Next week’s WNBA Draft was going to be the equivalent of warm water and white toast — it would have some value, albeit bland and unappealing.

The Connecticut Sun originally had the third and fourth overall picks, which was fine and all, but it wouldn’t net them one of the top two prospects. So they opted to trade the third to the Seattle Storm in January as part of a deal they couldn’t refuse and acquired veterans Camille Little (forward) and Shekinna Stricklen (guard-forward).

Oh, how things have changed over the past two weeks, as underclassmen Jewell Loyd and Amanda Zahui B. both declared for the draft, giving it the zing it didn’t previously have.

Loyd and Zahui B. should be the first two players taken, yet Connecticut will still benefit as it'll have a chance to draft a player it previously thought wouldn’t be available.

“You add them to a draft that wasn’t very highly thought of, it’s made it more talented and more interesting for us,” Sun coach Anne Donovan said Thursday.

Connecticut will play host to the draft on April 16 at Mohegan Sun Arena (7 p.m.). ESPN2 will broadcast the first round. ESPN3 will air the second and third rounds starting at 8.

At worst, two of three players should still be on the board when the Sun pick fourth — California forward Reshanda Gray, UConn wing Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, and Duke post Elizabeth Williams.

“Williams and KML, in my opinion, were always going to be 1 and 2 in some order,” Donovan said. “(Loyd and Zahui B.) pushes them down which, for us, is a really pleasant surprise.”

Asked if she now had any second thoughts about trading away the third pick given how the talent pool had gotten deeper, Donovan said, “It’s a hindsight, 20-20 kind of thing. Even now, it was a great trade for us because it gave us two positions that we needed. When making that trade, we wanted to hang on to the three and move the four, but the only way to get the trade done was to move the three. We’d still make that trade now.”

Connecticut can use all the talent it can get after finishing with the league’s third-worst record last season (13-21) and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. It shot a league-worst 41.4 percent and was seventh out of 12 in rebounding (34).

Chiney Ogwumike, the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year, will miss at least part of the season after microfracture surgery on her right knee in January. She led the team in points (15.5) and rebounds (8.5).

“I think (our needs) are equal,” Donovan said. “Now, thankfully, we’ll have a (better) choice at four. Prior to these two new additions to the draft, we had a list of our top four and whoever was left, we’d be happy with. Now we have more choices, which is super.”

Donovan is optimistic that Ogwumike will be able to play by midseason. Veteran guard Katie Douglas, meanwhile, continues to struggle with her troublesome back. Douglas was Connecticut’s lone perimeter threat last season and was selected by the coaches to play in the WNBA All-Star game.

“Her injury at the end of the season has proven to be a difficult one for her to overcome,” Donovan said. “She’s still working on it.”

Donovan said there’s no reason to panic, however.

“After the turnover we’ve had the last two years, you have to have the stomach and the strength to rebuild with new coaches,” Donovan said. “There comes a need for the roster to reshuffle and build a new identity, and we’ve stomached through that the last two seasons.

“I don’t imagine there’d be a more dramatic situation than what we’ve had.”

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED