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Sophie Cunningham: 6’1, G, Missouri

College Stats in 2018-19 (as of Feb. 28, 2019): 

28 games, 33.6 MPG, 17.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 48.5 FG%, 40.9 3P%, 80.5 FT%

Where she’ll go:

Cunningham will be a late first or early second-round pick.

The Rundown:  

Some players are guards, some are forwards. Some are shooters, some are passers. Sophie Cunningham is simply a baller.

Cunningham doesn’t have one thing she does better than anyone else, but she does so many things well and plays so hard it’s very hard to think she won’t carve out a role for herself at the next level. She’s probably best suited as a shooting guard, but she has the size and skill to potentially both forward positions at times as well. Cunningham also sees the floor very well for a non-point guard and has the handles to bring the ball up and initiate offense on occasion. It can be hard for rookies to find rotation spots in the WNBA, but Cunningham’s ability to line up at multiple positions and do different things on the floor will make it easier for her coaches to get her in games.

It’s interesting to think about a team building a bench unit around Cunningham. She could easily become a leader for many second units in the league. She’s very efficient for a guard (though that has declined from last year, so that could be a concern), she can shoot threes, she gets to the line and her competitiveness will set a reasonable floor for her on defense. While Cunningham isn’t an elite defender, she gets steals at a reasonable rate and should be able to hold her own. Cunningham is also a phenomenal rebounder for a guard, though if she’s playing forward she’d need to improve that a bit.

The main concern with Cunningham is her aforementioned efficiency. She shot 54.2 percent from the field and 45.7 percent from three last year and those numbers have declined about five percent across the board. However, her stats are still positive, and any team with belief in their ability to help Cunningham develop could end up with a real opportunity to find an impactful player later in the draft.

While Cunningham would be a nice fit in Minnesota, the issue for the Lynx is that there isn’t necessarily a logical pick for her. It would probably be a reach to take her at No. 6 and she might not be around at No. 16. However, you never know how things are going to shake out. Cunningham seems like the type of player Cheryl Reeve would love to get in the building.

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