Aces History: Feeling A Draft (2016)

2016 WNBA Draft (April 14, 2016)

Following the retirement of Becky Hammon, San Antonio struggled to an 8-26 record in 2015, giving them the second pick in each round of the 2016 Draft.

They traded their 2016 second round pick to Atlanta early in the 2015 campaign in exchange for Samantha Logic. Logic played in 23 games for San Antonio that year, averaging 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds, but was waived during training camp the following season.

That left San Antonio with two picks in the draft, and with their first round pick, the Stars took UConn guard Moriah Jefferson (pictured). The four-time NCAA Champion, and two-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner, was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team in 2016 after averaging 13.9 points and 4.2 assists per game, and connecting on 37.5 percent of her shots from long distance.

Jefferson’s 2017 season was shortened due to injury, but she still averaged 4.4 assists per game, and made 45.0 percent of her three-pointers.

She was the first member of the Aces to make her way to Las Vegas, and made scores of appearances in the community in the run up to the Aces’ inaugural season. A knee injury late in the 2017 kept Jefferson out of the first half of the 2018 campaign, and she eventually played in 16 games as a reserve.

On May 16, 2019, Las Vegas traded her to Dallas as part of the deal that brought Liz Cambage to the Aces. Las Vegas also sent Isabelle Harrison and the team’s 2020 first and second round picks to the Wings in the exchange. Jefferson sat out the 2019 season to rehab her knee, and after seven games in the 2020 season, she injured her knee again ending her year.

She played 29 games for the Wings in 2021, and was traded to Minnesota early in the 2022 season. Jefferson played in 30 games that year, and averaged double figures in scoring (10.4 ppg) for the first time since her rookie campaign. She signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Mercury in 2023, and averaged double digits in scoring (10.5 ppg) for the second straight season.

In the third round, the Stars took Oklahoma State guard Brittney Martin. She was named Big 12 Player of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year, after averaging 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game as a senior. Although she came to training camp in 2016, Martin decided to retire from basketball and pursue her master’s degree in sociology shortly thereafter.