Top WNBA draft prospect NaLyssa Smith says 'I deserve to be the No. 1 pick'

• Baylor Bears star NaLyssa Smith told Insider she should be "the number one pick" in the WNBA Draft.
• Smith and Kentucky Wildcats star Rhyne Howard are widely expected to be the first two names off the board.

With just 12 teams in the league and extremely limited roster spots available, NaLyssa Smith knows it will be "a blessing regardless" to hear her name called at the 2022 WNBA Draft.

But if you ask the Baylor Bears superstar when she should walk across the draft stage, she won't hesitate to give you a blunt answer: before everyone else.

"I deserve to be the number one pick," Smith told Insider.

The 2019 NCAA champion and two-time All-America selection cited "all the time and energy I've put into the game of basketball" as part of her reasoning for going first overall while speaking to Insider about her NIL partnership with Wingstop. And that hard work and dedication shows up in her statistics and highlight reels; Smith is undoubtedly among the most skilled and most athletic prospects in the class.

The 6-foot-4 forward averaged 15.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game over her four years at Baylor, becoming one of just eight Bears players to record 2,000+ career points and the seventh to do so while also accumulating 1,000 career rebounds.

This year, Smith averaged a team-high 22.1 points and 11.5 boards en route to a Baylor single-season record 25 double-doubles. Her 403 rebounds on the year were the most from a Bears player in more than 40 years.

"It's a blessing to be in the position I'm in today, and I appreciate everything that Baylor Nation has given me," Smith said. "I gave my all and stayed loyal to the program so I hope that I made Baylor Nation proud."

It's no wonder that Smith is widely expected to be selected as one of the top-two picks in this year's draft. But whether she goes to the Atlanta Dream with the first pick or she drops to the Indiana Fever with the second is still up for debate.

Kentucky Wildcats superstar Rhyne Howard — one of just a handful of three-time first-team All-America selections in women's college basketball history — has long been considered a favorite to go first in the draft. She's an elite sharpshooter and lock-down defender who poses a mismatch threat as a 6-foot-2 guard, but it may take some time for Howard to adjust to the speed and talent level of the pros.

Smith, meanwhile, is viewed as "the most pro-ready player in this draft as far as being able to slide into a WNBA game today," an anonymous WNBA general manager told The Athletic's Chantel Jennings. That may make all the difference, as the Dream are embarking on a total rebuild and are in need of a franchise cornerstone.

Smith — who played for former Atlanta head coach Nicki Collen at Baylor this year — could very well be the best-suited draftee to improve the Dream's outlook for the 2022 season.

"There are two things that college players have to deal with immediately, it's the faster pace — the 24-second clock — and the physicality of the league," another anonymous GM told Jennings. "You're 21, and you're playing against someone who's 30, and they've been in the weight room nine more years than you. With Nicki [Collen], what she helped NaLyssa with is that they played faster, they played more up-tempo, inside and outside."

"[I] can't imagine anyone passing on her if she's sitting there," the GM added.

The WNBA Draft is scheduled for Monday, April 11 at New York's Spring Studios. Fans can tune in to watch the action on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET.