After a trade on the eve of the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Lynx ended up selecting two players to add to the roster, one in the first round and one in the third.
The Minnesota Lynx were originally set to enter 2024 WNBA Draft with two selections at No. 7 overall in the first round and No. 31 overall, the seventh pick of the third round.
But in the week leading up to the draft, Lynx General Manager Clare Duwelius said the team was “definitely open” to making a trade involving their selections in the draft, saying “everything is on the table.”
On Sunday, the eve of the draft, the Lynx indeed made a move, swapping picks and players with the Chicago Sky. Minnesota and Chicago swapped the seventh and eighth picks in Monday’s first round, in addition to Minnesota sending Nikolina Milić to Chicago and acquiring Sika Koné from the Sky. The Lynx also received a 2025 second-round draft pick and the rights to swap 2026 first-round picks with the Sky.
By the end of the draft, the Lynx ended up picking two players as originally planned entering the draft, selecting one prospect in the latter half of the first round and another in the third and final round.
Here’s a look at who Minnesota added to the roster:
Round 1, Pick 8: Alissa Pili
22 years old | 6-foot-2 Forward | Utah
28.6 mins | 21.4 points | 6.6 rebounds | 2.4 assists | 0.9 steals | 0.8 blocks
55.0 FG% | 40.4 3PT% | 82.0 FT%
Minnesota opened the draft by selecting versatile forward Alissa Pili out of Utah with the eighth overall pick.
“Alissa Pili is a player is someone everybody watched with enthusiasm throughout the season. … For us, we started watching her in years past even as a young player at USC,” Lynx Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve said of Pili. “Her ability to shoot the 3 and score the ball, that’s just something she has a knack to do. … The ability to score and shoot the ball is just hard to teach. … I think most of the talent evaluators found her to be one of the top offensive talents in the draft.”
“You don’t do those kinds of trades unless you feel confident on how things are going to go. … We knew at eight we would be the first team to take her. We were confident,” Reeve said of moving back to the eighth pick. “We wanted to add a frontcourt player that had a different skillset than we already had.”
Over her five-year college career, the final two of which took place at Utah after beginning her collegiate career with USC, Pili averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists over 128 games while shooting 51.9% from the field and 34.4% from deep. In her fifth collegiate season in 2023-24, her second year with Utah, Pili had a career year while averaging 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks over 34 contests, shooting 55% from the field and 40.4% from deep.
“I’m super excited to come in and learn. I think that’s the fun part about it,” Pili said Monday after being drafted. “There’s so much more to learn, I’m really looking forward to that. I bring versatility to the game of basketball. That’s mostly what they’ll be seeing from me. … I’m a competitor and someone who brings a unique style of play and is fun to watch.”
Pili will add to a forward group in Minnesota alongside Alanna Smith, Dorka Juhász and Napheesa Collier, bringing with her a unique offensive skillset that has made her one of the most impressive and efficient scorers in this year’s draft class.
“What we’ve seen overall with all our work with her, it gives us confidence that she’ll come in with the emotional maturity,” Reeve said. “She’s really self aware and that came through on our (pre-draft) calls. I think her deeply rooted heritage and family came through. … Her family is extremely important to her. There are a lot of endearing qualities outside of just being a basketball player.”
Along with her ability to shoot the ball well, Pili is a forward that can stretch the floor and open up opportunities for her teammates with her playmaking capabilities, but also score the ball on the low block. Her skill — particularly as a shooter — on the offensive end will be something that will help the Lynx on Day 1, being able to provide a boost to a team that had the eighth-ranked offense in 2023. Reeve did refer to Pili as a 4, so it is far to presume she’ll be playing behind Collier and Smith on the team’s depth chart.
Round 3, Pick 7: Kiki Jefferson
23 years old | 6-foot-1 Guard | Louisville
24.3 mins | 12.3 points | 4.3 rebounds | 2.3 assists | 1.1 steals | 0.2 blocks
46.6 FG% | 34.9 3PT% | 88.4 FT%
After spending four years as a key player for James Madison, Jefferson transferred to Louisville for her fifth year to try and take her game to the next level. At James Madison, she averaged more than 18 points per game for her junior and senior seasons. While that scoring dipped to 12.3 points during her final year at Louisville, she proved that she could still perform and score against better competition.
“She was a really quality player at James Madison and made a decision to transfer to finish her career at Louisville. I thought that her showing her game probably happened more frequently at James Madison,” Reeve said.
Jefferson has size at the guard position to succeed at the next level but needs to hone in on a few skills that will help her in the WNBA. During the move to Louisville, her averages dropped from 18.3 points per game to 12.3, 7.9 rebounds per game to 4.5 and 2.9 assists per game to 2.3 as she moved into a Power 5 conference school. Her efficiency did improve on a lower volume of shots from shooting 42.9% from the floor and 34.1% from beyond the arc to 46.6% and 34.9%
The Louisville product is a classic “Jack of All Trades” player who will need to find her niche on a WNBA roster. She is a solid shooter, rebounds average for her position and is a solid team defender as well. She is great at drawing fouls and had back-to-back seasons averaging over seven free throws a game and converting almost 80% of those attempts as a star at JMU.
The regression in numbers from the move from James Madison to Louisville is a bit concerning considering another big leap to the pros is in her future, but if she can find her “pro skill” and improve upon a couple areas of her game she does have the upside to stick with a WNBA team. Reeve clearly thought that Jefferson’s performance at James Madison is more representative of who Kiki is as a player and that the role she played in Harrisonburg was a better fit for her.
“What we really enjoy about Kiki is, in a very affectionate way, kind of an old school game. The game is slow for her in how she processes things. … She impacts the game in a variety of ways,” Reeve added, complimenting Jefferson’s lightning quick processing speed. “Being a productive player is something we value. … You’re always competing for a job and we are looking forward seeing Kiki in training camp.”
Draft Results
Round 1:
- Caitlin Clark, Indiana
- Cameron Brink, Los Angeles
- Kamilla Cardoso, Chicago
- Rickea Jackson, Los Angeles
- Jacy Sheldon, Dallas
- Aaliyah Edwards, Washington
- Angel Reese, Chicago
- Alissa Pili, Minnesota
- Carla Leite, Dallas
- Leila Lacan, Connecticut
- Marquesha Davis, New York
- Nyadiew Puoch, Atlanta
Round 2:
- Brianna Maxwell, Chicago
- Nika Muhl, Seattle
- Celeste Taylor, Indiana
- Dyaisha Fair, Las Vegas
- Emery Martinez, New York
- Ta, Connecticut
- Isobel Borlase, Atlanta
- Kaylynne Truong, Washington
- Helena Pueyo, Connecticut
- Jessika Carter, New York
- Elizabeth Kilter, Las Vegas
Round 3:
- Charisma Osborne, Phoenix
- Mackenzie Holmes, Seattle
- Leilani Correa, Indiana
- Mackenzie Forbes, Los Angeles
- Jaz Shelley, Phoenix
- Nasty Claessons, Washington
- Kiki Jefferson, Minnesota
- Matilde Villa, Atlanta
- Ashley Owusu, Dallas
- Abbey Hsu, Connecticut
- Kaitlyn Davis, New York
- Angel Jackson, Las Vegas