MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Lynx boss Cheryl Reeve has won the WNBA Executive of the Year award twice, in 2019 and 2024.

In 2019, she won it largely because of who she drafted.

In 2024, she won it largely by proving she didn’t need draft picks.

Reeve is the greatest coach in league history, and one of the greatest coaches in any sport. As a general manager, she has relied on the expertise of her coaching to build cohesive, overachieving teams.

The 2026 WNBA draft, scheduled for April 13, should change or challenge Reeve’s team-building habits. The Lynx hold the second pick in a fascinating draft featuring four players every team would want.

Dallas holds the first pick and is likely to draft a guard to complement Paige Bueckers — either UConn’s Azzi Fudd or TCU’s Olivia Miles.

Reeve loves high-quality point guards. She has done her best coaching with the great Lindsay Whalen and the underrated Courtney Williams at the position. Both featured mental toughness as well as skills and leadership.

Will Reeve take Williams’ replacement if Miles is available? Will she take the proverbial best player available in Fudd, who would be a no-doubt No. 1 pick if not for her injury history?

Most of the smart speculation has Reeve, with a team that looked good enough to win it all the last two years, drafting for the future and taking Spanish 19-year-old center Awa Fam.

Fam might be the league’s next great center. Reeve tends to run a spaced offense relying on guards and wings. She also traded for Sylvia Fowles and changed her entire approach to take advantage of Fowles’ inside dominance.

Fam is 6-4 and possesses a variety of offensive moves and is working on her long-range shooting.

The safer pick is Lauren Betts, who dominated while leading UCLA to the national title. She’s 6-7 and ready to play in the WNBA but might not have as much long-term potential.

Either would likely thrive under Reeve and her newest assistant coach, former Minnesota Gophers and Lynx standout Janel McCarville, one of the best-passing posts we’ve seen.

This much is certain: It’s time for Reeve to draft a star. It’s been too long.

The last long-running starter or star she drafted was Napheesa Collier in 2019. That was a wise pick, and a lucky one. Collier is one of the two best players in the world and the Lynx got her at No. 6.

Since then, Reeve’s first-round picks have been (with pick placement in parenthesis):

— 2020: Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (6th)

— 2021: Rennia Davis (9)

— 2022: No first-round pick.

— 2023: Diamond Miller (2), Maia Hirsch (12)

— 2024: Alissa Pili (8)

— 2025: No first-round pick.

Reeve has survived this draft drought by winning in free agency, landing underappreciated-yet-outstanding players like Williams and Alanna Smith, and coaching her team in a way that gets the most out of each player.

This would be a good time to get back to drafting good players. The talent pouring into the league has never been better. Winning with subtle free-agent moves and daily coaching is admirable but not guaranteed to continue.

We can’t talk about Reeve’s drafts without mentioning Angel Reese.

Reese is a dominant rebounder and two-time All-Star. The Lynx traded the seventh pick in the first round in 2024 to allow Chicago to take Reese. The Lynx chose Pili, who is now playing in Australia.

Reeve obviously didn’t want Reese’s self-centered, oversized personality around a team built on cohesion. Chicago tired of her after two seasons.

Was Reeve wrong to avoid her? In terms of talent, of course. Reese would have been the second-best player on the Lynx in terms of production.

Given that Reeve and her peers are desperate to win, the fact that she, and Chicago, decided they didn’t want Reese around is the most crimson of red flags.

But she’s worlds better than Pili, and the Lynx could have traded her.

Those who believe that the 2024 team might not have come within a few seconds or officials’ decisions of winning it all were right to say that Reeve made the right decision in not drafting Reese. Two of the 14 existing teams have already said “No thanks” publicly, six teams passed on her before she got to the Lynx’s original pick and there are probably others that would have avoided drafting or trading for her.

Those who believe that Reeve hamstrung her long-term chances of winning big by not drafting Reese might also be correct.

Let’s see how Reese performs, and whether she wins, with a talented team in Atlanta.

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