South Carolina Basketball: Leading up to Monday's WNBA Draft, where will Kamilla Cardoso be taken?

South Carolina basketball star Kamilla Cardoso helped lead her Gamecocks to a national title just eight days ago, but Monday will mark the beginning of her professional career.

The WNBA Draft is slated to begin at 7:30 PM EST on Monday (and it can be watched on ESPN and streamed on the ESPN app), and Cardoso will be one of the top picks in the entire draft.

There is virtually no mystery surrounding the #1 pick as Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark is a mortal lock to be taken with the top selection by the Indiana Fever where she will team up with former South Carolina basketball star and 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston.

After the Clark pick, though, nothing is settled.

In almost every WNBA Draft mock available, Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina Gamecocks), Cameron Brink (Stanford Cardinal), and Rickea Jackson (Tennessee Volunteers) are viewed as top-5 picks. Brink is the most commonly predicted 2nd pick to the Los Angeles Sparks, but some projections have Cardoso going 2nd to the Sparks. Players like UConn's Aaliyah Edwards and LSU's Angel Reese are also virtual locks to be 1st round picks.

The Sparks also have the 4th pick, and with Los Angeles needing some good post players on the roster, a lot of WNBA Draft analysts are predicting that both Cardoso and Brink could end up in LA. Brink's ability to stretch the floor on offense can make that a real possibility, and even as rookies, a 4 and 5 duo of Brink and Cardoso would be one of the best rim-protecting units in the league. If Cardoso goes to LA, she will be reunited with former South Carolina teammate Zia Cooke.

The Chicago Sky have the 3rd pick and are also interested in Cardoso. The Sky need help in the post, but they also need some scoring from their forward spots, leading many to believe that Rickea Jackson could be the pick for them at 3. However, a Cardoso selection is not out of the realm of possibility.

The 5th pick belongs to the Dallas Wings, and if Cardoso slipped past the Sparks twice (unlikely) and the Sky, whether or not she would be taken by Dallas is unclear. The Wings have lots of size on their roster already, but there has been virtually no thought around the W that Cardoso could fall past the 5th pick. She (or another currently contracted post player) could be used as a trade piece, as well.

When all is said and done, Cardoso is most likely to become a new member of the Los Angeles Sparks organization. However, she and the rest of the WNBA Draft entrants will learn their first steps into professional basketball starting at 7:30 PM EST on Monday night.