Throughout their first three years of existence, the WNBA's Utah Starzz's crying need has always been for a bona fide point guard capable of getting the ball to 7-foot-2 Margo Dydek or 6-2 Natalie Williams or 6-2 Wendy Palmer or 6-5 Elena Baranova.
The need is even stronger for the 2000 season.
There is only one point guard on the Starzz roster, Dalma Ivanyi, who finished her rookie season averaging just 0.5 assists and 0.8 points a game with one start.
The 2000 WNBA Draft — which begins at 9 a.m. MDT Tuesday and will be "shown" on the NBA.com Internet site — is likely the weakest of the four drafts so far, but its strength is perimeter players.
And since the Starzz have the No. 3 overall pick for the second straight year, there should be a good point guard available to them.
Some of the best point guards in the mix are Helen Darling, small but strong and averaging 7.7 assists a game for Penn State; Louisiana Tech's quick and athletic Tamicha Jackson, a strong defender who swiped four steals a game and Stanford's Milena Flores, with 600-plus career assists. Starzz coach Fred Williams likes them all, and he also sees point-guard possibilities in shooting guards like Betty Lennox of LaTech, Stacy Frese of Iowa State and Grace Daley of Tulane.
But don't be surprised if the Starzz take a post-type player instead with their No. 3 pick and then go for a guard with their second first-round pick, No. 8 overall, which they got in compensation from the expansion Miami Sol for a Dec. 14 trade that sent Baranova to Florida for the pick and swing player Kate Starbird.
The Starzz also need a backup three/four/five player after losing Baranova, and Williams likes UCLA's 6-3 Maylana Martin, 6-2 ABL veteran center Tausha Mills, 6-2 Kansas forward Lynn Pride and mentions there may be some international players of interest.
Last year's starting Starzz point guard, Debbie Black, is now with Baranova at Miami, the first Starzz player taken in December's Expansion Draft. Last year's backup, Chantel Tremitiere, went in the Expansion Draft to the Indiana Fever. Backup Krystyna Lara tore an anterior cruciate ligament playing in her native Poland in late February. She's out for the WNBA season but hopes to return in time to play for Poland in the September Sydney Olympics.
Even though the point-guard cupboard is very bare, the Jazz/Starzz organization is known for drafting big, and VP of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor, even though he's new to drafting for the Starzz, says there's a basketball adage that the higher you draft, the bigger the player that should be taken. He, too, mentions an international inside player who might go high, Belgium's 6-4 Ann Wauters, a 19-year-old who has reportedly received a visit at home from at least Washington.
This draft has no big-name players like last year's No. 1 pick, Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee, who went to Washington. In 1997, it was the very first draft, so players of all ages were available. In 1998, more international players like Dydek, the No. 1 overall pick, had become intrigued with the WNBA and decided to play. In 1999, Holdsclaw and a lot of refugees from the defunct ABL were available. Only 12 college players were taken out of the 50 picks in '99.
Now, unless fourth-time Olympian Teresa Edwards, a guard, and/or fellow-Olympian Katrina McClain, an inside player, both former ABL stars, decide in the late minutes of Monday to sign with the WNBA after passing on the chance last year, this draft will be mainly composed of collegians. And there are an additional four expansion teams (Miami, Indiana, Seattle and Portland) to dilute the pool. There are a few ABLers who've declared, Mills (Alabama '98) of the Chicago Condors being much-coveted, but for the most part, they're not all-stars.
If Edwards or McClain jump in, Cleveland would likely take Edwards with its first overall pick, and either Washington at No. 2 or Utah at No. 3 might take McClain.
If neither joins up, the first handful of picks would probably fill specific needs, and the following picks might be of the best athlete available because there are few centers and power-type forwards in this 2000 group. Even small forwards are at a premium. Point guards and big guards seem to be the bigger names.
Mills seems a consensus top-five choice, and Williams, O'Connor and assistant coach Candi Harvey mention her. Williams, who coached at Southern Cal, talks a lot of Martin, though she has had a bad back. Williams on Sunday night was perusing medical records ordered that day from the WNBA.
He said Sunday night from his Delta Center office that the Starzz probably won't actually decide on their favorite pick until Monday evening and that he'd probably be in his office until 1 or 2 a.m. Tuesday still studying everything.
Another reason the Starzz might be interested in going big to start is that every WNBA team will get an allocation of former pros sometime after the draft. Most of them will be ABLers who weren't eligible for this draft. Each team was allowed to request six potential names for allocations, in order of preference, and the league has said that expansion teams and those drafting high because of poor records last year will have preference if more than one team wants a player.
That could mean the Starzz could get an experienced point guard and not have to rely on a rookie from the draft. Katie Paye, who started for Seattle, could be one such player.
Utah has no second-round choice because of its Baranova trade with Miami, but it will have the third pick each in the third and fourth rounds. Williams has said it's unlikely the Starzz will be involved in any trades, but sometimes tantalizing things pop up. Minnesota has already made several off-season trades for draft picks. The WNBA didn't allow draft picks to be traded until December.
You can reach Linda Hamilton by e-mail at lham@desnews.com