Lynx acquire 2022 first-round draft pick for Mikiah Herbert Harrigan

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It’s certainly not a quiet Wednesday for WNBA news. In fact, a four-team deal today saw the shift of five players and three draft picks. The Minnesota Lynx are saying goodbye to forward Mikiah “Kiki” Herbert Harrigan in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft via Phoenix.

There is quite a bit of criss-crossing between teams in this deal, which involves the Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, and New York Liberty.

There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s break it all down:

• Seattle sent Natasha Howard to New York in exchange for the 2021 No. 1 pick, Phoenix’s 2022 first-round pick, and New York’s 2022 second-round pick.

• Seattle then sent 2021 No. 1 pick to Dallas for Katie Lou Samuelson and for Dallas’s 2022 second-round pick.

• New York also got Sami Whitcomb from Seattle in exchange for player rights to Stephanie Talbot.

• The 2022 first-round pick (PHX) was then sent to Minnesota in exchange for Herbert Harrigan.

It seems like this could leave room for even more to come, but for now, we are going to focus on what this means for Minnesota and where they are at right now in this rather exciting off-season.

In Herbert Harrigan, the Lynx lose a young forward who averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.1 minutes of action per game in the 2020 WNBA season. She was drafted sixth overall in 2020 by Minnesota and joins Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson as the only South Carolina players to rack up 1,000 points and 200 blocks in their college careers.

She also helped lead South Carolina to not only an NCAA Championship but two SEC regular-season titles and was named the SEC Tournament MVP in her final season.

Thank you, Kiki! pic.twitter.com/hCjGYVTW4G

— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) February 10, 2021

The Lynx have made a few other notable moves so far this off-season, most recently including an Erica McCall trade. The team sent the forward to the Washington Mystics as part of a sign-and-trade deal in exchange for Washington’s 2022 third-round draft pick.

McCall has played in 99 career games with Minnesota, Indiana, and Atlanta in her five years in the WNBA. In that span, she averages 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game. In 2020, McCall appeared in 20 games with the Dream and Lynx.

On top of the newly-acquired 2022 first and third-round picks, don’t forget the Lynx picked up guard Kayla McBride and forward Natalie Achonwa this month, both of whom are itching to win a trophy this season. A bright future doesn’t seem that far off for Minnesota, but it will be interesting to see what other moves the team makes before the 2021 season tips off.

The Lynx are in a pretty good spot when it comes to cap space since they have a few contributors on rookie contracts. Center Sylvia Fowles is also under contract at the old, smaller maximum salary. Adding McBride will undoubtedly help at the guard position after Napheesa Collier saw success at power forward in the last half of the 2020 season, but the team could still use some additional depth at center.

The off-season is young and the 2021 WNBA Draft is yet to come (date to be determined), so Minnesota could still have some moves up its sleeves to build a successful 2021 team.