Dallas Wings Get First WNBA Draft Pick for Second Straight Year
For the second consecutive year, the Dallas Wings secure the first pick in the WNBA draft. This achievement highlights the strategy and expectations surrounding the team for the upcoming season. After selecting UConn’s Paige Bueckers in 2025, the Wings won the 2026 WNBA draft lottery on Sunday, giving them the first pick on April 13. They are the fourth franchise to get the first overall pick in consecutive seasons, although others have won consecutive lotteries and then traded one of the picks. The lottery odds were based on the cumulative records of the last two regular seasons of the WNBA for the five teams that didn’t make the playoffs in 2025. Trades brought the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm to the lottery. With a cumulative record of 19-65, the Wings had the best odds of obtaining the first pick (42%) and were guaranteed at least a top-three pick.Bueckers won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and was also named to the All-WNBA second team. However, the Wings failed to make the postseason again and finished the 2025 season with the worst record in the league (10-34). In the last five years, only the Indiana Fever have had more lottery picks than the Wings. Bueckers and Siegrist (No. 3 in 2023) were the only lottery picks who played for Dallas last season. The draft lottery this year was the first to feature five teams since 2010. The Lynx, who had the second-best odds before Sunday, will select second. The Storm will pick third, followed by the Washington Mystics at number 4 and the Chicago Sky at number 5.“We want someone who wants to win,” said Maddy Siegrist, Dallas forward and team representative in the lottery. “We have an exciting young group and we really bond. I’m excited to bring in someone else.”
Maddy Siegrist
According to projections, UConn’s Azzi Fudd will be the first pick in the latest mock draft, with Spain’s Awa Fam at number 2. TCU’s Olivia Miles, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson round out the rest of the projected lottery picks. While most of the league’s rosters are currently made up of free agents, the Wings have five players under contract, including Bueckers, Siegrist, Diamond Miller, Aziaha James, and JJ Quinerly. Arike Ogunbowale, Li Yueru, Myisha Hines-Allen, and Tyasha Harris are free agents. The Wings will begin the 2026 season with a new coach, Jose Fernandez, after firing Chris Koclanes after only one year.“We are very excited,” said Storm general manager Talisa Rhea. “I think being in the top three, especially in this draft, will bring us a great player. So I’m definitely happy to have gotten there. I think there are definitely a handful of really great players who will be able to make an impact on teams right away, which isn’t always the case. I think there’s good depth and there’s high-level talent in this draft. At the 3rd pick, I really think we’ll get someone who will help us right away.”
Talisa Rhea
The 2026 season will also feature two expansion franchises: the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo. They will select in sixth and seventh place, although it is not yet known in what order. A date for the expansion draft has not yet been set, the rules of which must be collectively bargained. CBA negotiations are ongoing after the players’ union and the league agreed to a one-month extension. The current CBA will expire on November 30. The rest of the order of the first round is: No. 8 Golden State, No. 9 Washington, No. 10 Indiana, No. 11 Washington, No. 12 Connecticut, No. 13 Atlanta, No. 14 Seattle, No. 15 Connecticut.“There are a lot of exciting things happening in Dallas,” Siegrist said. “We have a new coach… the training facilities… a couple of high picks in recent years. We are very excited to bring in another important prospect.”
Maddy Siegrist
