2016 WNBA draft

The 2016 WNBA draft is the league's draft for the 2016 WNBA season. It was held on April 14 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.^[1]

2016 WNBA draft
General information
Sport	Basketball
Date(s)	April 14, 2016
Location	Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut
Network(s)	ESPN2 (first round) ESPNU (second and third rounds)
Overview
League	WNBA
First selection	Breanna Stewart Seattle Storm
← 2015 2017 →

The draft was most notable for Connecticut producing the top three picks, with #1 pick Breanna Stewart followed by Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck.^[2] This is the first time in history that the top three draft picks came from the same school.^[3]

Draft lottery

The lottery selection to determine the order of the top four picks in the 2016 draft occurred on September 24, 2015. The winner of the lottery, the Seattle Storm, picked first, marking the first pick for the Storm for the second straight year.^[4]

Lottery chances

• Seattle Storm (442 out of 1,000) - Won
• San Antonio Stars (276 out of 1,000)
• Connecticut Sun (178 out of 1,000)
• Atlanta Dream (104 out of 1,000)

This is the third time that the lottery was won by the team that had the highest odds. The lottery odds were based on combined records from the 2014 and 2015 WNBA season. Seattle Storm, the worst two-year record, was guaranteed with at least the third pick.

Key

*	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-WNBA Team
+	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
Bold	Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year

Draft selections

Round 1

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
1	Breanna Stewart +	United States	Seattle Storm	Connecticut
2	Moriah Jefferson	United States	San Antonio Stars	Connecticut
3	Morgan Tuck	United States	Connecticut Sun	Connecticut
4	Rachel Banham	United States	Connecticut Sun[lower-alpha 1]	Minnesota
5	Aerial Powers	United States	Dallas Wings[lower-alpha 2]	Michigan State
6	Jonquel Jones +	Bahamas	Connecticut Sun from Los Angeles Sparks[lower-alpha 3]	George Washington
7	Kahleah Copper +	United States	Washington Mystics	Rutgers
8	Courtney Williams +	United States	Phoenix Mercury	South Florida
9	Tiffany Mitchell	United States	Indiana Fever	South Carolina
10	Imani Boyette	United States	Chicago Sky	Texas
11	Bria Holmes	United States	Atlanta Dream[lower-alpha 4]	West Virginia
12	Adut Bulgak	Canada	New York Liberty	Florida State

Round 2

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
13	Rachel Hollivay	United States	Atlanta Dream[lower-alpha 5]	Rutgers
14	Jazmon Gwathmey	United States  Puerto Rico	Minnesota Lynx[lower-alpha 6] (then traded to San Antonio)[7]	James Madison
15	Whitney Knight	United States	Los Angeles Sparks from Connecticut Sun	Florida Gulf Coast
16	Courtney Walker	United States	Atlanta Dream	Texas A&M
17	Jamie Weisner	Canada[lower-alpha 7]	Connecticut Sun from Los Angeles Sparks	Oregon State
18	Ruth Hamblin	Canada	Dallas Wings	Oregon State
19	Lia Galdeira	United States	Washington Mystics	Washington State
20	Jillian Alleyne	United States	Phoenix Mercury	Oregon
21	Brene Moseley	United States	Indiana Fever	Maryland
22	Bashaara Graves	United States	Minnesota Lynx[lower-alpha 8]	Tennessee
23	Brianna Butler	United States	Los Angeles Sparks from Connecticut Sun[lower-alpha 9]	Syracuse
24	Ameryst Alston	United States	New York Liberty	Ohio State

Third round

Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
25	Brittney Martin	United States	San Antonio Stars	Oklahoma State
26	Lexi Eaton Rydalch	United States	Seattle Storm	BYU
27	Aliyyah Handford	United States	Connecticut Sun	St. John's
28	Niya Johnson	United States	Atlanta Dream	Baylor
29	Talia Walton	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Washington
30	Shakena Richardson	United States	Dallas Wings	Seton Hall
31	Danaejah Grant	United States	Washington Mystics	St. John's
32	Nirra Fields	Canada	Phoenix Mercury	UCLA
33	Julie Allemand	Belgium	Indiana Fever	Castors Braine (Belgium)
34	Jordan Jones	United States	Chicago Sky	Texas A&M
35	Temi Fagbenle	United Kingdom	Minnesota Lynx	USC
36	Shacobia Barbee	United States	New York Liberty	Georgia

Notable prospects

On September 24, 2015, WNBA.com posted notable prospects for the draft. The list included:^[9]

• Moriah Jefferson - UConn
• Tiffany Mitchell - South Carolina
• Breanna Stewart - UConn
• Jillian Alleyne - Oregon
• Jonquel Jones - George Washington
• Morgan Tuck - UConn
• Courtney Williams - South Florida

The WNBA also selected twelve players to be in attendance at the draft. Those twelve were:^[10]

1. Rachel Banham, Minnesota
2. Imani Boyette, Texas
3. Kahleah Copper, Rutgers
4. Moriah Jefferson, Connecticut
5. Jonquel Jones, George Washington
6. Tiffany Mitchell, South Carolina
7. Aerial Powers, Michigan State
8. Breanna Stewart, Connecticut
9. Morgan Tuck, Connecticut
10. Courtney Walker, Texas A&M
11. Talia Walton, Washington
12. Courtney Williams, South Florida

Of those 12 players, 10 were picked in the 1st round. Only Courtney Walker and Talia Walton were picked later.

Footnotes

1. The Dream traded this pick to Connecticut in exchange for Elizabeth Williams.^[5]
2. Dallas and Los Angeles traded first-round picks in this draft; Dallas also received Erin Phillips.^[6]
3. Los Angeles and Dallas traded first-round picks in this draft; Los Angeles also received Riquna Williams and a 2017 first-round pick.^[6]
4. The Dream received this pick from the Minnesota Lynx as part of a three-way trade involving the Sky; Chicago received Érika de Souza from Atlanta, Atlanta received Damiris Dantas, Reshanda Gray and this pick from Minnesota, Minnesota received Sylvia Fowles and Chicago's second-round pick in this draft
5. The Dream received this pick from San Antonio in exchange for Samantha Logic
6. The Lynx received this pick and Renee Montgomery from Seattle in exchange for Monica Wright
7. Weisner was born and raised in the USA to an American mother and Canadian father. At the time of the draft, she had represented Canada internationally at both youth and senior level.^[8]
8. The Lynx received this pick from Chicago, see note d
9. The Sun received this pick from Minnesota in exchange for the rights to Asjha Jones

See also

• List of first overall WNBA draft picks

References

1. "WNBA Draft 2016 Presented by State Farm to Be Held on April 14" (Press release). WNBA. February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
2. "Breanna Stewart top pick in WNBA, leading 1-2-3 UConn sweep". ESPN.com. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
3. "Stewart leads 1-2-3 UConn sweep at WNBA draft". ESPN.com. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
4. Seattle Storm Wins Top Pick For 2016 WNBA Draft Presented By State Farm - WNBA
5. "Seattle Connecticut Sun trade F/C Elizabeth Williams to Dream for No. 4 draft pick". ESPN. ESPN. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
6. "Sparks acquire Riquna Williams in swap of high picks with Wings". ESPN. ESPN. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
7. "Lynx Acquire WNBA All-Star Jia Perkins From San Antonio - Minnesota Lynx". Minnesota Lynx. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
8. "Bio: #15 Jamie Weisner". Oregon State Beavers. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
9. Notable Prospects in the 2016 WNBA Draft
10. "Meet the 12 Players Attending WNBA Draft 2016 - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved April 15, 2016.