2. New York Liberty: Asia Durr, 5’10 G, Louisville
An amusing moment during the coach/GM teleconference this week? Katie Smith was asked whether she saw more value in drafting a guard or a big. “Value? I don’t really want to tip my hand,” Smith began, before Laimbeer interjected: “We all know who you’re picking.” The conventional wisdom is that the pick will be Asia Durr, who completed a magnificient college career last weekend in Albany. For a team that finished eleventh in offensive efficiency last season, there is a roadmap to improving that figure dramatically, and it is a lot of lineups with two-way threats Tina Charles, Kia Nurse and Durr, surrounded by shooters and/or rim protectors. The roster is filled with both, frankly, and Nurse in year two should be even better, while Durr continues to look like the perimeter partner for Charles the team has been chasing since, essentially, Epihphanny Prince went down with an ACL tear.