WNBA draft 2022 grades – Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, Washington Mystics score highest marks

The 2022 WNBA draft will be judged a lot on how much the Indiana Fever did to improve themselves after dominating the first round with four picks. The Fever had seven selections overall, and the players who get a roster spot will have the opportunity to be change-makers for a franchise that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2016.

With so many picks Monday, it’s no surprise the Fever lead ESPN’s WNBA draft grades. Indiana threw one curveball to most prognosticators in taking Stanford Cardinal guard Lexie Hull in the first round. But the Fever want players who are going to come in hungry to make a difference, and Hull has that kind of on-court personality.

While it was a busy night for some teams, the Chicago Sky were just a draft observer as the defending WNBA champion had no picks. The Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury had four selections between them, three of those in the third round, so these picks might not make much of a difference for those teams, either.

How did teams such as the Atlanta Dream and Las Vegas Aces, who made trades to obtain certain draft-day targets, fair Monday? Did the Washington Mystics make the right move in dealing the No. 1 pick?

Here are our 2022 WNBA draft grades, dissecting all of that.

Picks: 2. NaLyssa Smith, Baylor, PF; 4. Emily Engstler, Louisville, PF; 6. Lexie Hull, Stanford, SG; 10. Queen Egbo, Baylor, C; 20. Destanni Henderson, South Carolina, PG; 25. Ameshya Williams-Holliday, Jackson State, C; 34. Ali Patberg, Indiana, SG

General manager Lin Dunn said she wanted energetic young players who could bring defense, and she appears to have gotten it. Hull was a surprise as the third of the Fever’s…