2022 WNBA Draft: How to Watch, Top Prospects, More

2022 WNBA Draft: How to watch, top prospects, more originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Atlanta Dream are on the clock, and it won’t be long before their pick is in.

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The team will kickstart the 2022 WNBA Draft after trading for the No. 1 pick. After going just 8-24 in the 2021 season, Atlanta now gets its first choice of a player from the incoming draft class.

Top prospects from across the country got to audition for the pros during March Madness as South Carolina won its second ever NCAA title. Which player will get their name called first by commissioner Cathy Engelbert and head to Atlanta?

Here’s everything you need to know for the 2022 WNBA Draft:

What time is the 2022 WNBA Draft on?

This year’s draft begins at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, April 11.

The event will be held at Spring Studios in New York City after going virtual for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What TV channel is the 2022 WNBA Draft on?

ESPN will televise the 2022 WNBA Draft. The draft is also available to stream on Watch ESPN and the ESPN App.

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How many rounds are in the WNBA draft?

There are three rounds in the 2022 WNBA Draft with 12 picks in each round.

Who won the 2022 WNBA Draft Lottery?

The Washington Mystics were set to select first in the 2022 WNBA Draft after being awarded the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft lottery. The lottery result was an upset, as the Mystics had a 17.8% chance of landing the top pick compared to the Indiana Fever’s 44.2% chances.

Less than a week before the draft, the Mystics dealt that pick to the Dream. In turn, Washington got back the picks Nos. 3 and 14 in Monday’s draft, as well as the rights to a first-round pick swap in 2023.

Indiana, which has never had the No. 1 selection and finished with the WNBA’s worst record in 2021, will settle for the No. 2 pick. After the Mystics make their pick at No. 3, the Fever will be up again at No. 4 with a pick they acquired from the Dallas Wings. In total, the Fever have four top-10 selections this year.

Full 2022 WNBA Draft order

Here is the order for the 2022 WNBA Draft:

First round

Atlanta Dream (from Washington)
Indiana Fever
Washington Mystics (from Atlanta)
Indiana Fever (from Los Angeles, via Dallas)
New York Liberty
Indiana Fever (from Dallas)
Dallas Wings (from Chicago, via Indiana)
Las Vegas Aces (from Minnesota, via Phoenix, New York and Seattle)
Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle)
Indiana Fever (from Minnesota)
Las Vegas Aces
Connecticut Sun

Second round

Las Vegas Aces (from Minnesota, via Indiana)
Washington Mystics (from Atlanta)
Atlanta Dream (from Los Angeles)
Los Angeles Sparks (from Washington)
Seattle Storm (from New York)
Seattle Storm (from Dallas)
Los Angeles Sparks (from Chicago, via Dallas)
Indiana Fever (from Phoenix)
Seattle Storm
Minnesota Lynx
Las Vegas Aces
Connecticut Sun

Third round

Indiana Fever
Phoenix Mercury (from Atlanta)
Los Angeles Sparks
Minnesota Lynx (from Washington)
New York Liberty
Dallas Wings
Dallas Wings (from Chicago)
Phoenix Mercury
Seattle Storm
Indiana Fever (from Minnesota)
Las Vegas Aces
Connecticut Sun

Who are the top prospects in the 2022 WNBA Draft?

Rhyne Howard, Guard, Kentucky: Howard brings it all: playmaking, defense and versatility. The senior guard averaged 20.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. After finishing seventh in the SEC regular season standings, Howard and Co. went on a surprise run to the conference tournament title before bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

NaLyssa Smith, Forward, Baylor: Smith is a force down low. She finished the year top-10 in the nation in points (22.1) and rebounds (11.5) per game, compiling 25 double-doubles in her senior season. Smith also came off the bench for a national championship team her freshman year. If anyone is going to bump Howard out of the No. 1 slot, it’s going to be Smith.

Shakira Austin, Center, Ole Miss: After spending her first two years at Maryland, Austin dominated over her final two collegiate seasons at Ole Miss. The 6-foot-5 center averaged 15.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 2021-22, joining Howard on the All-SEC first team.

Naz Hillmon, Forward, Michigan: Hillmon was the best player on a Michigan squad that reached the Women’s Elite Eight for the first time in program history this season. She nearly averaged a double-double per game with 21.0 points and 9.6 rebounds to go along with 1.2 steals, showcasing dominance on both sides of the floor during her collegiate career.

Elissa Cunane, Center, North Carolina State: Cunane led the Wolfpack with 13.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game as the team earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Her combination of offensive skill and quality defense could make her one of the top five players taken in this year’s draft.

Nyara Sabally, Forward, Oregon: Sabally has a chance to join her sister, Wings forward Satou Sabally, as a WNBA lottery pick. Despite being hampered by injuries during her time at Oregon, the younger Sabally sister proved her ability when healthy. She ended her collegiate career with a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double in a first round loss to Belmont in the NCAA Tournament.

Who is eligible for the 2022 WNBA Draft?

To be draft eligible, league rules state that a player must be at least 22 years old during the calendar year in which the draft is held and either has no remaining collegiate eligibility or renounces their remaining college eligibility.

South Carolina junior forward Aliyah Boston, UConn sophomore guard Paige Bueckers and Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark were three of college basketball’s biggest stars this season, but none of them will be in the 2022 WNBA Draft. All three players are currently 20 years old, so none will meet the age requirement for this year’s event.

Boston and Bueckers will both be eligible in 2023, though Bueckers would have to skip her senior season at UConn in order to enter that draft. Clark, meanwhile, will have to wait until 2024 to become draft eligible.