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2019 WNBA Mock Draft Big Board: Version 1.0

By Howard Megdal

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 12: A'ja Wilson poses with a Las Vegas Aces hat during the 2018 WNBA Draft 2018 on April 12, 2018 at Nike New York Headquarters in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melanie Fidler/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 12: A'ja Wilson poses with a Las Vegas Aces hat during the 2018 WNBA Draft 2018 on April 12, 2018 at Nike New York Headquarters in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melanie Fidler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 15: Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner during the Virginia Cavaliers game versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on February 15, 2018, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 15: Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner during the Virginia Cavaliers game versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on February 15, 2018, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

12. Seattle Storm: Brianna Turner, 6’3 F/C, Notre Dame

Bigs are hard to come by in this league. Bigs who can block shots the way Brianna Turner did before injury cost her the end of 2016-17 and all of last season are rarer still.

So in Seattle, where Natasha Howard’s rim protection has taken the Storm first team’s defense from mediocre in 2017 to elite in 2018, adding Turner allows for a similar effect on their second unit. Assuming Turner returns to her prior form, it is easy to imagine her playing the role of defender of last resort, running the break on the turnovers she and Jordin Canada create, and generally making it difficult for opponents to take advantage of the rare moments Howard, Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird are out of the game.

Turner may well be more than this, eventually—she’s long, with a build that suggests she can add strength to it as she gets older, and she’s an effective finisher in the paint already. But it says something significant about her game that she has a chance to help what was the best team in the 2018 regular season, and right away.

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