2026 WNBA Draft Lottery: Date and Participants
The lottery for the 2026 WNBA draft will be held on November 23. The event, which will define the selection order for the teams, will be broadcast live.
The teams that will participate in the lottery are:
- Dallas Wings
- Minnesota Lynx
- Seattle Storm
- Washington Mystics
- Chicago Sky
The lottery is based on the accumulated records of the last two regular WNBA seasons 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 obtain the first pick (420 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least a top-three pick. Dallas had the number 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
As a result of a trade between the Lynx and the 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 last team will select fifth.
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.
