The Atlanta Dream, firmly believing they feature the best frontcourt in the WNBA, used their first-round draft pick to help shore up a young backcourt on Thursday night. With the 10th overall pick, the Dream selected Iowa point guard Samantha Logic -- the fourth straight season the franchise has invested in a guard with its top overall selection.
In the later rounds, the Dream added DePaul guard Brittany Hryonko (via trade), Tennessee guard Ariel Massengale and James Madison center Lauren Okafor.
"We were confident going in to the draft that we could get a player or players who fit our system and would be able to compete for a spot on our roster," Dream president and general manager Angela Taylor said in a statement. "Coming out of the draft, I feel like we exceeded our expectations by securing four players who were on our board either at that position or higher, so we feel that all four were steals. All four come from great programs and are all competitive. From talking to coaches who coached them or coached against them, they all have a high basketball IQ, are competitive, and come from quality programs."
Logic, a 5-foot-9 do-it-all guard that completed her career with the Hawkeyes as the only player in NCAA history to log at least 1,500 points, 900 rebounds, 800 assists and 200 steals, joins Tiffany Hayes (2012), Alex Bentley (2013) and last season's rookie All-Star Shoni Schimmel as Atlanta's recent top draft selections at the guard spot.
She was named a consensus All-American as a senior.
"Logic is a versatile guard who brings a great deal of leadership, and is a player that's going to come out and compete at a whole other level," Dream coach Michael Cooper said in a statement. "She's a stat stuffer, and that's what I love about her. She'll go rebound, she'll get her assists, she'll get her steals, she'll get her points, and I think those things will help the team."
The Dream open the season on June 7 looking to make their seventh straight appearance in the WNBA playoffs.
