Already? Shouldn’t we get through the 2023 Draft first to see who all is available? 😅 Kind of too many unknowns to even predict who’s gonna go #1 overall let alone the rest of the order imo.
If Bueckers comes back looking like she did her freshman year – and she has more defensive potential than Clark – she could rise up as the favorite – especially if the Lynx happen to hold the #1 Pick (although Iowa is only one state over). Otherwise, it’s probably Clark. But again, we won’t be able to properly speculate until maybe this time next year, if not 2024 itself.
I didn’t even know Fudd was eligible for the '24 Draft, but it appears she is. She’d have to truly be the second coming of Taurasi to go #1 overall, which maybe she is or will be by then. She’s had an undeniably fabulous start to this season, but it’s still early. Let’s see if she stays this good the whole season into Tourney Time. (Also don’t quite know how Bueckers & Fudd will mesh next year if Fudd continues her productivity, though I admit, that shouldn’t & probably won’t be an issue.)
Fudd’s only knock is that she’s a true off-guard and not a PG like Bueckers and Clark are. It’s simply harder to find a high-level PG. So even if Fudd comes out, I highly doubt she goes #1 overall unless neither Clark nor Bueckers make themselves available.
And then there’s Brink, who I really don’t think goes higher than #2 overall. She just doesn’t (need to) put up those high-level numbers like the others, though she does so many things well on both ends. Also, is she a 4 or is she a 5 at the next level? I’d say a 4, but I think that existential question may also hold her draft stock back juuuust enough to stay mostly out of the #1-Pick conversation.
Lee’s got no chance of going #1 overall in 2024 imo. Just too many questions about her translatability into the next level, particularly as it relates to her lacks of mobility, conditioning (by then), and diverse skillset. She has very clear strengths… but also very clear weaknesses as well imo.
Last Edit: Nov 27, 2022 14:47:40 GMT -5 by Deleted
Figured with today's game of Fudd vs. Clark, might as well start. If Bueckers is healthy next year, who goes #1?
Olivia Miles is also eligible for the 2024 draft. So we could have five legit lotto players battling for draft positions. So if Miles is thrown in, who gets left out of the lottery teams in 2024?
Miles would be a fantastic consolation prize for a team needing a PG but not getting a Top-2 pick.
Clark —> Bueckers —> Miles —> Brink —> Lee
I don’t see Fudd entering early. Although Miles joined Notre Dame midway through the covid season and only appeared in six games, so she may not make herself available for this draft either.
Last Edit: Nov 27, 2022 15:55:22 GMT -5 by Deleted
I would just like a top 2 pick because which other one is left (Bueckers or Clark) would be amazing. I'll trade our #2 pick right now for a lottery pick next year lmao. Unless we will be a lottery team again and then that case I'll keep it.
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I would just like a top 2 pick because which other one is left (Bueckers or Clark) would be amazing. I'll trade our #2 pick right now for a lottery pick next year lmao. Unless we will be a lottery team again and then that case I'll keep it.
I see Reeve getting something from her two first round picks to get them back in the playoffs.
I too like the projected top of the 2024 Draft than that of 2023’s.
2025’s looks to be extra deep. That’s the year the covid bonus year will stop applying. No more uncertainty about whether or not pretty much any given prospect opts to go back to school another season. Looking forward to that. And hopefully we have more than 12 teams by then. 🙏🏼
It gets harder & harder year after year to allow myself to get excited about all these draft prospects when their chances of making a team go down drastically after the first 15 spots or so. I always say this League doesn’t need a third round, but sometimes it feels like there doesn’t need to be a second round either – especially if there were ever expansion. 🙃 Not that expansion is super-duper imminent! 😩 Sometimes following this League gets pretty depressing honestly lmao
After watching Clark yesterday, my impression of her went way up. She's always been a brilliant offensive player but she didn't even try on defense. Now, though, she's trying, and that counts for a lot. If she's a below-average defender (as opposed to horrid), she's special.
Fudd seems doubtful to enter early. Bueckers could also opt to return to UCONN another year. So it could just be Clark vs. Brink for the #1 pick. 2024 should also have Angel Reese, Ayoka Lee, Van Lith. But then 2025 would be Bueckers, Fudd, Morrow & Olivia Miles.
To me, the 2024 and 2025 Drafts each look both better at the top and deeper overall than the 2023 Draft. And I think the 2023 Draft will be at worst an average draft in both respects.
Last Edit: Nov 30, 2022 16:05:15 GMT -5 by Deleted
Clark has hinted she may opt for the COVID year as well. Or at least she hasn't ruled it out
Perhaps she wants (to break) Kelsey Plum's NCAA Div. I scoring record...
I'd be okay with it if she accomplished it in four seasons. National records being broken by players who got five seasons to do it really doesn't seem fair, but it's bound to happen.
Also, Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes recently said "the plan right now" is to stay at Indiana an extra season by way of the covid bonus year. That would make her available for this draft (2024's), and not the upcoming one (2023's).
These kinds of hints show the power of NIL. Now instead of leaving $200,000 or so on the table by staying in college (for top draft picks), the number is a lot less. And players can now go to the school and say "I'll stay if you pay me $200,000 (or whatever the pro salaries would be). Otherwise, I'm gone."
It's a new day, and I love the fact that the players now have the power.