Once again, the Connecticut Sun head into a WNBA Draft without a first-round pick and will wait until late in the second round of Thursday's draft to make their first selection.

The Sun do have back-to-back picks in the second round (20th and 21st overall), meaning they won't have to sweat choosing between two players.

“You would think back-to-back picks is a little bit of relief,” Connecticut head coach and general manager Curt Miller said with a grin during a Zoom call Monday. “You can take a deep breath and go, ‘Hey, we can’t go wrong.’

“You know the way I’m wired. ... We’re going to get on the clock and I’m going to have three minutes (to pick), and I’m going to look at my staff going, ‘We’ve got two picks and I like three players.’”

The Sun don’t have a first-round pick because they traded three last year (two of which were in the previous draft) to the Phoenix Mercury for DeWanna Bonner. Bonner made the 2020 All-WNBA second team.

Connecticut’s third and final pick is in the third round (30th) and it may have only two openings on its roster.

Miller said they’ll take the best player available but are looking for some “offensive pop” off the bench.

The Sun could use reliable shooters because the loss of Shekinna Stricklen and Courtney Williams during the 2020 offseason greatly (and negatively) impacted their outside game last year. They were third-to-last in field goal percentage (42.7).

Connecticut was forced to both slow down its tempo and get its points near the rim, both of which were blasphamy for a Miller-coached team because his offense is predicated on playing fast and using the 3-pointer to create spacing. It averaged the most field goal attempts within five feet of the basket (23.7).

There's no guarantee that the Sun's draftees make the team. Teams can carry up to 12 players, but the Sun finds themselves in an odd position in that the injured Alyssa Thomas will count towards their roster.

Thomas tore her Achilles tendon in January while playing overseas. She was a free agent at the time thus giving her the option to be paid no matter who signed her even if she can't play this season. She was one of the most coveted players on the free agent market, and Connecticut re-signed her to a four-year deal in February.

Thomas is also among a group of high-priced veterans the Sun must fit under the salary cap. Miller said they'll roster 11 which means they’ll have 10 active players.

Kaila Charles, Briann January, Brionna and Jonquel Jones, Jasmine Thomas and Bonner will make the team barring the unforseen. Reserves Natisha Hiedeman and Beatrice Mompremier are safe bets to make it, too. That leaves two openings.

Connecticut has also signed guards Tanaya Atkinson, Kamiah Smalls and Sydney Wallace and forwards Morgan Bertsch and Stephanie Jones (Brionna Jones' younger sister) to training camp contracts.

n.griffen@theday.com