The Lynx spurned four trade offers for the No. 3 pick in Wednesday's WNBA draft, including 3-for-1 deals.
"We wanted the one special player," said Roger Griffith, the team's chief operating officer. "[We did] not take volume over the quality that we believe Candice Wiggins is."
So the Lynx drafted Wiggins, a 5-11 guard from Stanford, without hesitation even though the team's most pressing need was for post players.
Wiggins received the Wade Trophy as the player of the year this season from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
The top two picks in the draft, as expected, were 6-4 forward Candace Parker of Tennessee and 6-6 center Sylvia Fowles of Louisiana State. Parker went to the Los Angeles Sparks, who had the No. 1 pick; Fowles went to the Chicago Sky.
The Lynx used two later picks for help underneath. The Lynx took 6-4 center Nicky Anosike of Tennessee and 6-1 forward Charde Houston of Connecticut at Nos. 16 and 30, respectively. They were the second picks in rounds two and three.
"Obviously, the prize of the day for us was Candice Wiggins," Griffith said. "When you talk about players who are going to make their teammates better, I think we have that player in Candice Wiggins.
"With her we get one of the elite players in this year's college programs. She won the Wade Trophy over those two other players [Parker and Fowles], and that says a lot to what she is both as a player and as a person. She is going to bring quickness to us, defense to us, unselfishness to us."