WNBA Mock Draft Big Board 4.0: The best-laid plans
12. Seattle Storm: Jessica Shepard, 6’4 F, Notre Dame
It’s going to be hard for anyone to so much as make the Seattle Storm, let alone earn some playing time right away. But if there’s someone at this slot who can, it is Jessica Shepard, a versatile 6’4 with an enormously high basketball IQ. Dan Hughes will love the outlet passes off the defensive rebounds, he can utilize her even as a shooter to space the floor around his stars, and Shepard, while no Breanna Stewart (to be fair, no one is), could credibly play many of the roles Stewart does in sets while part of the Seattle second unit. More to the point, Shepard offers more in the way of versatility than Crystal Langhorne and is a much bigger body than Alysha Clark — which is not to say she should supplant either of them, but rather that she can offer Hughes a different look.