The 2019 WNBA Draft is in the books.
The Las Vegas Aces, picking No. 1 overall for the third straight year, took Jackie Young out of Notre Dame to start things off. Coming off a loss in the national championship game, Young decided to forego her final year of eligibility, and that proved to be a wise decision.
#️⃣1️⃣ @JackieYoung3 ➡️ @LVAces #WNBADraft pic.twitter.com/u8MbDbQZ3T
— WNBA (@WNBA) April 11, 2019
After that, the New York Liberty boosted their offense with Louisville guard Asia Durr, while the Indiana Fever hope they found their center for the future in Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan.
Here's a look at the full results of the first round, as well as few winners from the night.
Draft Results
First Round
- Las Vegas Aces -- Jackie Young, Notre Dame
- New York Liberty -- Asia Durr, Louisville
- Indiana Fever -- Teaira McCowan, Mississippi State
- Chicago Sky -- Katie Lou Samuelson, UConn
- Dallas Wings -- Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame
- Minnesota Lynx -- Napheesa Collier, UConn
- Los Angeles Sparks -- Kalani Brown, Baylor
- Phoenix Mercury -- Alanna Smith, Stanford
- Connecticut Sun -- Kristine Anigwe, California
- Washington Mystics -- Kiara Leslie, North Carolina State
- Atlanta Dream -- Brianna Turner, Notre Dame
- Seattle Storm -- Ezi Magbegor, Australia
Second Round
13. Phoenix Mercury -- Sophie Cunningham, Missouri
14. New York Liberty -- Han Xu, China
15. Chicago Sky -- Chloe Jackson, Baylor
16. Minnesota Lynx -- Jessica Shepard, Notre Dame
17. Dallas Wings -- Megan Gustafson, Iowa
18. Minnesota Lynx -- Natisha Hiedeman, Marquette
19. Los Angeles Sparks -- Marina Mabrey, Notre Dame
20. Minnesota Lynx -- Cierra Dillard, Buffalo
21. Connecticut Sun -- Bridget Carleton, Iowa State
22. Dallas Wings -- Kennedy Burke, UCLA
23. Atlanta Dream -- Maite Cazorla, Oregon
24. Seattle Storm -- Anriel Howard, Mississippi State
Third Round
25. Indiana Fever -- Paris Kea, North Carolina
26. New York Liberty -- Megan Huff, Utah
27. Chicago Sky -- Maria Conde, Spain
28. Indiana Fever -- Caliya Robinson, Georgia
29. Dallas Wings -- Morgan Berstch, UC Davis
30. Minnesota Lynx -- Kenisha Bell, Minnesota
31. Los Angeles Sparks -- Angela Salvadores, Spain
32. Phoenix Mercury -- Arica Carter, Louisville
33. Connecticut Sun -- Regan Magarity, Virginia Tech
34. Washington Mystics -- Sam Fuehring, Louisville
35. Atlanta Dream -- Li Yueru, China
36. Seattle Storm -- Macy Miller, South Dakota State
Trades
- Atlanta Dream trades draft rights to Brianna Turner (No. 11 overall pick) to the Phoenix Mercury for Marie Gulich
- Minnesota Lynx trades draft rights to Natisha Hiedeman (No. 18 overall pick) to Connecticut Sun for Lexie Brown
Winners
Phoenix Mercury
The Mercury made it to the semi-finals last season and nearly pulled off the comeback from a 2-0 deficit against the Storm. But though they fell short of the Finals last season, they'll be well prepared to make another deep playoff run this season. Not only are all their key players coming back, but they added Essence Carson through free agency, and had a dynamite draft night. With their first-round pick, they took Alanna Smith, a versatile stretch four who's already played for head coach Sandy Brondello on the Australian national team, and followed that up by getting a lights-out shooter in Sophie Cunningham with the No. 13 overall pick. Then, a short time later, they swung a trade to acquire the No. 11 overall pick, Brianna Turner from the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Marie Gulich. This Mercury team was already one of the most talented in the league, and now they're one of the deepest as well.
Las Vegas Aces
This is cheating a bit because the Aces had the No. 1 overall pick, but it would be tough not to include them as a winner when they got the best player in the draft. Jackie Young deciding to come out a year early was a huge win for the Aces after Sabrina Ionescu decided to stay in school for her senior season. Young, a 6-foot wing, is extremely versatile and should make an impact immediately. Not only is she able to shift between scoring and facilitating when necessary on offense, but she can guard multiple positions as well, which should be especially helpful to an Aces team that finished with the fourth-worst defense in the league last season.
Notre Dame
No, the Fighting Irish aren't a WNBA team, but this was still a pretty incredible night for the program. Though Notre Dame fell short in the NCAA national championship game last weekend, the program's entire starting five was drafted on Wednesday night. Jackie Young went No. 1 overall to the Aces, Arike Ogunbowale went No. 5 to the Wings, Brianna Turner went No. 11 to the Dream -- she was later traded to the Mercury -- Jessica Shepard went No. 16 to the Lynx and Marina Mabrey went No. 19 to the Sparks. This was the first time in WNBA history that one school had their entire starting lineup selected in one draft.
NBA Acadamies
Starting in 2016, the league began developing NBA Academies across the globe. They currently have programs in Mexico, Senegal, Australia, India and China which incorporate both schooling and basketball training. On Wednesday night, Han Xu was drafted No. 14 overall by the New York Liberty in the second round to become the first graduate of an NBA Academy to be drafted in either the WNBA or NBA Draft. Xu also became the first Chinese player taken in the WNBA Draft since 1997.