2024 WNBA Draft: The Connecticut Sun Bolster the Now and the Future

The Connecticut Sun approached this off-season with eyes on improving their standing in the immediate future, but also holistically brightening the outlook of the future as a whole. The 2024 WNBA Draft was a continuation of that approach from the Sun, addressing immediate need, but also bolstering the stocks of the intermediate horizon.

Connecticut went into Draft night with 10 players relatively locked into the rotation, in my mind. They’ve signed a number of potential players to training camp deals, all with real prospects to snag a spot. With the 22nd overall pick, the Sun selected Helena Pueyo out of the University of Arizona, who Sun General Manager Darius Taylor would call “the steal of the Draft,” and I wouldn’t discount that as front office speak.

I had a first round grade on Pueyo, someone who only rose for me as she hit a new stride in the middle of Pac-12 play. Standing at 6’, Pueyo is a tall guard with a lengthy wingspan. The Sun have numerous combo and point guards along with a deep frontcourt, but there’s room to keep adding more on the wing, especially in the wake of trading Rebecca Allen.

“With her size and versatility, she’s a really good defender, and with our style of play in Connecticut… we needed people that are good at making reads and moving the ball. She makes good decisions and is someone that I think is ready for this level,” says Taylor of Pueyo.

Pueyo is incredibly efficient, shooting 37.5% from deep this season and 54.4% on two-pointers, a stellar mark for a guard. She’s an even better passer than her numbers indicate, rarely turns over the ball, and showed an ability to maintain her high efficiency even with increased responsibility as a scorer.

She has a chance to carve out a role with the Sun and showcase why Connecticut’s brain trust is so high on her. 

The Sun also selected Kansas center Taiyanna Jackson earlier with the 19th overall pick. Standing 6’6 with great shot-blocking instincts, Jackson is one of the strongest rebounders in this Draft class. While the Sun are fairly set in their post rotation after inking Astou Ndour to a protected veteran contract in the off-season, it will be interesting to see Jackson in pre-season play. 

She’s incredibly mobile at her size and has a wealth of potential as a screen and roll threat. She’s a talent to be cognizant of long term, as she fits the mold of where the game is headed.

With the highest pick they had in the Draft, 10th overall in the first round, the Sun selected French guard Leila Lacan.

“We felt that she was the second best guard in the Draft…she was our number one target,” says Taylor.

Sun assistant coach Briann January brought Lacan to the team’s attention, having played for a few French teams and seeing her up close and personal. Taylor’s wife, Joni Taylor (Head Coach at Texas A&M), had also brought her up to Darius after she’d coached the U19 USA National team against her this past summer where Lacan starred for France.

Sun Head Coach Stephanie White said that they felt as a staff that Lacan was the most pro ready international player in the class, and also that she has a skill set that the Sun don’t have at present.

“I think about Tip Hayes and having somebody that can get downhill, somebody that can get to the free throw line, having someone that can affect defensively with length, skill and athleticism… she’s a high IQ player, and she fit us and our personnel,” said White.

Lacan is incredibly shifty for someone her size at 5’11, slithery around screens, deft moving in multiple directions, and a very creative passer out of those movements. She won’t come over this season due to obligations with her National Team, as the front office notes, but she has the potential to be one of the very best in the Draft class.

From a pure standpoint of talent acquisition, this was a home run for the Sun. They were able to draft a player I didn’t expect to fall to them, and one that has the potential to become an extremely high level guard in a world where guard play is more and more essential.