WNBA Mock Draft: Big Board 5.0, filling out rounds two and three

WNBA Mock Draft Big Board 5.0: Filling out rounds two and three

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Louisville Cardinals guard Asia Durr (25) drives past Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs guard Victoria Vivians (35) in the division I women's championship semifinal game between the Louisville Cardinals and the Mississippi State Bulldogs on March 30, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Connecticut’s Katie Lou Samuelson (33) celebrates a teammate’s basket from the bench against Southern Methodist at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. UConn won, 79-39. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images) /

4. Chicago Sky: Katie Lou Samuelson, 6’3 G/F, Connecticut

I think people are missing the forest for the trees on Katie Lou, and so do many WNBA talent evaluators I spoke to about her. The concern I have heard, that despite her 6’3 build, she may not be strong enough to bully 4s and 5s consistently, doesn’t make much sense in several ways. Her position at the next level is a facilitating 3/4, for one thing, and for another, she’s only going to get stronger as she advances deeper into her 20s. But what she provides, in passing, in ability to shoot from everywhere, as someone who can go get a chasedown block or recover from a missed defensive assignment elsewhere to poke a shot away, all of it plays, and particularly so in an ever-faster WNBA that plays in transition more each season. I wouldn’t expect any different from this Chicago roster. And I certainly don’t think James Wade is fooled by that negative Katie Lou talk.

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