WNBA Draft: Pick-by-pick analysis of the 2019 draft

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NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 10: Cristy Hedgepath poses with Teaira McCowan after being drafted third overall by the Indiana Fever during the 2019 WNBA Draft on April 10, 2019 at Nike New York Headquarters in New York, New York. 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 2019 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3. Indiana Fever selected Teaira McCowan, 6’7 C, Indiana Fever

What can I tell you? This was pre-ordained. I had the Fever taking a center in every single mock draft I did. Pokey Chatman knows what she’s doing, understands that team at the bottom of the league in block percentage and near it in rebounding needed, desperately, an interior presence. And it’s hard to fathom more of that presence than McCowan, an elite defender and rebounder who has steadily worked on improving her game around the offensive rim, now topping 66 percent from the field her senior season at Mississippi State.

McCowan laughed and said “No” when I asked if she could have foreseen this when she started at Mississippi State. The same was probably true for Vic Schaefer and his staff. But she worked her way into becoming the player Indiana needed, and I was certain she would be the pick when she was still available at three.

Indiana also added some intriguing prospects at 25 and 28, with Paris Kea, a point guard whose tools haven’t necessarily translated fully to skills yet, but would allow Erica Wheeler to rest some and Kelsey Mitchell to play off the ball more, and Caliya Robinson, another defensive presence whose all-around game is just the kind of player Chatman loves to find. Guessing she’ll try and make her into a Jessica Breland-type. Long road ahead for Indiana, especially without Victoria Vivians this year, but they made real strides Wednesday.

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