Caitlin Clark will go No. 1 in WNBA draft, and no chance Indiana trades the pick, Cheryl Reeve says

Because the issue is already moot and the question rhetorical, Cheryl Reeve laughed when asked:

Will Caitlin Clark, the Iowa star guard who said she would enter the WNBA draft this spring, be taken with the first overall pick?

“It’s a foregone conclusion, isn’t it?” said Reeve, the Minnesota Lynx president of basketball operations and head coach. “It’s not even close. It’s like when Maya Moore [taken first overall by the Lynx in 2011] was drafted. It was always just a matter of her making the decision. There is no doubt Lin is taking Caitlin Clark.”

Lin is Lin Dunn, the Indiana Fever general manager. Her rebuild of the Fever took a big step with Clark’s announcement Thursday. Dunn drafted South Carolina star post player Aliyah Boston with the top overall pick a year ago, and Boston was WNBA Rookie of the Year.

As Reeve noted, Clark’s history of playing with good posts at Iowa — Megan Gustafson and Monika Czinano — portends a big jump for the Fever.

The WNBA draft is April 15, and the Lynx have the No. 7 pick.

Reeve was in the stands for Iowa’s victory over the Gophers at Williams Arena on Wednesday. She watched Clark start the game scoring 12 points in the first 2:45, score Iowa’s first 15 points, finish with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists while becoming the highest-scoring player in women’s major college history.

“It was crazy,” Reeve said. “Twelve points in three minutes.”

That is a word, by the way, for anyone thinking Dunn will entertain calls to trade that No. 1 pick. Crazy. Again, Reeve laughed.

“How do I say this?” she said. And then: “Not a chance ... People are going to say, ‘Sell the farm to get her.’ Well, the farm ain’t going to be enough to get her.”