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Kalani Brown: 6’7, C, Baylor

College Stats in 2018-19 (as of Feb. 20, 2019):

24 games, 26.0 MPG, 15.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 SPG, 1.6 BPG, 63.6 FG%, 0.0 3P%, 79.3 FT%

Where she’ll go:

Brown will be a first-round pick, and will likely be selected in the top five.

The Rundown:

It’s extremely difficult to be successful in the WNBA without a big who can score. This draft will see several potentially great frontcourt players enter the league, but the most surefire bet as a scorer at the center position is Kalani Brown.

Brown’s numbers are solid but not eye-popping. However, her 15.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game come with incredible efficiency—she is shooting 63.6 percent from the field. What’s more impressive is the way that Brown gets her points. She has an extremely diverse offensive skillset. Brown is very effective on the low block, she can run the floor and she has a continuously growing face-up game. She’s the kind of player that can be relied upon to go get her own shot in the post. That’s extremely valuable in the league.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhSN0Ho8pTY

On defense, Brown won’t be a liability. She has great size and good instincts. Though she’s not a stopper like Teiara McCowan, the other center in this draft projected to go in the first round, she won’t hurt her team on that end, not by a long shot. Brown is also a great rebounder, which will help her team end defensive possessions.

It’s a little dangerous to get too wrapped up in stats when assessing college prospects. Though you might like to see a few more points per game from Brown, the college game is very different from the pros, and Brown’s actual skill set seems like it will translate very well. If Brown can continue building on her offensive game and potentially add more floor spacing ability, she could become one of the most difficult covers in the league. If she keeps improving her defense and passing ability, she could become one of the more versatile bigs in the WNBA.

Brown is the type of player that you expect to succeed. She’s demonstrated consistent growth over the course of her college career, she grew up around pro basketball (her father is former NBA player P.J. Brown) and she already has enough skills to stick in a WNBA rotation. If she falls to the Lynx at No. 6, Brown would be an excellent backup to Sylvia Fowles and definitely has enough versatility to play alongside Temi Fagbenle in a twin towers type lineup off Minnesota’s bench. While the Lynx’s biggest need is not at center, Brown’s versatility would be a good fit on pretty much any WNBA lineup.

Check out the rest of our prospect profiles, plus more Lynx-related draft coverage at lynxbasketball.com’s Draft Central.

Kalani Brown Could Be Near Impossible To Stop