Renee Montgomery falling to No. 4 was one of the surprises of the 2009 WNBA Draft. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

One of the most exciting moments of any draft is when the President or Commissioner steps up to the podium and says the words, “We have a trade …”

The anticipation and tension builds inside the draft room and beyond as the draftees in attendance, and players throughout the league watching the draft, wonder whose names are about to be called.

Think back to the 2007 WNBA Draft where within the first 30 minutes, we had two blockbuster deals go down that affected rookies and veterans alike. First, No.1 overall pick Lindsey Harding was sent from Phoenix to Minnesota for Tangela Smith. Then minutes later we saw the New York Liberty trade its franchise point guard Becky Hammon to San Antonio for the rights to the No.2 pick in the draft, Jessica Davenport, and a future first round pick.

In 2008, there was a ton of trade buzz leading into the draft surrounding the No. 3 pick held by the Minnesota Lynx. Despite a number of teams showing interest in the pick, the Lynx chose to hold onto the pick and selected Candice Wiggins, who went on to win the Sixth Woman of the Year award in her rookie season. There was one trade announced that day, when the Dream traded Ann Wauters, the draft rights to Morenike Atunrase and its 2009 second-round draft pick to San Antonio for Camille Little, the draft rights to Chioma Nnamaka and its 2009 first-round draft pick.

The 2009 WNBA Draft came and went without a single trade to announce. WNBA President Donna Orender came to the podium 13 times and announced 13 picks in the first round and Vice President Renee Brown did the same with the final two rounds.

There was a minor trade between the Shock and Dream made prior to the draft sending the No. 18 pick to Detroit in exchange for reserve guard Ashley Shields, but there was never that moment during the draft, where those four magic words can add even more buzz to an already exciting day.

“I’m very surprised there were no trades today,” said ESPN reporter and WNBA legend Rebecca Lobo. “But it seems like every year there’s either no trades or a bunch of trades like we had a couple years ago when Lindsey Harding was chosen.”

Lobo has an interesting theory as to why none of the picks were moved on draft day.

“I had one coach tell me that people fall in love with their pick as if it’s their child and they’re afraid to move it,” she said with a laugh. “Maybe this is a situation where there are so many packages that are going to be happening that we’ll see those trades happen in the next few weeks.”

That was a popular conclusion from the analysts at the draft; the trades are coming, even if they did not begin on draft day.

“It will be interesting to watch between now and when training camp starts how many of these players stay with their teams and how much maneuvering there is with the rosters,” said Lobo.

At the conclusion of the draft, ESPN interviewed Los Angeles Sparks General Manager Penny Toler and asked her about the team’s need at the point guard position – a need the Sparks did not fill during the draft after selecting forwards Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Ashley Paris in the first two rounds. Toler said the point guard situation would be taken care of over the next couple of weeks, which is as clear a sign as any that a trade is in the cards for the Sparks.

Despite the lack of trades, the 2009 WNBA Draft did provide a number of surprises, such as Connecticut’s Renee Montgomery falling to No. 4 after she had been touted as a possible No. 1 overall pick in the draft. In the end, she wasn’t even the first point guard selected in the draft, as Maryland’s Kristi Toliver was taken one spot higher by the Chicago Sky.

“I was super surprised that Renee Montgomery didn’t get taken until fourth,” said Lobo. “I thought she was definitely going to go first and if not first then within the top three, so I think Minnesota really lucked out that she was still available. Their backcourt now is pretty potent offensively with Seimone Augustus, Candice Wiggins and Renee.”

The biggest surprise of the day has to go to VCU’s Quanitra Hollingsworth being selected at No. 9 by Minnesota. Not only did the selection surprise the analysts on the set, Hollingsworth was the only first round pick that was not among the 15 players invited to the draft.

“Hollingsworth was definitely a surprise, but if you’re looking at potential, she has the body of a Yolanda Griffith with her arm length and the way she runs; she’s only 20 years old, she’s a really smart player, she brings some size and she can really get up and down the floor,” said Lobo. “I did one of her games this year and I was really impressed with her ability now but also with her potential. So they probably felt they couldn’t pass up on her at that spot, but it was definitely a surprise.”

Potential was a common theme in analyzing the picks made by Minnesota. While Lobo sees the upside of Hollingsworth, fellow ESPN analyst and Hall-of-Famer Lieberman believes No. 15 pick Rashanda McCants may be this year’s version of Charde Houston, who Minnesota selected at No. 30 a year ago and turned out to be one of the league’s top rookies.

“Everybody has been waiting for McCants to break out and have that consistency and that was the problem with Charde Houston at Connecticut,” she said. “They would just kill you with the brilliance, but you never knew how often you were going to get that. I think it’s the same thing with McCants; she very gifted and a really nice kid, so we’ll see what happens.”

One feeling that you get from talking to teams and analysts alike is that most teams were able to fill a direct need with the players they selected in the 2009 WNBA Draft. Lieberman singled out Indiana selecting Arizona State's Briann January to be the successor to Tully Bevilaqua at the point guard position for the Fever. She also believes that New York found a good fit with Kia Vaughn from Rutgers as the local product is a “big, strong, tough and really a New York kind of player.”

“Quite honestly all of the teams were able to get someone that they needed,” Lieberman said. “But I don’t think this is the end of it. I think you’re going to hear about some trades that happen.

“The team you see now might not be the team you see on opening day on June 6.”