2023 WNBA Draft: How & Who To Watch For Loaded, Yet Depleted, Liberty

The way this New York Liberty offseason has been, it'd perhaps be no surprise to see the bearers of seafoam leap into the prime stages of Tuesday's WNBA Draft (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and steal one of the top prospects like Aliyah Boston, Maddy Siegrist, or newly-minuted NCAA champion Alexis Morris.

Alas, like many of the Liberty's game-changing moves, sacrifices would have to be made, as the moves that brought in Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, and Courtney Vandersloot forced several architects of the team's Brooklyn-based success (i.e. Bec Allen, Natasha Howard, Michaela Onyenwere, Sami Whitcomb) out of the borough, as well as several other acquisitions of draft days of the recent past.

The new trio joining retained All-Stars like Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney, however, has formed a considerable amount of hype around Liberty basketball as well as what some are referring to as a "superteam" that could challenge the defending WNBA champions in Las Vegas, who just added future Hall-of-Famer Candace Parker to a fold that already includes Kelsey Plum, A'ja Wilson, and Jackie Young.

All that makes the Liberty's muted prescience at the WNBA Draft, which comes fresh off one of the most-watched and discussed NCAA Women's Basketball Tournaments, almost a tad surprising, but the team is perhaps more than comfortable in sacrificing their picks to gain free agents of a historic caliber. As it stands, the Liberty have only one third-round selection entering the rookie gathering at Spring Studios, the 30th of 36 picks.

Studying Abroad

It'd hardly be a surprise for the Liberty to use their sole pick, should they opt to keep it, on a stashed international prospect. That's what the team did in last season's closing round, using the 29th overall choice on Sika Koné, a Mali-born interior threat that will compete for a roster spot come training camp.

“Koné is a great young talent who is only going to get better with time and experience,” head coach Sandy Brondello has said. “Her athleticism and presence in the paint is a strength and we look forward to her continuing to improve her game over time.”

Koné has done exactly that in professional offseason endeavors in Spain, averaging 17.6 points and 13.9 rebounds with SPAR Gran Canaria. Other Liberty prospects abroad include 2021 third-round choice Marine Fauthoux (who repped the bronze-winning French squad at the most recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo alongside Marine Johannès) and Leonie Fiebich (a German-born prospect acquired in the deal that shed Onyenwere's contract).

There are plenty of names in the latter stages of the draft if the Liberty opt to go that route ...

Txell Alarcón, Spain: Alarcón's ability to shoot it from deep (earning the title of "Best 3-Point Shooter" in the Spanish League during the 2020-21 season) would make her a solid future fit for a Liberty group that has never hesitated to take aim from the outside.

Dorka Juhász, Hungary: Juhász is a name well-known to college basketball observers after she spent the last two seasons with Connecticut and forge a role for herself sooner rather than later with her on-court IQ and defensive tenacity.

Shaneice Swain, Australia: Brondello's pupils from a Land Down Under (Allen, Whitcomb) are gone, but some familiarity could be regained in Swaine, a teenage invite to the Australian national team's camp that has started to make a name for herself with the Canberra Capitals of the WNBL.

Maia Hirsch, France: Another teenage standout, Hirsch, well regarded for her defense despite her youth, could start the next generation of metropolitan interior affairs, as it's perhaps never too early to start preparing for life after Jones, Stewart, and Stefanie Dolson.

Back to (Small) School

Leaping to the upper stages of the draft board and taking the lauded Boston or the high-scoring Siegrist isn't happening. But the Liberty could turn their attention to several domestic small-school prospects in the draft's final hours ...

Keishana Washington, Drexel: The Liberty will obviously miss out on Villanova's Siegrist, but big tallies from Philadelphia aren't out of the question thanks to Washington, an undersized but dominant point-compiler that ranked third in the nation in points per game with the Dragons.

Kiki Jefferson, James Madison: New York has enjoyed literal Hall of Famer efforts from mid-major guards and Jefferson turned herself into a dual-threat with 18.1-point, 8.1-rebound averages with the Dukes this season.

Brooke Flowers, Saint Louis: Keeping with the theme of preparing for life after their star-packed interior, possibly to work with young projects like Koné and Han Xu, Flowers is a fifth-year Biliken fresh off her second Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Ketsia Athias, Iona: With Seton Hall's Lauren Park-Lane opting to not only stay in school but leap into the transfer portal, Athias is the prime tri-state area star perhaps destined for WNBA action, and she'd bring a fair number of accolades with her after capping off her New Rochelle career with the program's first triple-double in the MAAC title game in Atlantic City last month.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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