Dispersal draft results --

Phoenix goes with Penny Taylor instead of LaToya Thomas. Washington goes for size with Chasity Melvin, and Thomas ends up with San Antonio.

It was a somewhat surprising result. Several teams had offered to trade for the top pick, mostly because they were looking for a center and wanted Melvin. But Phoenix decided to save it because (it appeared) they really wanted Thomas.

Yesterday, Mercury GM Seth Sulka explained why it decided to forgo trades. "If we go with LaToya, our core players are going to be 22-23 years old and here for a few years. We can ride them for the next seven or eight years and see what we can add to them."

But part of the reason they were planning to go with Thomas was that they were worried about Taylor's commitment to the Aussie national team. This morning, they had a series of calls with Taylor, who said that she will play the WNBA season next year.

Once they had that news, Phoenix decided to go with the former All-Star guard rather than the the younger inside player.