WNBA Draft 2019 presented by State Farm is less than three weeks away, and questions continue to swirl around what the Aces will do with the number one pick. Will they draft a big? Will they draft a guard? Will they trade the pick before the draft? What about after the draft?
We don’t know.
Well, maybe we do, but we’ve been sworn to secrecy.
In the meantime, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the top five trades in Bill Laimbeer’s storied WNBA career. He has been in the middle of quite a few of them, earning the nickname “Trader Bill” from the WNBA diehards who post on the rebkell message boards.
We began with the July 9, 2002 trade that brought Elaine Powell to the Detroit Shock.
Today we focus on the Shock’s April 29, 2003 trade for Kedra Holland-Corn.
April 29, 2003
Detroit Shock acquires Kedra Holland-Corn
On July 9, 2002, the Detroit Shock acquired guard Elaine Powell in a trade with the Orlando Miracle. The team also received the Miracle’s first round pick in the 2003 WNBA Draft, which ended up being the fifth overall selection. Laimbeer used that pick to take Tennessee guard Kara Lawson.
Lawson’s time as a member of the Shock was short-lived, as five days after the draft, Laimbeer completed a trade that sent Lawson to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for guard Kedra Holland-Corn.
Holland-Corn brought a career scoring average of 10.2 points per game to Detroit, but rather than use her as a starter, Laimbeer utilized her as a super-sub off the bench. She played all 34 games during the 2003 season, starting just two, but Holland-Corn averaged 9.2 points per game, and posted the best shooting percentages of her career across the board (46.1 FG%, 40.3 3G%, 76.2 FT%).
The WNBA Finals was a best-two-out-of-three series back in 2003, and Detroit dropped a 12-point decision to the Sparks in game one. In game two, the Shock bolted out to a 19-point lead, but Los Angeles stormed back to go up four, 61-57, with 1:28 remaining. Holland-Corn drained a three on the Shock’s next possession, and Deanne Nolan’s free throws tied the series at one game apiece. Holland-Corn led the Shock with 16 points on the night, 10 of which came in the second half.
Detroit won game three and the championship two days later, 83-78. Holland-Corn went 15 of 32 from three-point range during the postseason, as the Shock secured their first WNBA Championship.
Laimbeer traded Holland-Corn to Houston prior to the 2004 campaign, but signed her as a free agent in 2006, where she once again served as a key reserve. The Shock won the championship that year for the second time, and Holland-Corn retired from the WNBA in April of 2007.