Catching up with Curt Miller ahead of the 2020 WNBA Draft

Miller talks strategies, challenges with virtual draft

With the WNBA Draft fast approaching Connecticut Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller is tasked with not only preparing for the draft, but preparing for a draft in which he’s not with the rest of his coaching staff and COO Amber Cox.

Miller is spending time in his offseason home in Indiana. The rest of the coaching staff is in the same apartment complex in Connecticut.

This has left Miller with the difficult decision whether he should drive to his apartment in Connecticut to be near the rest of his coaching staff, even if they can’t be in the same room.

He believes that the distance is logistically the hardest part of the draft going remote.

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“Lots of phone calls going on during the draft, there’s a lot of communication between teams and GMs and deals flying left and right and it just makes it a little bit more interesting when you’re not all in the same war room,” said Miller.

While balancing figuring out the logistics and deciding if he’ll travel back to Connecticut, Miller and his staff still have to prepare for the draft itself.

The Sun do not have a 2020 first-round pick after a series of trades during free agency but do hold the 23rd and 35th overall picks.

However, Miller is still preparing aggressively for the draft by making calls to draftees, communicating with his staff and support staff, as well as his current players.

He noted that one issue that arises with not having a first-round pick is that the team needs to cast a bit of a larger web.

“I think the draft is very top-heavy in the first round. But I think this is also a draft, you could see someone being drafted 7, 8, 9 compared to someone drafted 20-24 and 20-24 might end up having a more successful and longer WNBA career. I think it’s in the eye of the beholder. And, I’m not convinced that there’s not going to be some great value picks.”

Because of this Miller and his coaching staff are doing their due diligence and talking to a lot of players.

Miller is ready, whether there are some moves by them or not, to add at least two more pieces to the team Friday, April 17.

Entering his fifth draft with the Sun, Miller has learned that you need to stay nimble on draft day.

“Maybe people will draft unexpectedly ahead of you. And maybe someone ends up on the board that you didn’t anticipate being on the board or someone that we were hoping was there got taken earlier,” he said.

Miller believes that he’s grown over the last four years drafting as a GM, has learned from his decisions that he’s made as a prisoner of the moment.

“Early on I drafted in one of the drafts, kind of prisoner of the moment and reactionary, on a player that may or may not was going to play for us that year,” Miller said.

He continued, “And ultimately when she did play for us, maybe [I] reacted differently than I would have because I anticipated that she was going to not play. So, you know, I’ve learned I think not to be prisoner of the moment and overthink your current roster and trust your instincts with the draft.”

Overall, Miller believes that the point guard position is the deepest position in the draft, though he admits it’s always in the eye of the beholder.

While he doesn’t have any draft day superstitions, once his team is able to get back on the court Miller will resume his superstitious ways and game day routines.

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