All-Star Arike Ogunbowale.

6. Washington Mystics: Angel Reese (PF – LSU – 6’3)

Season stats: 18.6 PTS | 13.4 REB | 1.9 STL | 1.0 BLK

Angel Reese is from Baltimore and would have both local and national draws in terms of viewership and attendance. Reese is a dogged defender and an elite rebounder. Her 6’3 height won’t allow her to bully her way to rebounds the way she could in college, but her rebounding ability will translate to the WNBA. Offensively, she may have a harder time adapting to the next level as her frame and game don’t mesh in a way that would lend to instant translation.

7. Minnesota Lynx: Jacy Sheldon (SG – Ohio State – 5’10)

Season stats: 17.8 PTS | 3.8 AST | 3.2 REB | 1.9 STL | 50.5 FG%

Sheldon averaged nearly 18 points per game while shooting an incredibly efficient (especially for guard) 50.5% from the field. The Lynx will welcome Sheldon’s offense as well as her defense, which saw her snagging nearly two steals per game. Sheldon is from and played in the Midwest, so she is a good geography pick for a Big Ten-centric state like Minnesota.

8. Chicago Sky: Elizabeth Kitley (C – Virginia Tech – 6’6)

Season stats: 22.8 PTS | 11.4 REB | 2.1 BLK | 55.6 FG%

Chicago continues to rebuild following their only WNBA Championship in 2021 and last year’s free agency loss of Candace Parker. What better way to do that than to draft twin towers down low of Kamille Cardoso and Liz Kitley? Imagine driving into the paint only to find 13+ total feet of defenders in your face. Kitley would be a longshot in this situation, so there could be value in the 8th pick if Chicago looks to Blacksburg.

9. Dallas Wings: Alissa Pili (SF – Utah – 6’2)

Season stats: 21.4 PTS | 6.6 REB | 2.4 AST | 55.0 FG%

Pili provides more offense in a can, gives Dallas a solid scoring option behind Arike Ogunbowale, and completes a banger of a first-round for the Wings. Pili averaged 21.4 points on 55% shooting and can play well both facing the basket as well as posting up smaller guards. The Wings have a solid core, and the possible additions of Aaliyah Edwards and Pili would be a huge boost to Dallas’ ability to contend and build for a bright future.

10. Connecticut Sun: Dyaisha Fair (PG – Syracuse – 5’5)

Season stats: 22.3 PTS | 4.6 REB | 3.6 AST | 2.4 STL

Fair averaged 22.3 points in her fifth and final season in college and second year in upstate New York. She has a knack for scoring the ball but not in an efficient manner, cracking the 40% in FG% just once in five years. Fair offers an elite defensive ability with a nose for the ball. She uses her small stature to get lost among the trees, so to speak and creates chaos on defense.

11. New York Liberty: Nika Mühl (PG – UConn – 5’11)

Season stats: 6.9 PTS | 6.5 AST | 4.0 REB | 1.3 STL | 40.2 3P%

Liberty guards can score with the best of them, and Sabrina Ionescu is one of the best at getting buckets. That being said, New York needs something that can put them over the edge in trying to get past the vaunted Aces. Enter Nika Muhl, defensive extraordinaire. The Serbian guard possesses incredible lateral movement giving her an amazing ability to get into her opponent’s hip pocket and stay there all game. She is the epitome of a “Three & D” player, as her 40.2 average from deep can attest. Look no further than her man-up defense against Caitlin Clark in the Final Four for proof she can shut down WNBA-caliber talent.

12. Atlanta Dream: Taiyanna Jackson (C – Kansas – 6’6)

Season stats: 12.6 PTS | 10.0 REB | 3.0 BLK | 1.1 STL | 57.4 FG%

Jackson won an NIT Title as a sophomore at Kansas and is a solid all-around center who can do a little bit of everything. She won’t blow the roof off the arena with her scoring, but her extreme efficiency (57.4%) on offense saw her average a 12/10 double-double this last season. On the defensive end, her 3.0 blocks and 1.1 steal averages speak to her ability to be a disruptor around the rim.

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday:

Luke Monaldo is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @MoKnowsSports and Discord @alydar1227 AKA The GIFTing Crooner. For more from Luke, check out his archive.

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