Pick a need and the Connecticut Sun lacked it after last season's bummer summer. Experience, shooting and rebounding were among them.

Connecticut improved itself in all three areas on Wednesday. It acquired forward Camille Little and guard/forward Shekinna Stricklen from the Seattle Storm in exchange for guard Renee Montgomery and the No. 3 and 15 overall picks in this year's WNBA Draft. It still has the draft's fourth overall pick.

Little, at 6-foot-2, is an eight-year veteran who played the last six seasons with Seattle. The 17th overall pick in the 2007 Draft after graduating from North Carolina, Little made herself into one of the Storm's most indispensable players. She averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds with them and helped win the 2010 WNBA Championship.

"She's a put-your-hard-hat-on kind of worker," Sun coach Anne Donovan said. "I love her demeanor on the floor. She carries herself with confidence. She seems to be a great teammate and has that leadership and championship experience that we lack right now. Outside of KT (Katie Douglas), we don't have that, and our young players need to see what it takes.

"I've not had one person say anything but really high praise for her character and who she is."

Connecticut finished seventh out of 12 teams in rebounding per game last season (34). That need got worse when forward Chiney Ogwumike had microfracture surgery on her right knee last Thursday. She is expected to miss at least six months. The 2014 Rookie of the Year, Ogwumike led the Sun in points (15.5) and rebounds (8.5), the latter of which ranked seventh overall in the league.

Little can play both forward positions and adds much-needed depth. Alyssa Thomas started most of the season at forward as a rookie last season, while veteran Kelsey Griffin averaged 20 minutes as a reserve.

"Even before Chiney's knee situation came up, Camille has always been a player who I've kept my eye on," Donovan said. "I've long admired her game, how she made herself into really a premier player in this league.

"A stretch four is very hard to come by. There's very few who've mastered that position. Camille is one of them, and we're thrilled to have it."

Stricklen is a 6-2 wing from the University of Tennessee who Seattle drafted second overall in 2012. She's averaged 8.4 points in three seasons.

Connecticut shot a dirt-worst 41.4 percent last season from the field and Douglas was its only reliable 3-point shooter. It was further hurt by guard Allison Hightower missing most of the season after an arthroscopic debridement procedure on her left knee.

Stricklen was tied for seventh overall in 3-pointers (47) last season, and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.385). She did so despite averaging just 17.5 minutes.

"She's a great 3-point shooter," Donovan said. "That's her M.O. She's a long wing. She's athletic. She comes from the University of Tennessee, so she has great pedigree. … She's really a deadly shooter that we desperately needed to add."

Montgomery averaged 11.4 points over five seasons with the Sun. The former UConn star had been a reserve for most of the last three seasons.

The Sun had the league's third-worst record last season (13-21) as they remade themselves. They were forced to deal starters Tina Charles and Kara Lawson. They acquired then-second-year guard Alex Bentley for Lawson and traded Charles for then second-year center Kelsey Bone, Thomas and the fourth overall pick in this draft.

Connecticut's top five scorers last season were new, and Douglas and Montgomery were the only players over 27 years old when the season began.

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED