New York Liberty Win 2021 WNBA Draft Lottery

The New York Liberty won the WNBA draft lottery for the second year in a row and will have the first pick in April’s draft.

The Liberty finished its 2020 season in last place with a record of 2-20 and had a combined 2019-2020 record of 12-44, giving the team 442 chances out of 1,000 to land the No. 1 pick.

With the first overall pick in 2020, the team selected Sabrina Ionescu out of Oregon. Ionescu’s rookie season was cut short, however, after the guard suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain during the Liberty’s game against the Atlanta Dream.

Still, in her three games played, she averaged 18.3 points per game on 45.2% shooting from the field.

While the question of who will be the No. 1 overall pick is still up in the air, names like Charli Collier (Texas), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), and Aari McDonald (Arizona) are all being thrown around as top prospects in the draft.

“We draft for fit when it comes to character. That’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for like-minded individuals that are going to come in and have an insatiable taste for winning. And they have a certain level of competitiveness that matches their teammates and they push each other every day. That’s what we’re looking for,” Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb, said in an interview.

The No. 2 pick belongs to the Dallas Wings, while the third pick will go to the Dream and the fourth will go to the Indiana Fever.

(Photo: Getty Images)