Less than a day before the 2019 NWSL College Draft, the Washington Spirit bundled the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft and their natural 2020 first round pick to trade up, exchanging those spots with the Chicago Red Stars. In exchange, Washington gets the 7th overall pick in this year’s draft (which starts at 11:00am Eastern tomorrow morning).
For the Spirit, the move is clearly designed to move up and grab a specific player. That isn’t too much of a surprise, given that the draft pool is heavy on talented defenders and Washington is currently very short in the back.