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One point mentioned in yesterday's mock draft is that there's a distinct possibility that the Minnesota Lynx' first round pick won't even make the roster.

That's not even to mention their three (in a row) second round picks.

With that in mind, Bob Corwin of Full Court Press has a change that he thinks the league should consider: "shortening the draft to two rounds maximum".

This year one round might be sufficient given the limited pool of likely WNBA-level talent. The problem with the current draft format is that it hurts the marginal prospect if she gets picked by a team with a lot of depth at her position. As a free agent, such a player would have the opportunity of targeting a team that might have less depth at her position rather than being forced to wait around to be cut by a team she had little chance of making in the first place.

Regardless of the strength of this particular draft, the reality is that in the 11-player roster era (2009-present) the vast majority of second round picks have failed to last a full rookie season on a roster (counting cuts as "failure" but not trades). That number falls below five when you count those that lasted a second season with the team that signed them for their first season (even if we include this coming year, which is obviously to be determined).

Naturally, third round picks have been even less successful by those standards on the whole, although it has produced a few rotation players.

Corwin's point is well-taken: as he elaborated, there are a few times when players are cut so late in training camp by a team that never had any room for them anyway that they can't really work out a deal with another team before the regular season starts. Those drafted in the second round by Minnesota, as the example he provided, are certainly at risk of that, which could only stifle their careers.

The flip side is how much the length of the draft itself matters: the majority of second (and third) round picks drafted in the last three years aren't in the league anyway and, some would say, shouldn't be anyway. A few late-rounders - Jessica Adair, Alexis Gray-Lawson, and Abi Olajuwon - have found bigger roles elsewhere after their draft year, but that would arguably have less to do with draft position than time to develop, whether overseas or otherwise.

Anyway, I put the question to you (in the form of the poll below): should the WNBA draft be shortened?

Poll Should the WNBA shorten its annual draft?

• Yes
• No
• Who cares

  2 votes | Results

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