# 2018 WNBA draft

The 2018 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2018 WNBA season. On March 12, the league announced the draft would be held on April 12 at Nike New York Headquarters, a recently opened secondary headquarters for the athletic apparel giant located in Midtown Manhattan.

## Draft Lottery

The lottery selection to determine the order of the top four picks in the 2018 Draft was set to take place on September 14, 2017, but was delayed by the league to November 13.

### Lottery Chances

All odds out of 1,000 based on percentages. (The 11-12-13-14 combination is ignored.)
* Las Vegas Aces (44.2%) - WON
* Indiana Fever (27.6%)
* Chicago Sky (via Atlanta Dream) (17.8%)
* Chicago Sky (10.4%)
The lottery odds were based on combined records from the 2016 and 2017 WNBA seasons. The San Antonio Stars, with the worst two-year record, were guaranteed no worse than the third pick. With the Stars relocating to Las Vegas, Las Vegas retains the best odds.
This is the fifth time that the lottery was won by the team that had the highest odds and second consecutive #1 Pick for Vegas - with the other being used on Kelsey Plum last year when the team was still in San Antonio.

## Draft Invitees

On April 6, 2018, the WNBA released the names of the players who would be invited to be in attendance at the draft.
* Monique Billings, UCLA
* Lexie Brown, Duke
* Jordin Canada, UCLA
* Diamond DeShields, Çukurova (Turkey)
* Kelsey Mitchell, Ohio State
* Kia Nurse, UConn
* Azurá Stevens, UConn
* Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State
* Gabby Williams, UConn
* A'ja Wilson, South Carolina

## Key

| * | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-WNBA Team |
| $^+$ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
| Bold | Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year |

## Draft selections
### Round 1

| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 1 | A'ja Wilson $^+$ | United States | Las Vegas Aces | South Carolina |
| 2 | Kelsey Mitchell $^+$ | United States | Indiana Fever | Ohio State |
| 3 | Diamond DeShields $^+$ | United States | Chicago Sky (from Atlanta) | Tennessee / Çukurova (Turkish Super League) |
| 4 | Gabby Williams | United States | Chicago Sky | UConn |
| 5 | Jordin Canada | United States | Seattle Storm | UCLA |
| 6 | Azurá Stevens | United States | Dallas Wings | UConn |
| 7 | Ariel Atkins $^+$ | United States | Washington Mystics | Texas |
| 8 | Victoria Vivians | United States | Indiana Fever (from Phoenix) | Mississippi State |
| 9 | Lexie Brown | United States | Connecticut Sun | Duke |
| 10 | Kia Nurse $^+$ | Canada | New York Liberty | UConn |
| 11 | Maria Vadeeva | Russia | Los Angeles Sparks | Dynamo Kursk (Russia) |
| 12 | Marie Gülich | Germany | Phoenix Mercury (from Minnesota) | Oregon State |

### Round 2

| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 13 | Jaime Nared | United States | Las Vegas Aces | Tennessee |
| 14 | Stephanie Mavunga | United States | Indiana Fever | Ohio State |
| 15 | Monique Billings | United States | Atlanta Dream (from Atlanta via Connecticut) | UCLA |
| 16 | Kristy Wallace | Australia | Atlanta Dream (from Chicago) | Baylor |
| 17 | Park Ji-su | South Korea | Minnesota Lynx (from Seattle) | Cheongju KB Stars (South Korea) |
| 18 | Loryn Goodwin | United States | Dallas Wings | Oklahoma State |
| 19 | Myisha Hines-Allen | United States | Washington Mystics | Louisville |
| 20 | Tyler Scaife | United States | Phoenix Mercury | Rutgers |
| 21 | Raisa Musina | Russia | Phoenix Mercury (from Connecticut) | UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia) |
| 22 | Mercedes Russell | United States | New York Liberty | Tennessee |
| 23 | Shakayla Thomas | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Florida State |
| 24 | Kahlia Lawrence | United States | Minnesota Lynx | Mercer |

### Round 3

| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 25 | Raigyne Louis | United States | Las Vegas Aces | LSU |
| 26 | Imani Wright | United States | Phoenix Mercury (from Indiana via Las Vegas) | Florida State |
| 27 | Mackenzie Engram | United States | Atlanta Dream | Georgia |
| 28 | Amarah Coleman | United States | Chicago Sky | DePaul |
| 29 | Teana Muldrow | United States | Seattle Storm | West Virginia |
| 30 | Natalie Butler | United States | Dallas Wings | George Mason |
| 31 | Rebecca Greenwell | United States | Washington Mystics | Duke |
| 32 | Jill Barta | United States | Las Vegas Aces (from Phoenix) | Gonzaga |
| 33 | Mikayla Cowling [fr] | United States | Connecticut Sun | California |
| 34 | Leslie Robinson | United States | New York Liberty | Princeton |
| 35 | Julia Reisingerova [ca] | Czech Republic | Los Angeles Sparks | Femeni Sant Adrià (Spain) |
| 36 | Carlie Wagner | United States | Minnesota Lynx | Minnesota |

## Draft Trades

The Las Vegas Aces traded the rights to Jill Barta and their 2019 2nd round pick to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for the rights to Park Ji-su and the rights to Kahlia Lawrence.

## Notable Prospects

On November 7, 2017, WNBA.com posted notable prospects for the draft. The list included:
* A'ja Wilson - South Carolina
* Kelsey Mitchell - Ohio State
* Gabby Williams - Connecticut
* Kia Nurse - Connecticut
* Jordin Canada - UCLA
* Victoria Vivians - Mississippi State
* Myisha Hines-Allen - Louisville
* Katelynn Flaherty - Michigan

## Viewership

The draft was telecast on ESPN2 (1st round) and ESPNU (2nd and 3rd rounds). The draft had an average audience of 212,000, which is an increase of 25% compared to the 2017 WNBA draft. The first round experienced an increase of 13% compared to 2017, with an average audience of 308,000. The 2nd and 3rd rounds saw a 49% increase in average viewers compared to 2017 (110,000 vs. 74,000). The 2018 draft was the most watched draft since 2014.

## Footnotes

* ↑ July 31, 2017: Atlanta to Chicago Chicago received this pick and Jordan Hooper Atlanta received Tamera Young, Imani Boyette, and a 2018 second-round pick
* ↑ March 6, 2018: Phoenix to Indiana Indiana received this pick Phoenix received Briann January
* ↑ March 6, 2018: Minnesota to Phoenix Phoenix received this pick Minnesota received Danielle Robinson and a 2019 second-round pick
* ↑ April 12, 2018: Connecticut to Atlanta Atlanta re-acquired this pick and received a 2019 second-round pick from Connecticut Connecticut received Bria Holmes
* ↑ June 8, 2017: Atlanta to Connecticut Connecticut received a 2018 second-round pick Atlanta received Jordan Hooper
* ↑ July 31, 2017: Chicago to Atlanta. See Note A.
* ↑ February 7, 2018: Seattle to Minnesota Minnesota received this pick and the ability to swap 2019 first-round picks Seattle received Natasha Howard
* ↑ February 2, 2018: Connecticut to Phoenix Phoenix received this pick Connecticut received Cayla George
* ↑ February 2, 2018: Las Vegas to Phoenix Phoenix received this pick and a 2019 second-round pick Las Vegas received Kelsey Bone
* ↑ May 9, 2017: Indiana to Las Vegas (San Antonio Stars) San Antonio received this pick Indiana received Jazmon Gwathmey
* ↑ June 28, 2017: Phoenix to Las Vegas (San Antonio) San Antonio received this pick, Shay Murphy, and Sophie Brunner Phoenix received Monique Currie