Storm add two, Zags have two selected in WNBA Draft
The Seattle Storm spent their second-round pick on UConn’s Nika Muhl, left. Seattle also drafted former Indiana Hoosier Mackenzie Holmes, not pictured, in the second round. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is pictured presenting Muhl with a Storm jersey.
AP PHOTO/ADAM HUNGER
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The WNBA Draft was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Monday night, with the Seattle Storm adding two new players and two former Zags seeing their professional dreams come true.
Without a first-round pick, stemming from an off-season trade with the Los Angeles Sparks, Seattle’s first pick of the draft was in the second round, selecting UConn guard Nika Muhl with the 14th overall pick. Originally from Croatia, Muhl started in all 75 games for the Huskies over the past two seasons and became UConn’s all-time career assist leader this past season. In her senior campaign, Muhl averaged 6.9 points, 6.5 assists and four rebounds per game with a 46.2 shooting percentage.
The Storm added to their frontcourt by drafting Mackenzie Holmes out of Indiana in the third round. Holmes was a three-time first-team All-Big 10 selection (2024, 2023 and 2021) and the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, in addition to being Indiana’s all-time leading scorer. The six-foot-three forward is coming off a fifth-year campaign where she averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs had two players selected in Monday’s draft, both of which came in the second round — guard Brynna Maxwell was the first off the board, being drafted by the Chicago Sky with the 13th overall pick.
A six-foot guard from Gig Harbor, Maxwell began her college career with Utah before transferring to Gonzaga before the 2022-23 season. Maxwell averaged 14.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in her fifth year, earning first-team All-West Coast Conference honors.
Bulldog guard Kaylynne Truong was drafted by the Washington Mystics with the ninth pick in the second round. Truong earned back-to-back All-WCC honors in her final two years with the Zags, and was the 2023 WCC Player of the Year. In the 2023-24 season, Truong averaged 11.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.