Captains Elena Delle Donne and A’ja Wilson draft rosters for At&t WNBA All-Star 2019
NEW YORK – The team rosters for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2019, as selected by All-Star captains Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics and A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, were revealed tonight on ESPN2 in the first televised WNBA All-Star Team Selection Special.
The Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner was selected by Delle Donne with the first overall pick in the WNBA All-Star Draft. The Los Angeles Sparks’ Chelsea Gray was drafted by Wilson with the No. 2 overall pick. See below for the complete pick-by-pick results from the WNBA All-Star Team Selection Special.
AT&T WNBA All-Star 2019, featuring Team Delle Donne vs. Team Wilson, will be played on Saturday, July 27 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, home of the Aces. The 16th WNBA All-Star Game will be televised live by ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Delle Donne and Wilson drafted the AT&T WNBA All-Star team rosters from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves, making picks without regard to a player’s conference affiliation or position.
During the draft, the eight remaining All-Star Game starters (aside from Delle Donne and Wilson) were selected in the first round. The 13 reserves were chosen in the second round – a group that included the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, who was named by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to replace the injured Wilson in AT&T WNBA All-Star 2019.
Delle Donne, the top overall finisher in fan voting, was awarded the first pick in the first round (Starters). Wilson made the first selection in the second round (Reserves). The captains alternated picks in each round until all players in that round had been selected.
Delle Donne and Wilson finished the WNBA All-Star Draft by making two trades, exchanging two players and both head coaches. In the player trade, Delle Donne acquired the New York Liberty’s Tina Charles (selected 15th overall by Wilson) in exchange for Collier (selected by Delle Donne at No. 18).
With the trade of head coaches, Bill Laimbeer and his Aces staff will now guide Team Wilson and the Mystics’ Mike Thibault and his staff will lead Team Delle Donne. Wilson and Laimbeer will name the replacement for Wilson in the starting lineup.
As the player who received the most fan votes, Delle Donne was able to choose between wearing white or red uniforms. Team Delle Donne selected the white uniforms. Team Wilson will be assigned red uniforms.
Below are the 2019 WNBA All-Star Draft results and the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game rosters.
2019 WNBA All-Star Draft | |
First Round: Starters | |
Team Delle Donne | Team Wilson |
Pick 1: Brittney Griner, Phoenix | Pick 2: Chelsea Gray, Los Angeles |
Pick 3: Jewell Loyd, Seattle | Pick 4: Kayla McBride, Las Vegas |
Pick 5: Jonquel Jones, Connecticut | Pick 6: Liz Cambage, Las Vegas |
Pick 7: Kia Nurse, New York | Pick 8: Natasha Howard, Seattle |
Second Round: Reserves | |
Team Wilson | Team Delle Donne |
Pick 9: Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota | Pick 10: Kristi Toliver, Washington |
Pick 11: Diamond DeShields, Chicago | Pick 12: DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix |
Pick 13: Allie Quigley, Chicago | Pick 14: Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles |
Pick 15: *Tina Charles, New York | Pick 16: Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago |
Pick 17: Erica Wheeler, Indiana | Pick 18: +Napheesa Collier, Minnesota |
Pick 19: Candice Dupree, Indiana | Pick 20: Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut |
Pick 21: Odyssey Sims, Minnesota | |
*Traded to Team Delle Donne | +Traded to Team Wilson |