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Inside Atlanta Dream’s 2019 WNBA draft night

Bria Felicien|
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 2: Head Coach Nicki Collen of the Atlanta Dream looks on during the game against the Washington Mystics during Game Four of the WNBA Semifinals on September 2, 2018 at the Charles Smith Center at George Washington University in Washington, DC. 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 Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 2: Head Coach Nicki Collen of the Atlanta Dream looks on during the game against the Washington Mystics during Game Four of the WNBA Semifinals on September 2, 2018 at the Charles Smith Center at George Washington University in Washington, DC. 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 Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dream trade for Gülich, select Cazorla and Yueru

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Dream made noise with the first trade of the 2019 WNBA draft.

Twenty minutes after the Dream selected Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner with the No. 11 pick, the league announced Atlanta’s trade of Turner’s draft rights to Phoenix in exchange for Marie Gülich.

That move was a year in the making, apparently.

Atlanta Dream head coach Nicki Collen wanted to draft Gülich out of Oregon State in 2018, but without a first-round draft pick, the Dream watched her slip away at No. 12 to Phoenix. (In 2017, the Dream traded its 2018 first-round draft pick in exchange for Chicago Sky’s Imani McGee-Stafford and Tamera Young. After the season, that pick ended up being No. 3.)

Gülich played in 23 games with the Mercury, averaging 1.5 points, one rebound and five minutes per game. Collen sees the 6-5 center as a player who could fill the roll vacated by Damiris Dantas.

“She does a lot of the things we like to do, she runs and transitions, she can rebound and get in transition, she can pick and pop,” Collen said. “When we lost Dantas, we kind of lost that 4-5 versatility, with someone who can stretch the floor all the way to the arc.”

So, on Wednesday night, the Dream picked Brianna Turner for Phoenix. And then Phoenix traded Gülich to Atlanta. Collen noted that while Turner is a great player, her style of play is too similar to Monique Billings (the Dream’s 2018 second-round draft pick).

With the No. 23 pick, the Dream selected Maite Cazorla, who most recently competed in the Final Four for Oregon. Collen called Cazorla pro-ready – Cazorla’s first stint with Spain’s national program was with the U-14 team.

This season, alongside Sabrina Ionescu in the Ducks’ backcourt, averaged 9.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game and tallied 165 assists.

“We’re very analytical, and we’re pretty much analytical nerds,” Collen said. “So when you looked at her stats across the board, from effective field goal percentage, to points per shot, all those statistics – she was as good as anybody in this draft.”

Atlanta’s final pick at No. 35, Li Yueru, is a 6-foot-7, 20-year-old from China, who will not play this season due to her duties with the Chinese national team.

“She’s 6-7, really broad, good size, but runs the floor well for her size,” Collen said. “Beyond that, she really can stretch the floor all the way to the arc. She’s had an incredible year in China, for their Chinese league. She’s also a big part of the future of their national team program.”

Collen said her goal for Wednesday night was to gather the pieces needed to expand her offense. Leading scorer Tiffany Hayes is returning, but there’s no timetable available for Angel McCoughtry and Dantas signed with the Lynx.

But post-draft, the Dream front office has already started to move forward to finalizing training camp contracts and applying for Carzola’s work visa.

“Then we’ll start to slow down, and get in touch with agents and make the moves we have to make,” Collen said.

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