Aces History: Feeling A Draft (2004)

The Silver Stars first season in San Antonio saw them fall from 20 wins and a conference finals appearance in 2002 to 12 wins and a sixth place finish in the Western Conference in 2003.

Dispersal Draft (January 6, 2004)

The team’s first opportunity to retool its roster came in the form of the dispersal draft for former Cleveland Rockers players. Cleveland was one of the original 8 WNBA franchises, but the Rockers folded after the 2003 season.

With the third pick in the dispersal draft, San Antonio took 2003 number one overall pick LaToya Thomas. As a rookie, the 6-2 forward averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in helping the Rockers to a 17-17 record and a spot in the playoffs where they lost to the eventual champion Detroit Shock in the first round, two games to one.

In her first year in San Antonio, Thomas posted career highs in scoring (14.2) and assists (1.4) while grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game. Injuries limited her to just 40 games over the next two seasons, and in 2007, she signed with the Los Angeles Sparks as a free agent.

The WNBA added a franchise in Atlanta prior to the 2008 season, and the newly-minted Dream selected Thomas in the expansion draft on February 6, 2008, trading her to the Detroit Shock in exchange for Ivory Latta that same day. Detroit traded her to Minnesota on June 22, 2008 in exchange for Shay Murphy.

Thomas’ WNBA career came to a close following that 2008 season. For her career, she averaged 9.3 points and 3.6 rebounds while making 46.0 percent of her shots and 39.7 percent of her three-pointers.

WNBA Draft (April 17, 2004)

Prior to the 2004 WNBA Draft, the Silver Stars and Connecticut Sun executed a trade that sent all three of San Antonio’s picks (Nos. 4, 16, and 29) to the Sun, in exchange for Shannon Johnson (pictured) and Connecticut’s second (21st) and third round (34th) picks.

Johnson went on to play three seasons with the Silver Stars, averaging 9.5 points, 4.2 assists and 1.59 steals per game. She finished in the top 10 in the league in assists in each of her three seasons in San Antonio, and won gold with the US Women’s National Team at the 2004 Olympic Games.

With the 21st pick in the draft, the Silver Stars took 6-2 forward Cindy Dallas. Dallas was an All-Big Ten selection out of Illinois who led the conference in rebounding three years in a row. San Antonio waived her during training camp.

With the 34th pick, the Silver Stars selected Texas A&M guard Toccara Williams. Williams was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as a senior, and finished her collegiate career as the conference’s all-time leader in steals.

True to her reputation, Williams collected 35 steals in just 415 minutes as a rookie. She also averaged 2.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 17 assists. San Antonio waived her prior to the start of the 2005 WNBA season.