In the 20 days leading up to the 20th annual WNBA Draft, WNBA.com and @WNBA are highlighting the first 19 No. 1 overall picks and their place in league history. Our 20-day countdown continues with Lindsey Harding, the first selection in the 2007 WNBA Draft.

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With the first pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft, the Phoenix Mercury selected guard Lindsey Harding out of Duke, then traded her rights to the Minnesota Lynx for forward/center Tangela Smith. Harding is the only No. 1 overall pick in WNBA history to be traded on draft night.

Harding led all rookies in scoring (11.7 points), was second in assists (3.9) and third in rebounding (4.4) before her promising rookie season came to an abrupt end due to a torn ACL in her left knee. Despite playing only 20 games, she still finished as the runner up for Rookie of the Year.

After her rookie season was cut short, Harding rehabbed her knee and was healthy enough to join the U.S. Senior National team for training in advance of the 2008 Olympics. It was during that training that she suffered a stress fracture in the same knee and was forced to miss the start of the 2008 WNBA season. She appeared in 24 games for the Lynx, but averaged just 6.4 points and 3.2 assists.

Prior to the 2009 season, Harding was traded from Minnesota to Washington, where she reunited with former Duke teammate Alana Beard. In the first of her two seasons in Washington, Harding averaged 12.8 points (2nd on team) and a team-best 4.5 assists, which ranked seventh in the WNBA.

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Harding would rank in the top 10 in assists four times in her eight seasons in the WNBA. After playing two seasons in Washington, Harding was traded to the Atlanta Dream, where she spent two seasons before signing as a free agent with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2013, where she spent her final two seasons in the WNBA.

Harding’s 1,028 career assists ranks 19th all-time in WNBA history and her 4.2 assists per game average ranks 15th.