Imani Boyette to Seattle for 2018 first round pick
The thinking here is pretty obvious. The Sky have been on fire of late, but it hasn’t been with the Stefanie Dolson-Imani Boyette dual bigs lineup they started the season deploying (though the pair were on the floor late together in the win over Los Angeles). And with Alaina Coates expected to be added to the roster before the end of the season, according to a league source, making the deal for a draft pick opens up a roster spot accordingly, while allowing the Sky to convert their extra big into a young player out of a loaded 2018 draft.
For Seattle, the desperately needed rim protector can help lift a defense that ranks just tenth in the league in efficiency this year, the primary reason why a lineup with Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd finds itself on the outside looking into the playoff picture at the moment. Sure, that makes the 2018 pick a lottery pick right now, but as one WNBA evaluator put it, “the point is, they don’t want to be in the lottery.”