The Indiana Fever waived forward Emily Engstler on Wednesday, making her the fourth lottery pick since 2019 whom the WNBA team has waived, released or traded.
Engstler, who started her college career with Syracuse and finished with Louisville, was the No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft. She was one of four first-round selections the Fever had last year, along with No. 2 NaLyssa Smith, No. 6 Lexie Hull and No. 10 Queen Egbo, who are still on the Fever's roster. Smith and Egbo were from Baylor and Hull from Stanford.
Egstler averaged 5.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in 35 games as a rookie last season for Indiana, which had the WNBA's worst record at 5-31.
The Fever, who have not made the WNBA playoffs since 2016, in previous seasons cut their draft lottery picks from 2021 (No. 4 Kysre Gondrezick) and 2020 (No. 3 Lauren Cox), and they traded their 2019 lottery selection (No. 3 Teaira McCowan). Cox is listed on the Connecticut Sun's roster and McCowan is with the Dallas Wings.
Indiana had two more first-round picks this year, selecting South Carolina center/forward Aliyah Boston at No. 1 and Indiana guard Grace Berger at No. 7 earlier this month.
WNBA training camps begin April 30 and the regular season starts May 19, so waived players such as Engstler still have a chance to earn a roster spot with another team.