2026 WNBA Draft Lottery: Date and Key Details
The lottery for the 2026 WNBA draft is scheduled for November 23rd. The event, which will define the selection order for the teams, will be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The teams that will participate in the lottery are:
- Dallas Wings
- Minnesota Lynx
- Seattle Storm
- Washington Mystics
- Chicago Sky
The lottery odds are based on the accumulated records of the last two regular seasons of the WNBA for the five teams that did not qualify for the playoffs in the most recent season.
The Wings, with a combined record of 19-15, have the highest chance of obtaining the first pick, with 420 out of 1,000 possibilities, and are guaranteed at least a spot among the top three picks. Dallas obtained the first pick in the 2025 draft.
Minnesota owns Chicago’s first-round pick and has 261 chances of getting the first pick. Seattle, which owns the Los Angeles Sparks’ first-round pick, has the third-most opportunities, with 167.
Of the three teams not selected in the lottery, the team with the worst two-year cumulative record will be rewarded with the third selection, the team with the next worst record will select fourth, and the final team will pick fifth.
Lauren Betts from UCLA is the projected player to be the first pick in the draft.
The WNBA draft is scheduled for April 13. An expansion draft for the league’s new teams, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, will not be scheduled until the league and players reach a new collective bargaining agreement.
