Dallas Wings Get First WNBA Draft Pick for Second Straight Year
For the second year in a row, the Dallas Wings secure the first pick in the WNBA draft. This achievement, which highlights the strategy and focus on building their team, positions the Wings as a team to watch in the upcoming season. The Wings, who selected UConn’s Paige Bueckers in 2025, won the 2026 WNBA draft lottery on Sunday and will pick first on April 13. They are the fourth franchise to have the first overall pick in consecutive seasons, although others have won consecutive draft lotteries but have 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 did not make the playoffs in 2025. Two trades led the Minnesota Lynx and the 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 was named WNBA Rookie of the Year 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 entering 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 Dallas forward Maddy Siegrist, the team’s representative in the lottery. “We have a young and exciting group, and we really bond. I’m excited to bring someone else in.”
Maddy Siegrist, Dallas forward
Azzi Fudd from UConn is projected to be number 1 in the latest mock draft, with Awa Fam from Spain at number 2. Olivia Miles from TCU, Lauren Betts from UCLA, and Flau’jae Johnson from LSU complete 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 enter 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 give 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 impact teams immediately, which isn’t always the case. I think there’s good depth and there’s good top-end talent in this draft. At the 3rd spot, I really think we’ll get someone who will help us immediately.”
Talisa Rhea, Storm general manager
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 first round order 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 so many exciting things 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, Dallas forward
