Lynx move down one spot in WNBA draft in trade with Chicago

The day before the WNBA draft, the Lynx already made one of the league’s first moves.

The Lynx and Chicago completed a trade Sunday morning. The Lynx swapped first-round draft picks with the Sky, with Minnesota moving from No. 7 to No. 8. In the deal, Chicago goes to No. 7 and gets the rights to forward Nikolina Milić from the Lynx. In return, the Lynx get the No. 8 pick, forward/center Sika Koné, a second-round pick in 2025 and the right to swap first-round picks with the Sky in 2026.

It’s a good return for moving down just one spot and trading the rights for a player — Milić — who likely wouldn’t have played for the Lynx this summer.

“This trade in the WNBA draft continues our focus on building a foundation for sustained success,” Cheryl Reeve, Lynx president of basketball operations and coach, said in a release.

The most immediate return is the 21-year-old Koné, an intriguing 6-3 post from Mali and an athletic forward/center who plays very hard but will need further development.

Koné was taken in the third round of the 2022 draft by New York. She was in camp with the Liberty last spring but was cut and picked up by the Sky. She appeared in 20 games for Chicago, averaging 3.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in 9.3 minutes.

She left the Sky during the summer to play for Mali in the FIBA AfroBasket, where she helped lead her team to a 4-1 record and a victory over Rwanda in the third-place game. Koné averaged 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the tournament. She is currently playing for the Spanish club Perfumerías Avenida, where she is averaging 11.2 points on 60% shooting.

Adding a second-round pick next year is an added plus, as is the Lynx’s ability to swap No. 1s two years from now.

Moving to No. 8 will likely take the Lynx out of the running for the top bigs, one of this draft’s strengths. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the presumed first overall pick, with posts Cameron Brink of Stanford and Kamilla Cardoso of South Carolina going after that. Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson and UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards are expected to be gone by No. 8, as are Ohio State point guard Jacy Sheldon and Louisiana State forward Angel Reese.