Dallas holds top odds for a second straight No. 1 pick. Teams vie for franchise cornerstones like Lauren Betts in this pivotal lottery event.
Five franchises will learn Sunday night whether they’ll get the chance to draft the next potential star of the WNBA.
The league’s annual draft lottery, which determines the top two picks of the 2026 WNBA draft, features the Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky. The drawing comes with heightened anticipation this year as UCLA center Lauren Betts projects as the No. 1 overall pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft.
The event begins Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN, with streaming available on ESPN.com, the ESPN app and the WNBA’s digital hub.
Dallas enters the night with the strongest odds, holding 42% of the four-digit combinations that could deliver the top pick. The Wings secured their first-ever No. 1 pick last year and used it to select Paige Bueckers, who became an All-Star starter and a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year in a standout debut. Now, they have a chance to pair her with another elite young talent.
Minnesota follows with 26.1% odds through the Chicago Sky’s pick, while Seattle holds 16.7% of the possible combinations via a previous deal with the Los Angeles Sparks. Washington enters with 9.7%. Chicago, which owns a pick from the Connecticut Sun, has the longest odds at 5.5%.
Unlike the NBA, the WNBA bases its lottery positioning on each team’s cumulative regular-season record over the past two years. The Wings’ 19-65 mark over that span puts them atop the field. The league places 14 ping pong balls in a machine and draws four to generate a winning combination for the No. 1 pick.
The process is repeated for the No. 2 slot, while picks three through five are assigned in order of the remaining teams’ two-year records, guaranteeing Dallas no worse than the third pick.
Two teams in this lottery — Minnesota and Seattle — reached the playoffs last season but acquired their lottery positions through trades involving the Sky and Sparks.
The stakes are high, especially with a draft class headlined by several marquee prospects. Betts, a First Team All-American who averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.9 blocks while leading UCLA to its first-ever Final Four, remains the projected top choice. She shot 64.8% from the field last season and enters the draft cycle viewed as a potential franchise centerpiece.
Also drawing heavy scouting interest is UConn guard Azzi Fudd, who helped lead the Huskies to a national championship and returned from two injury-limited seasons to average 13.6 points on 47.4% shooting. TCU guard Olivia Miles is another top prospect after posting 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists last season.
The 2026 WNBA Draft will take place Monday, April 13.