WNBA mock draft 2022, version 5.0

Less than a week before the 2022 WNBA draft, the No. 1 overall pick has traded hands. The Atlanta Dream now own it after making a deal Wednesday with the Washington Mystics, who won the draft lottery in December. Atlanta will call out the first name Monday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at the draft in New York.

The Dream are under new management — owners, general manager and coach all coming in last year — after missing the playoffs four of the past five seasons. Atlanta, which had the No. 3 pick, swaps that with Washington. The Mystics also get the No. 14 pick in the second round, along with the right to switch 2023 first-round picks with Los Angeles, as the Dream have the rights to that pick.

The top two picks have seemed set for several months, but there’s still some debate whether the Baylor Bears’ NaLyssa Smith or the Kentucky Wildcats’ Rhyne Howard will go No. 1 overall.

The Indiana Fever have four first-round picks, and how new general manager Lin Dunn and the Fever opt to use their selections will have a big impact on the rest of the first round.

Most of the seniors who were expected to be first-round picks declared for the draft, although the Iowa State Cyclones’ Ashley Joens and South Carolina Gamecocks’ Victaria Saxton — who was projected to go in the second round — opted to stay for a fifth college season. We have two draft-eligible juniors projected to go in the first round.

With just 12 WNBA teams and 144 roster spots, even being a first-round pick doesn’t guarantee a player will make a roster. It’s harder for second-round picks, and harder still for those in the third round. But at least on Monday night, they all can experience the excitement of being drafted.

First round

Kentucky | guard | 6-foot-2 | senior

Howard finished the season averaging…