The Dallas Wings earned the No. 1 overall pick for the second consecutive year, in a 2026 WNBA Draft lottery that lacks a consensus top overall pick.
In contrast to years of obvious No. 1 selections Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, there is not a clear-cut choice heading into the new year. UCLA’s Lauren Betts, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, TCU’s Olivia Miles, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, South Carolina’s Ta’Niya Latson and top international prospect Awa Fam of Spain are projected lottery picks.
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The Minnesota Lynx earned the second pick, followed by the Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky. The 2026 WNBA Draft is scheduled for Monday, April 13. Since 2017, it has been held at different locations in New York City.
The draft lottery consisted of Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington and Connecticut. Three of them sent their picks out in prior trades. The Sky owed their pick to Minnesota, giving one of the season’s most dominant teams the second-best odds at the No. 1 pick (261 chances out of 1,000). Chicago received Connecticut’s pick and Los Angeles owed theirs to Seattle.
The league and WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) are still negotiating a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that could hold up offseason work. The extended deadline expires on Nov. 30. It is unclear where expansion clubs Portland and Toronto will be placed in the draft order. Golden State drafted at No. 5 this year, between the lottery teams and playoff squads.
While the 2026 draft lacks a clear No. 1 pick, UConn star Azzi Fudd is one of a few potential options. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
(Joe Buglewicz via Getty Images)
Who is the No. 1 WNBA pick?
The order of draftees will hinge heavily on positional need and the outcome of a free agency that includes most of the league’s players.
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Betts, a dominant 6-foot-7 center, offers size and physical presence rarely available in the WNBA. Five WNBA players who notched minutes in 2025 are 6-7 or taller, and 15 are at least 6-5. Her footwork sets her apart, and she’s developed into a strong passer. Betts largely played a traditional back-to-the-basket role for UCLA. Not once has she attempted a 3-pointer in her collegiate career.
Fudd, a redshirt senior fresh off a national championship, is one of the cleanest shooters with a quick release. But she has not been healthy enough in her collegiate career to consistently showcase it, and ultimately opted for an additional season at UConn to further develop her pro game. The 5-11 shooting guard is 42% from 3-point range since the start of her junior year, the first fully healthy campaign she’s experienced.
Miles, a TCU transfer from Notre Dame, possesses an elite court vision and expanded shooting repertoire. The 5-10 point guard improved as a perimeter shooter after missing the 2023-24 season with a torn ACL, and is leading a Horned Frogs pick-and-roll system that will help her be more pro-ready by May.
Fam, a 6-4 center from Spain, began playing professionally at 15 years old and averaged 8.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game during Spain’s run to the EuroBasket final. Fam, 19, is eligible under the international guidelines set by the current CBA.
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Why the Lynx own a lottery pick
The Lynx came a whisker away from winning the 2024 WNBA Finals, led the league front to back in the 2025 regular season and reached the semifinals. In the previous two seasons, they led the league by four full games (34-10) over reigning champion Las Vegas (30-14).
Yet, here they are with one of the best spots in the draft when they would typically be selecting last. The Lynx acquired the rights to swap first-round picks with Chicago in a trade the day before the 2024 draft. Chicago wanted to switch positions with Minnesota in that draft, taking the No. 7 spot to draft Angel Reese. The Lynx drafted Alissa Pili at No. 8.
In return, the Lynx acquired the rights to the Sky’s 2025 first-round pick, forward Sika Kone, and the Sky’s 2025 second-round pick used to select Russian Anastasiia Kosu. Chicago also added Nikolina Milić from Minnesota.
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In the days leading up to the 2025 draft, the Lynx extinguished those rights and fully acquired the first-round pick. Chicago took Minnesota’s No. 11 draft pick and selected guard Hailey Van Lith.
Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve built a contender without lottery picks. Their last top selection was Diamond Miller at No. 2 in 2023, but she played sparingly.
Relations soured between Reese and the Sky, leading to questions about whether Reese will still be in Chicago come spring. The Sky moved up to a lottery position in the mid-July 2024 trade with Connecticut that sent Marina Mabrey east.
How the draft lottery works
The draft lottery included five teams for the first time since 2010, when the Sacramento Monarchs won the No. 2 pick. They folded a month later, and the subsequent teams in the order moved up one spot.
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The previous five-team lotteries gave the fourth and fifth-worst teams the same odds (.76%). This year, the league awarded descending odds to all five teams. The Wings (19-25) held the best odds at 42 of 1,000 (42%) and could pick no lower than third. Minnesota, with its pick from Chicago (23-61), had 261 chances out of 1,000.
Seattle acquired the pick from Los Angeles (29-55) in a 2024 offseason trade that sent out Kia Nurse. The Storm had 167 of 1,000 odds. Washington (30-54) had 97 chances (9.7%). Chicago (from 39-45 Connecticut) had 55 chances.
The drawing consists of 14 numbered balls mixed in a lottery machine. Four are drawn one at a time to determine a four-digit combination, and the team assigned that combination is awarded the No. 1 pick. It is done again for the second pick. The next three teams remaining are decided by their worst-cumulative two-year record.
2026 WNBA Draft order
This draft order is based on the historical assumption that the expansion teams will draft after the lottery teams and before the playoff teams.
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1. Dallas
2. Minnesota
3. Seattle
4. Washington
5. Chicago
6. Portland or Toronto
7. Toronto or Portland
8. Golden State
9. Washington (from Seattle)
10. Indiana
11. Washington (from New York)
12. Connecticut (from Phoenix)
13. Atlanta
14. Seattle (from Las Vegas)
15. Connecticut (from Minnesota)
