Who’s Next — The Next’s Draft Board v1.0

Welcome to The Next’s 2022 draft board! With the first round of the NCAA tournament soon to begin, it’s only fitting we get familiar with the names that will be the next generation of pros to affect the WNBA.

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We’ve got a couple can’t-miss prospects atop the class, another player who profiles solidly, and then a lot of uncertainty. It’s most certainly not a good class for teams needing off-ball guards or combo forwards; but if you find yourself in need of a wing or defensive big, there are bound to be diamonds in the rough here.

Since tiering off prospects is important, we’re going to use the baseball approach: “future value,” on a scale of 20-80. These numbers translate to: 30 — reserve; 40 — bench; 50 — average rotation player; 60 — All-Star caliber; 70 — All-WNBA caliber; 80 — MVP candidate. Having a 45 FV is nothing to scoff at — an average outcome as an average player is real good, given what a crapshoot most of the draft is.

Players’ tiers say nothing about their ceilings or floors, just what I think their average outcome is likely to be.

A couple notes before we get to the list:

• I like players with clearly definable roles. Women who do a lot of things fairly well are a lot harder to give minutes to than ones who are great at a handful of things.
• I find prospects’ floors more important among top picks — this isn’t a league that you can win big in while whiffing on picks — but there’s got to be upside there. While Naz Hillmon and Destanni Henderson have high floors, I’m not spending a high pick on a solid bench piece.
• At a certain point in the draft, though, all that’s left is longshot upside. So there’s a heck of a lot more value in hitting on Taylor Robertson than hitting on Khayla Pointer, just given what those possibilities look like.
• Between folks like Shakira Austin, Emily Engstler, Kierstan Bell, etc., there’s a lot of unique skillsets in this class, and each is a differently level of difficulty to judge. Austin defends like a five and scores like a four, so her fit in a W lineup isn’t too tough; Engstler does just about everything except run pick-and-rolls, post-up, and defend posts, making her an intriguing tweener; Bell moves and attacks like a guard, but not efficiently. The mid-first-round prospects are basically Rorschach tests for scouts.
• Positions listed aren’t what prospects play right now, but what I expect them to play in the pros. For example: Ashley Joens plays wing for Iowa State, but since I don’t see her on-ball creation translating to the next level, I see her as an off-ball guard in the W.