Ahead of Major League Pickleball’s (MLP) next major event, MLP Dallas, the league’s twelve Challenger Level teams just participated in a shuffle draft. The draft was split into two rounds, allowing each team to bring on a total of two new players.
While most teams elected to make minor to no changes at all to their rosters, there were a few significant changes worth noting. Let’s take a look at what we think were some of the best and worst picks during the draft!
Round 1
- Los Angeles Mad Drops: Selected Allison Harris and placed Olivia McMillan on waivers
- Florida Smash: Selected Mariana Humberg and placed Dominique Schaefer on waivers
- Frisco Pandas: Did not make a selection
- St. Louis Shock: Did not make a selection
- Austin Pickleballers: Did not make a selection
- Milwaukee Mashers: Selected Callan Dawson and placed Pesa Teoni on waivers
- New York Hustlers: Selected Kelsey Grambeau and placed Sarah Ansboury on waivers
- California BLQK Bears: Selected Erik Pailet and placed Marshall Brown on waivers
- Seattle Pioneers: Did not make a selection
- New Jersey 5s: Did not make a selection
- Las Vegas Night Owls: Did not make a selection
- SoCal Hard Eights: Did not make a selection
The LA Mad Drops led things off with a no-brainer: They picked up Allison Harris, replacing Olivia McMillan. Unfortunately, the Mad Drops didn’t have the best showing at MLP Atlanta, but Harris did when she stepped in as a substitute for the Miami Pickleball Club (MPC) in the Premier Level. She’s already proved herself this season, helping MPC make a decent playoff run, so she was definitely expected to go first overall.
Next up was the Florida Smash, who made a questionable move by dropping Dominique Schaefer in order to pick up Mari Humberg. While we think Humberg has potential in the MLP due to her recent successes in the APP, including a bronze medal finish with Allison Harris at the St. Louis Open, we also see just as much potential in Schaefer.
Schaefer also popped off in St. Louis, earning herself a gold medal in women’s singles, and most recently earned a silver medal at PPA Las Vegas last weekend. We believe Schaefer has more experience playing at the highest level of pickleball, but Humberg might prove to be a greater asset when it comes to the doubles game. We’ll see in Dallas if this move was for the better!
The Mashers’ swap of Callan Dawson for Pesa Teoni feels pretty fair – both are strong doubles players who have proven their abilities at the pro level, with Teoni tearing it up in the APP and Dawson on the PPA Tour.
We really like the New York Hustlers’ move to pick up Kelsey Grambeau to replace Sarah Ansboury. While Ansboury is a pro pickleball vet, Grambeau has a background in tennis and looks to have potential on the APP Tour.
According to Real Clear Stats’ recent draft analysis, The BLQK Bears dropping Marshall Brown for Erik Pailet might be the worst move from a data perspective. While they point out that stats aren’t the only driving factor for making roster changes, Brown had the least unforced errors in the entire Challenger Level and was ranked number one among beta men.
Pailet is also pretty unknown on the pro scene, having only played in a couple of events on the PPA Tour this summer and his latest pro draw being back in August at PPA Tour’s Takeya Showcase. This move feels highly risky, but hopefully for the BLQK Bears, the risk yields reward.
Round 2
- Los Angeles Mad Drops: Selected Andreas Siljestrom and placed Jordan Kinney on waivers
- Florida Smash: Did not make a selection
- Frisco Pandas: Did not make a selection
- St. Louis Shock: Did not make a selection
- Austin Pickleballers: Did not make a selection
- Milwaukee Mashers: Selected Riley Bohnert and placed Christa Gecheva on waivers
- New York Hustlers: Did not make a selection
- California BLQK Bears: Did not make a selection
- Seattle Pioneers: Did not make a selection
- New Jersey 5s: Did not make a selection
- Las Vegas Night Owls: Did not make a selection
- SoCal Hard Eights: Did not make a selection
The Mad Drops once again got it right with their round 2 selection of Andreas Siljestrom, replacing Jordan Kinney. Kinney, unfortunately, was one of the lowest-ranked players in the league, with just one win in Atlanta and only 108 points scored. Siljestrom, on the other hand, has been using his background in tennis (he was once ranked 57th in doubles on the ATP Tour) to become a strong pickleball player on the APP Tour.
Wrapping up the draft, the Milwaukee Mashers picked up Riley Bohnert to replace Christa Gecheva. This is another pretty surprising change, as Gecheva has a lot of experience playing in the MLP, and even led the Dallas Pickleball Club to a big win at MLP San Clemente in Season One.
Bohnert is an exciting choice, though, as she was selected for the APP Tour’s Next Gen team earlier this year. We’re eager to see how she plays alongside Rianna Valdes, the Mashers’ top-ranked player.
One Last Change
The LA Mad Drops also picked up Cierra Gaytan-Leach, who will be substituting for Brooke Buckner, who is likely missing MLP Dallas due to her pregnancy! We’ve got to give her major props, as she even earned two game wins with the Mad Drops at MLP Atlanta. We wish her happiness and health during her well-deserved time off.
Gaytan-Leach is an MLP vet, having played on the Hard Eights last year, so we’re very excited to see her make a return to the big leagues! The Mad Drops now have two brand-new female players added to their roster, so we’ll have to see how this impacts the team’s success going into the next event.
