| 2018 WNBA draft | |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Date: | April 12, 2018 |
| Location: | Nike New York Headquarters, New York City |
| Network: | ESPN2 (first round) ESPNU (Second and Third Rounds) |
| League: | WNBA |
| First: | A'ja Wilson Las Vegas Aces |
| Prev: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2019 |
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.[1] [2]
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.
All odds out of 1,000 based on percentages. (The 11-12-13-14 combination is ignored.)
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.
On April 6, 2018, the WNBA released the names of the players who would be invited to be in attendance at the draft.[3]
| width=30 | Pick | width=333 | Player | width=200 | Nationality | width=383 | Team | width=333 | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A'ja Wilson + | South Carolina | |||||||
| 2 | Kelsey Mitchell + | Indiana Fever | Ohio State | ||||||
| 3 | Diamond DeShields + | ||||||||
| 4 | Gabby Williams | Chicago Sky | UConn | ||||||
| 5 | Jordin Canada | Seattle Storm | UCLA | ||||||
| 6 | Azurá Stevens | Dallas Wings | UConn | ||||||
| 7 | Ariel Atkins + | Washington Mystics | Texas | ||||||
| 8 | Victoria Vivians | Mississippi State | |||||||
| 9 | Lexie Brown | Connecticut Sun | Duke | ||||||
| 10 | Kia Nurse + | New York Liberty | UConn | ||||||
| 11 | Maria Vadeeva | Los Angeles Sparks | |||||||
| 12 | Marie Gülich | Oregon State |
| width=30 | Pick | width=333 | Player | width=200 | Nationality | width=383 | Team | width=333 | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Jaime Nared | Tennessee | |||||||
| 14 | Stephanie Mavunga | Indiana Fever | Ohio State | ||||||
| 15 | Monique Billings | UCLA | |||||||
| 16 | Kristy Wallace | Baylor | |||||||
| 17 | Park Ji-su | ||||||||
| 18 | Loryn Goodwin | Dallas Wings | Oklahoma State | ||||||
| 19 | Myisha Hines-Allen | Washington Mystics | Louisville | ||||||
| 20 | Tyler Scaife | Phoenix Mercury | Rutgers | ||||||
| 21 | Raisa Musina | ||||||||
| 22 | Mercedes Russell | New York Liberty | Tennessee | ||||||
| 23 | Shakayla Thomas | Los Angeles Sparks | Florida State | ||||||
| 24 | Kahlia Lawrence | Minnesota Lynx | Mercer |
| width=30 | Pick | width=333 | Player | width=200 | Nationality | width=383 | Team | width=333 | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Raigyne Louis | LSU | |||||||
| 26 | Imani Wright | Florida State | |||||||
| 27 | Mackenzie Engram | Atlanta Dream | Georgia | ||||||
| 28 | Amarah Coleman | Chicago Sky | DePaul | ||||||
| 29 | Teana Muldrow | Seattle Storm | West Virginia | ||||||
| 30 | Natalie Butler | Dallas Wings | George Mason | ||||||
| 31 | Rebecca Greenwell | Washington Mystics | Duke | ||||||
| 32 | Jill Barta | Gonzaga | |||||||
| 33 | Connecticut Sun | California | |||||||
| 34 | Leslie Robinson | New York Liberty | Princeton | ||||||
| 35 | Los Angeles Sparks | ||||||||
| 36 | Carlie Wagner | Minnesota Lynx | Minnesota |
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.
On November 7, 2017, WNBA.com posted notable prospects for the draft. The list included:[4]
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.[5]