Potential Portland Fire First-Rounders in WNBA Draft
Here are three names the Portland Fire might announce Monday night with the 7th overall selection.
Monday will be an eventful night for women’s basketball in Portland.
In most North American sports leagues, expansion teams pick at the top of the draft. The W does things differently: the Toronto Tempo pick 6th overall, and the Portland Fire pick 7th. When the moment arrives for general manager Vanja Černivec and head coach Alex Sarama to select the first amateur draft pick in Fire franchise history, here are three names I think they might choose from.
LSU Guard Flau’jae Johnson
In the transfer portal era, it is exceptionally rare for a student-athlete to spend four years at the same school. Flau’jae Johnson own that distinction. She also boasts a laundry list of honors and accolades: 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year, 2024 All-SEC Second Team, and back-to-back Associated Press Third-Team All-American and All-SEC First Team honors in each of the past two years.
Johnson flashes experience - starting 139 of 141 games across 4 seasons in Baton Rouge - and versatility. This season, she averaged 14.2 points, 2.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game.
Spain international point guard Iyana Martín
Iyana Martín, also known as Iyana Martín Carrión, is a 20 year old Spanish international starlet. The 5’9” point guard first represented her home country at the 2022 U16 EuroBasket, winning a silver medal. She then played on Spain’s 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup team, also winning silver. A year later, she contributed to their U19 World Cup team, again placing second. At that tournament, Martín shined, scoring a game high 19 points in Spain’s gold medal loss versus the United States. When the final whistle blew, she was named to the All-Tournament Team, and selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Her star power progressed further at last summer’s EuroBasket, where the young playmaker saw her first action with Spain’s senior national team.
While the Fire might be content at the point this season - last week’s expansion draft featured promising young players Carla Leite and Sarah Ashlee Barker, plus experienced veteran Sug Sutton - Martín represents a long term investment. What she lacks in professional experience, she makes up for in potential.
French international forward Nell Angloma
Angloma has been mocked as high as 6th overall to Toronto, and as low as the mid-to-late teens. Frankly, the 19 year old French international has very little tape. However, she shines through that limited tape. In last summer’s FIBA U19 World Cup, the young forward spotlighted several traits valued by Černivec and Sarama. She played off-the-ball and as a point forward, shot efficiently from behind the arc, made skilled passes, and offered dependable defense. Much like the aforementioned Martín, Angloma’s selection would be a gamble - she has only played professionally for two seasons, both in her home country - but the long time reward might outweigh the risk.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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