2019 WNBA Mock Draft: Big Board 2.0 is wide open

2019 WNBA Mock Draft Big Board 2.0: Wide open field at top and bottom of first round

NEW YORK - APRIL 1: WNBA President Val Ackerman announces the Houston Comets have received the number one overall pick in the upcoming Draft during the 1997 WNBA Draft Lottery on April 1, 1997 in New York City. 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 1997 NBAE (Photo by Chuck Solomon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 08: Ezi Magbegor of the Boomers warms up prior to the round nine WNBL match between the Melbourne Boomers and the Sydney Uni Flames at the State Basketball Centre on December 08, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images) /

8. Phoenix Mercury: Ezi Magbegor, 6’4 F/C, Australia

This is a pick for now and later. Ezi Magbegor showed us several things during last fall’s FIBA World Cup. One is that she is capable of performing against older, more experienced bigs, that the years of additional weight training do not scare her or force her away from what she does well offensively and on the boards. But Magbegor’s versatility also matters here. In a league where stretch fours and stretch fives are becoming more interchangeable, finding a presence on a team where Brittney Griner holds down the fort as at least a semi-traditional big is key. The Mercury needed, as much as anything, a Sancho Lyttle replacement when she went down to injury last season. And come playoff time, they needed an answer, a counter to Natasha Howard against Seattle. They didn’t have it, and that’s why you have all that Storm WNBA Championship merch out there for sale. Magbegor is a logical counter, and no one knows that better than her national team coach, Sandy Brondello, who is certain to tell Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello.

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