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2018 WNBA Draft trade rumors swirl around the second overall pick

By Howard Megdal

COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 21: Ohio State Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell (3) drives to the basket during the second half of a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes on February 21, 2018 at the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 21: Ohio State Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell (3) drives to the basket during the second half of a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes on February 21, 2018 at the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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With little more than 48 hours remaining until the 2018 WNBA Draft, conversation is swirling around a number of fronts, most notably the second overall pick held by the Indiana Fever. High Post Hoops has learned that multiple teams have inquired about trading for the pick, including Mike Thibault’s Washington Mystics.

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Nothing is complete at this point, but the interest from the Mystics in Indiana’s top pick is unsurprising, with a league source indicating that the Mystics are particularly interested in securing the rights to Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell.

Currently, the High Post Hoops WNBA Draft Big Board has Mitchell selected second overall by the Fever, and she’d be an excellent fit for Pokey Chatman’s offense. But the Fever have multiple needs, and the flexibility—they also hold the eighth and fourteenth overall selections in Thursday night’s draft—to fill them in a variety of ways.

Multiple WNBA talent evaluators said any Washington package would need to start with the Mystics’ own first round pick in the draft, seventh overall, along with wing Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, the kind of two-way player who’d fit with Chatman’s system in a similar way to Tamera Young back when Chatman built a perennial playoff contender in Chicago.

Nor are the Mystics the only team to contact the Fever about the second overall pick. Las Vegas and Los Angeles have also had discussions with the Fever about choosing at two, High Post Hoops has learned.

That many teams covet Kelsey Mitchell is no surprise, either. The lead guard operates at hyperspeed, finishing at the hoop while avoiding turnovers, and shot better than 40 percent from three last season.

There have been some questions about her relatively low assist percentage, but the ceiling for Mitchell is as high as anyone in this draft, and it is possible if a team other than the guard-stocked Aces held the top pick, Mitchell would be in the conversation to extend the streak of Kelseys taken first overall in the WNBA Draft to two.

Expect plenty more conversation over the next two days, given the remarkably deep talent pool in this draft, multiple teams with two draft picks in the first round, and a league filled with adventurous general managers.

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