The Connecticut Sun will continue to stock up ahead of the 2020 WNBA season, and here’s a hint of who might be on the way.
The Athletic’s Lyndsey D’Arcangelo and Brian Hamilton predicted Wednesday in their WNBA Mock Draft the Sun will select Duke Blue Devils shooting Haley Gorecki and Baylor Bears point guard Juicy Landrum Friday night in the 2020 WNBA Draft. The Sun dealt their two first-round draft picks to the Phoenix Mercury in February in the DeWanna Bonner trade, so they’ll hope their two second-round picks, No. 23 and 35 overall, can become steals.
D’Argangelo writes the Sun will draft Gorecki at No. 23 to add a backcourt scorer to their bench.
… the Sun don’t have many needs to fill. What GM and coach Curt Miller could target with his first pick is depth at shooting guard, and Duke’s Haley Gorecki would be a logical choice. Gorecki was the only player in school history to average over 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in back-to-back seasons and she finished her senior season with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists per game — the kind of well-rounded stat line Miller appreciates.
Hamilton writes the Sun will add a player capable of impacting games in many ways when they snag Landrum with the 35th overall pick.
Another Baylor guard with positional versatility, Landrum has toughness that offers a bonus. Primarily, she gives a team a dead-eye shooter, hitting 42.3 percent of her attempts from 3-point range in 2019-20. … But Landrum will mix it up, too, as a strong rebounder for her size; her 123 defensive rebounds last season were only three fewer than 6-4 teammate Lauren Cox snagged. And while Landrum primarily played off-guard for the Lady Bears this season, she would’ve been the first option at the point had Te’a Cooper not arrived, so she has the ability to swing between the spots at the next level
The WNBA Draft will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Friday night. ESPN2 will air the innovative, virtual event.
