WNBA Draft: See Seattle Storm picks, plus where Zags landed
Apr 15, 2024, 7:46 PM
There wasn’t much suspense at the top of the 2024 WNBA Draft with Caitlin Clark the clear No. 1 prospect, but there was plenty of intrigue for fans of the Seattle Storm and college hoops in Washington state.
With Seattle Storm, Skylar Diggins-Smith finds a fresh start
The Storm made a pair of selections in the three-round draft, while a duo of Gonzaga Bulldogs found homes in the league on Monday night.
Here’s a look at the newest Storm players and where the Zags landed.
Seattle Storm 2024 WNBA Draft picks
Note on first round
The Storm were not active in the first 12 picks, the reason being they traded the No. 4 overall selection and Kia Nurse in January to the Los Angeles Sparks for a 2026 first-round pick. That allowed Seattle to make a pair of big splashes in free agency, signing six-time All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith and eight-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike, who is also a former WNBA MVP.
Second round
With the No. 14 overall pick, Seattle took 5-foot-11 Connecticut point guard Nika Mühl. A 23-year-old native of Croatia, Mühl is a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year who notably held Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark to a season-low 21 points in UConn’s Final Four loss to Iowa, including just two in the first quarter.
UConn's Nika Mühl is headed to Seattle! #WNBADraft pic.twitter.com/uvjecIm7Sz
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 16, 2024
Last season, Mühl averaged 6.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, with a 46.2% field-goal percentage and 40.2% mark on 3-pointers.
Mühl joins a storied list of former UConn stars to go to the Storm that includes all-time great Sue Bird and two-time MVP Breanna Stewart.
Third round
The Storm grabbed 6-foot-3 Indiana forward Mackenzie Holmes with the No. 26 overall selection.
Mackenzie Holmes doing Mackenzie Holmes things 😤 Are we surprised? Not one bit. @kenzieholmes_ x @IndianaWBB pic.twitter.com/XJ58I6aWQX
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) November 24, 2023
Holmes, 23, averaged 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in her college career, which also included two seasons at Mississippi State. Like Mühl, Holmes has a good defensive reputation, having won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and making either the first or second Big Ten All-Defensive team in each of 2021, 2022 and 2023. She was an All-Big Ten first team selection in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Holmes underwent offseason knee surgery, which will keep her out of action for the 2024 season.
According to The Crimson Quarry, an Indiana basketball SB Nation website, “simply put, Holmes is the greatest player in the history of Indiana women’s basketball.”
Gonzaga picks in WNBA Draft
Brynna Maxwell and fellow Zags guard Kaylynne Truong were both second-round selections on Monday night.
Maxwell, a Gig Harbor High School product, goes to the Chicago Sky as the No. 13 overall pick, which was the first of the second round. She follows in the footsteps of Gonzaga great and Kent native Courtney Vandersloot, who was a Sky draft pick in 2011.
The 6-foot Maxwell averaged 12.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 43.7% on field goals during her college career, which started at Utah.
Truong goes to the Washington Mystics as the No. 23 overall selection. A Houston native, the 5-8 Truong averaged 9.4 points and 3.9 assists over her five seasons with the Zags.
Kaylynne Truong (@Twinballerz) scores 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, as @ZagWBB surges past @byuwbb for the 67-58 win in Spokane. #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/s9ppUdLkfJ
— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) December 17, 2022
Maxwell and Truong helped Gonzaga go 32-4 last season, including a perfect 16-0 run through West Coast Conference regular season play, to make the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed. They finished the season ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press poll.
