Drafting is never easy. There is never any guarantee that a player’s skill set translates to the professional level or that they will not be plagued by injuries. In the WNBA, the limited number of roster spots available makes it even more difficult. As a result, many players with great potential never get a chance to excel in the WNBA, and it is difficult to predict a player’s true potential unless they are a sure-fire generational talent.
Unsurprisingly, every WNBA team has made some draft day decisions that ended up not being the right move. The Connecticut Sun are no exception. They drafted some successful players, like Lindsay Whalen, Katie Douglas, Tina Charles, Jonquel Jones, and Chelsea Gray, but they have also missed out on drafting a few future All-Stars.
5. Ezi Magbegor
The 2019 WNBA Draft has produced four All-Stars so far. Three of them—Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale, and Napheesa Collier—were picked long before the Connecticut Sun got to make their selection with the ninth overall pick. They drafted Kristine Anigwe, who only played 17 games for the Sun as a rookie before being traded to the Dallas Wings for Theresa Plaisance. Plaisance did not produce too much for the Sun, and Anigwe last played a WNBA game in 2023.
Ezi Magbegor, another big, was drafted with the final pick of the first round that year. She did not play in the WNBA until 2020, though, seeing limited playoff minutes as the Seattle Storm secured a title. Since then, Magbegor has established herself as a full-time starter and great two-way talent. She has already made 3 All-Defensive Teams and received votes for Defensive Player of the Year in the 2024 season. Nevertheless, she could not follow up on her 2023 All-Star appearance, which many WNBA fans considered the biggest snub of the 2024 All-Star Game.
4. Kahleah Copper
2016 was an exciting draft year for the Connecticut Sun. They had three first-round picks and selected Morgan Tuck, Rachel Banham, and Jonquel Jones. Drafting Jones sixth overall paid off, as she was named the 2021 WNBA MVP and made several All-Star appearances during her time with the Sun. And yet, the Sun missed out in the 2016 WNBA Draft.
Out of the top eight picks, four players have been All-Stars so far. The Sun picked two of the four players who haven’t. Morgan Tuck played four seasons with the Sun but never produced what you would expect from the third-overall pick in the draft due to knee injuries. Tuck was just named the Sun’s new General Manager, helping the team off the court. Rachel Banham also played four seasons with the Sun after being drafted and has been a solid bench player over her career. She never reached the All-Star level, however.
Kahleah Copper, who was drafted seventh overall, did. Copper had a somewhat slow start to her WNBA career—it took her until 2020 to average double-digit scoring—but she is now one of the most prolific offensive players in the league. In 2021, Copper won a title with the Chicago Sky and was named Finals MVP for her efforts. She has also been an All-Star four times and helped Team USA bring home another gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
3. Courtney Williams
The same year that the Connecticut Sun opted to not draft Kahleah Copper, they also left Courtney Williams on the board. Williams may not have collected as many accolades as Copper yet, but is still a talented player many teams would love to have. She is incredibly competitive on both ends of the floor, gives her team energy, and is almost unguardable in the mid-range.
Williams only made one All-Star team so far in 2021 but just led the Minnesota Lynx to Game 5 of the WNBA Finals alongside Napheesa Collier. She is a high-level starter who can contribute to winning basketball and is the lowest pick from the 2016 draft to become an All-Star. Williams is far from done, however. In January, she will suit up for Unrivaled Basketball, representing the new league in its first season, and fans should expect her and the Minnesota Lynx to be competitive again in the 2025 WNBA season.
2. Tiffany Hayes
The 2012 WNBA Draft produced two players, who have been named to both an All-Star and All-WNBA team. One was no surprise. Nneka Ogwumike was drafted first overall and was widely expected to do great things on the basketball court. The other was a surprise, though. It is not often that you see a second-round pick excel in the WNBA, but Tiffany Hayes did just that, which makes it much more painful that the Sun, among other teams, passed on her.
The Sun decided to select Astan Dabo with the ninth overall pick in 2012. Dabo never appeared in the WNBA. Meanwhile, Tiffany Hayes has put together a lengthy and successful WNBA career. She was named an All-Star in 2017, made the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team and the All-WNBA First Team in 2018, and was named Sixth Woman of the Year in 2024 after coming out of retirement to join the Las Vegas Aces.
1. Shavonte Zellous
The 2009 WNBA Draft produced a whopping seven All-Stars. Six of those were drafted in the top six and long gone when the Connecticut Sun got to make their selection towards the end of the first round. They drafted Chante Black just one pick ahead of Shavonte Zellous.
Black played 33 games with the Sun and only 97 total WNBA games. Meanwhile, Zellous put together a 12-year career in the W that saw her win a championship with the Indiana Fever, take home the Most Improved Player award in 2013, and go to the 2013 All-Star Game. 2012 marked one of Zellous’ lower scoring averages, but she still played almost 30 minutes per game in the playoffs for a championship team.
Zellous may have only made one All-Star team in her WNBA career but was a long-term contributor for several teams.