2026 WNBA Draft Lottery: Date and Key Teams
The lottery for the 2026 WNBA draft will be held on November 23. The event promises to be a crucial moment for defining the future of several franchises.
The teams that have secured their participation in the lottery are:
- Dallas Wings
- Minnesota Lynx
- Seattle Storm
- Washington Mystics
- Chicago Sky
The lottery will be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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.
This year, two trades led Minnesota and Seattle to the lottery.
With a cumulative record of 19-15, the Wings have the most opportunities to get the first pick (420 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least a top-three pick. Dallas had the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft and selected Paige Bueckers from UConn, who was named Rookie of the Year.
As a result of a trade between Lynx and Sky, Minnesota owns Chicago’s first-round pick and has 261 chances to win the first pick. Seattle, which owns the Los Angeles Sparks’ first-round pick, has the third-most opportunities (167).
Of the three teams not selected in the lottery, the team with the worst two-year cumulative record will receive 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 most recent draft.
The WNBA did not specify where the two new league teams, Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, would fall in the draft order. For the 2025 draft, the Golden State Valkyries had the number 5 pick after the four lottery teams of that season.
The WNBA draft is scheduled for April 13. An expansion draft for Fire and Tempo will not be scheduled until the league and players reach a new collective bargaining agreement.
