The Los Angeles Sparks will be adding another big name to 2008 MVP Candace Parker and their group of veteran All-Stars. The Sparks, who had the worst odds entering Thursday’s WNBA Draft Lottery, moved all the way up and will select first in the 2012 WNBA Draft. This is the second No. 1 overall pick for the Sparks, who won the lottery in 2008, allowing them to select Parker out of Tennessee.

The Chicago Sky will pick second as the only Eastern Conference team in the lottery. The Washington Mystics, who also missed out on the playoffs in the East, traded their pick before the season to the Minnesota Lynx, who had a chance to land the No. 1 pick for the third consecutive season. Instead, the defending WNBA champions will pick at No. 3. The Lynx are followed by the Tulsa Shock, which had the best chances of landing one of the top three picks after finishing with the league’s worst record yet still ended up falling to the fourth selection.

Stanford forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike is considered the top prospect in next year’s draft. Other top prospects include Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen from Tennessee, Florida State center Cierra Bravard, Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis and Miami’s duo of Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams.

The Storm will not have a first-round pick after sending it to Washington last year as part of the Katie Smith trade. The Storm also gave up its third-round pick in the same deal, but will have two picks in the second round – both its own and the Indiana Fever’s, No. 22 and No. 23 overall.

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