Lynx acquires No. 1 pick in trade

After the Lynx stumbled and bumbled through a 10-24 season in 2006, first- year coach Don Zierden asked the WNBA team's lone star what he could do to help her.

"Put some players around me," said guard Seimone Augustus, last year's No. 1 draft pick who averaged 21.9 points and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.

Playing somewhere in Russia now, Augustus has to be happy. On Wednesday, in one amazing afternoon, the Lynx underwent a major facelift.

The nine-year-old franchise, in an unprecedented move, traded for the first pick in the WNBA draft. They also chose a player who Lynx coaches regard as the best passer in college basketball with the fourth pick, and early in the second round used the 15th pick to take a 5-11 guard who averaged 8.4 rebounds.

"We really expect that the first three picks, one, four and 15, we expect them to contribute immediately," said Zierden, whose Lynx also added size underneath with two late second-round picks.

About one minute before the 11th-annual draft began at noon in Cleveland, chief operating officer Roger Griffith reached agreement with Phoenix on a trade. But, because of an 18-hour moratorium on any deals before the draft, the trade could not be made right then.

Instead Phoenix, as expected, took Duke point guard Lindsey Harding and the draft went on as normal.

Picking fourth, the Lynx took 6-foot guard Noelle Quinn of UCLA.

A few minutes later, the Lynx-Mercury trade was announced. Harding was coming to Minnesota for 6-4 all-star forward Tangela Smith. The Lynx had acquired Smith, a nine-year veteran who averaged 13 points last season, in a dispersal draft on Jan. 8 after the Charlotte franchise folded.

The other three players the Lynx drafted Wednesday were guard Eshaya Murphy of Southern Cal at No. 15; 6-3 Brooke Smith of Stanford at No. 23; and 6-4 Kathrin Ress of Boston College at No. 24.

"They had us sitting for hours and hours behind the scenes waiting for the draft," Harding said. "So my nerves were just up and I was wired but excited. When my named was called, I was overwhelmed and full of emotion and really excited and happy.

"And then I was in the back signing autographs and all of a sudden I hear we have a trade and then I hear my name again going to Minnesota."

The trade surprised but did not shock Harding. She knew Phoenix was not in need of a point guard after the Mercury re-signed Kelly Miller, the former Rochester Mayo star, in mid-February.

As a Lynx, Harding will be a member of a team that was the league's youngest last season and could be again.

"I like youth because you're not really worried about anything," Harding said, "you're not afraid of anything and just go after it hard and don't have any worries."

Harding also approved of the Lynx' pick at No. 4, Quinn. "I have never played against her, but I know she's an amazing scorer who finds a way to get the ball in the hoop," Harding said. "Playing along[side] a player like her and Seimone Augustus is just a point guard's dream. You know you will get more assists."

Zierden said the Lynx traded a valuable player in Smith, someone who will help Phoenix. "But we feel [the trade] is going to help the Minnesota Lynx as well in adding Lindsey Harding who is a true point guard and a very, very solid defender," Zierden said.

"Ideally, we made five great picks, we as Roger said wanted to upgrade our athleticism; we feel we did that. We wanted to upgrade our point guard position; we feel we did that, and then in the second round we upgraded our rebounding."

But Zierden, a veteran coach with NBA experience as an assistant at Minnesota and Detroit, is realistic, too.

"We are like one of the other 12 [WNBA] teams," he said. "We all feel like we had a great draft today. We're very excited about the players. Everybody is until they put on practice gear and step out on the floor."

That will happen April 22 when training camp opens.

Draft notes: South Dakota State's Megan Vogel, a 5-11 wing from St. Peter, Minn., was selected 19th by Washington. ... Ohio State's 6-5 center Jessica Davenport was taken second in the draft by San Antonio, then traded along with a first-round pick in 2008 to the New York Liberty for guard Becky Hammon and a second-round pick in '08.

For more on the Lynx draft, go to www.startribune.com/lynx.

LYNX' PICKS

Pick Player

No. 1* Lindsey Harding

Guard, Duke

No. 4 Noelle Quinn

Guard, UCLA

No. 15 Eshaya Murphy

Guard, UCLA

No. 23 Brooke Smith

F/C, Stanford

No. 24 Kathrin Ress

Forward, B.C.

* Harding was the No. 1 overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury, and then traded to the Lynx.

Complete draft results, C11

Roman Augustoviz • raugustoviz@startribune.com