December 9, 2023
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Four international prospects to know in 2024 WNBA Draft
By The Next
French combo guard Leïla Lacan tops the list
![Close-up photos of France's Leïla Lacan and Australia's Nyadiew Puoch are shown side-by-side. The text "Best [international] class ever?" is overlaid at the bottom in all caps, and the orange Locked on Women's Basketball logo is in the top right corner.](https://i0.wp.com/www.thenexthoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2-HOSTS-1-LINE-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1 "Lacan Puoch LOWBB WNBA Draft prospects")
In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Hunter Cruse, Em Adler and Lincoln Shafer discuss the top international prospects for the 2024 WNBA Draft. Those prospects include France’s Leïla Lacan and Carla Leite and Australia’s Nyadiew Puoch and Isobel Borlase.
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Em assesses the quality of the 2024 international draft class as a whole:
“This is the best international overall group that we’ve probably ever had in WNBA history. And I want to be clear: That’s not an especially high bar. … But there are three very, very legit prospects in this class … probably three at least borderline first-rounders, at the very least. And we’ve never had that in WNBA history in terms of international prospects …
“[And] I think it’s fair to say that we might have the most talented international prospect, singular, in this group, if not the two most talented international prospects, since Liz Cambage went second overall [in 2011].”
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That especially talented international prospect is Lacan, a 5’11 combo guard who plays for Angers in France’s Ligue Féminine de Basketball. She is ranked fifth on The Next‘s draft board and projects as an eventual above-average WNBA starter. Lincoln explains what stands out about the 19-year-old:
“She’s an incredible athlete putting the ball on the floor [and] defensively. She’s just so smooth. And the one thing that stood out the most to me watching her play in France was the level of patience and craft, especially out of the pick-and-roll, that you just don’t see in 19-year-olds ever.”
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