WNBA mock draft 2022, version 3.0

The Washington Mystics have the top pick, but the Indiana Fever have the most to gain or lose from the first round of the 2022 WNBA draft, which will be held in April. There was a big shake-up with the Fever this week, as general manager Tamika Catchings stepped down and former Indiana coach Lin Dunn was named interim GM.

Via a three-way trade involving the Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky earlier this month, the Fever got veteran guard Bria Hartley from Phoenix and the No. 7 pick in this year’s draft from the Sky, plus Chicago’s first-round pick in 2023. It adds up to Indiana having the Nos. 2, 7 and 10 picks in 2022, and a chance for Dunn to help jump-start the Fever back toward the perennial playoff contenders they were for so long.

Is there enough talent in this draft to help with that goal? Hard to say that for sure, but there should be more than in last year’s thin draft. We won’t have a complete picture of the available players until the full list of those opting is finalized in April. Because of the NCAA’s blanket eligibility waiver in 2020-21, current seniors can return for a fifth year of college. And we await which draft-eligible juniors might declare for the draft.

For this updated mock draft, we are not considering juniors unless they have already publicly stated they are entering the draft. We have a change at the top, but more changes are inevitably coming.

First round

Baylor | Forward | 6-foot-4 | senior

Former WNBA coach Nicki Collen, now with Baylor, has said she would like to see Smith play for Mystics coach Mike Thibault, and that might happen. Washington star Elena Delle Donne is feeling good after missing all but three games last season, and the Mystics are bringing back Myisha Hines-Allen and bringing in Elizabeth…