Minnesota Lynx, with few needs, trade their first-round pick in Monday’s draft

When it comes to the Lynx roster, many of the questions already have answers, which is why the team on Sunday traded its first-round pick (No. 11 overall) in Monday’s WNBA draft to Chicago in exchange for the Sky’s first-round pick next year.

It was going to be pretty difficult for a draftee — especially one picked near the bottom of the first round — to make the Lynx, whose roster already has most of the answers.

For example:

Question: Who will start during the upcoming season? Answer: All five starters are back from the team that went 30-10 last season, earned the No. 2 overall seed in the WNBA playoffs and reached Game 5 of the league championship series. That includes Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith and Bridget Carleton.

Question: How does the team’s depth look? Answer: The team re-signed top backup guard Natisha Hiedeman and has center Dorka Juhasz back. Of the eight players who played the most minutes per game last year, seven are back.

Question: Who will fill the shoes of departed top reserve Cecilia Zandalasini, who was taken by Golden State in the expansion draft? Answer: Cheryl Reeve, coach and president of basketball operations, expects big bounces from Diamond Miller and Alissa Pili. After spending the offseason after her rookie season rehabbing from surgery, then suffering an injury early in the 2024 season, Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, has had an entire offseason to work on her game, rather than just get healthy. Miller’s strong season playing in Europe has Reeve figuring out ways to fit her into the rotation.

Also, the signing of French center Marième Badiane is likely to take a roster spot.

So do the math. Top five, top reserves.

So what does that man for the draft?

The trade.

The Lynx still have two second-round picks (No. 15 and No. 24) and one in the third (No. 37).

A year ago the Lynx dealt with Chicago to move down a spot in the draft, allowing the Sky to draft Angel Reese while the Lynx took Pili. That draft gave the Lynx the right to swap first-round picks in 2026. This new deal supersedes that.

The bottom line is the Lynx will have two first-round picks next spring.

Huge competition will exist for roster spots. The WNBA limit is 12 players, but many go with 11. The Lynx, mindful of the salary cap, have not yet decided.

Other factors are at play. The Lynx claimed guard Grace Berger off waivers. Post Jessica Shepard, who sat out last season, is looking to return to the WNBA after a stellar season overseas. Maïa Hirsch, the French center the Lynx took at the end of the first round in 2023, is a year away from coming to the league.

Ideally, Reeve would like to find someone in the draft who can provide competition in the backcourt. The Lynx have Williams and Hiedeman at the point but could be looking for another ballhandler.

“Third ballhandlers are valuable,” Reeve said before the Lynx dealt away their first-round pick. “If you’re only going to start [the season] with 11, a multipositional player, a combo guard, a good shooter, that would be valuable to the roster.”

6:30 p.m. Monday • New York

TV: ESPN, which will also air a predraft show starting at 6 p.m.