Reeve Focused On Adding Depth Through 2021 Draft
Cody Sharrett
April 14, 2021
Most of the hard work of the Minnesota Lynx’s offseason was done in early February.
Head Coach and General Manager Cheryl Reeve inked three-time WNBA All-Star Kayla McBride, versatile wing Aerial Powers, and veteran post Natalie Achonwa in a sweeping free-agent haul to shift the WNBA landscape. Reeve then dealt forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan to the Seattle Storm and Odyssey Sims to the Indiana Fever to make room for the signings.
Now with a league-maximum 11 players on the roster already and an additional two Training Camp signings in Linnae Harper and Mikayla Pivec, Reeve is focused on selecting a player with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft on Thursday that can compete in camp and potentially develop into a rotation player in future seasons.
“We have flexibility,” Reeve told media via Zoom on Wednesday morning. “We understand really well the condition of our team, and so with that being said, whoever the player [drafted] is… this is really more about the future.”
Reeve continued: “In terms of the value of the ninth pick and trying to find somebody that can be a part of your team and when their number is called, be able to contribute — that’s what I’ve talked about when we’ve spoken to prospects: ‘Look, you’re not gonna play very much, and you have to understand that — on our team… In terms of our team, in order for you to be a fit for us to draft you, you’ve gotta be someone who’s not complacent or happy about not playing, but you understand and when your number is called, you’re ready to contribute.'”
Reeve cites post versatility and backcourt skill as two areas to be addressed for her team before the season tips off on May 14 versus the Phoenix Mercury. The 2019 WNBA Executive of the Year believes there is parity between the No. 1 and No. 9 prospects in this year’s talent pool to fill those needs.
“In this draft, you could make the argument that No. 1 to No. 9, there’s not a whole lot of difference,” Reeve said. “If that’s the case then you start to move toward your positional areas of need. If you look at our group, I like our post group a lot, but we’d like to have something different in the post group if we go that route. Does a player in our four or five prospects bring something different? That would be valuable to us.”
Reeve added: “On the perimeter, I would call them more ‘insurance.’ If your number is called for a couple minutes, are you someone that we can trust? What’s your assist-to-turnover ratio? Do you score efficiently? Those are things that really start to matter to us that move you up our list.”
The 2021 WNBA Draft Presented By State Farm® takes place Thursday evening at 6PM Central on ESPN. Picks will be announced virtually.