Below are answers to some of the main questions regarding the WNBA Draft Lottery 2026.

When is the 2026 WNBA Draft Lottery, and where can I watch? 

The 2026 WNBA Draft Lottery will be broadcast on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 6:30 pm ET on ESPN. 

 What teams are participating in the 2026 WNBA Draft Lottery? 

The Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, and Chicago Sky will take part in the 25th annual WNBA Draft Lottery. 

How does the Draft Lottery work? 

14 lottery balls numbered 1 through 14 are mixed into a lottery machine. Four lottery balls are drawn to create a four-number combination. One qualifying team holds that four-number combination and will receive the No. 1 pick. This process repeats to determine the No. 2 pick.   

The No. 3 pick will be awarded to the remaining draft lottery team with the worst cumulative record over the last two WNBA seasons. The No. 4 pick will be awarded to the remaining draft lottery team with the next-worst cumulative record over the last two WNBA seasons.   

The final remaining draft lottery team will receive the #5 pick. 

How are the chances of winning the Draft Lottery determined? 

Lottery chances are based on the two-year (2024 and 2025) cumulative records of the five teams that did not make the playoffs in the most recent season.  

Which team has the best chance at winning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft? 

With a cumulative record of 19-65, the Wings will have the most assigned combinations (420 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least the third pick. 

As the result of a prior trade between Minnesota and Chicago (23-61), the Lynx possess the Sky’s first round pick and will have 261 chances out of 1,000 to win the top pick.  

Seattle, which owns the Los Angeles Sparks’ (29-55) first round pick by virtue of a January 2024 trade, has the third-most chances (167). 

Washington, 30-54 over the past two seasons, has 97 chances out of 1,000 to win the top pick, and Chicago, which owns the Connecticut Sun’s (39-45) first round selection, has the fifth most chances (55).  

* Chicago and Minnesota have extinguished Minnesota’s right to swap its own first round pick for Chicago’s own first round pick and Chicago has traded its own first round pick to Minnesota (Sika Koné, Nikolina Milić, 4/14/24), (Draft picks, 4/13/25) 

^ Los Angeles has traded its own first round pick to Seattle (Kia Nurse, 1/31/24) 

+ Phoenix has traded its own first round pick to Chicago (Kahleah Copper, Morgan Bertsch, Michaela Onyenwere, Brianna Turner, 2/6/24) and Chicago has swapped Phoenix’s first round pick for Connecticut’s own first round pick (Marina Mabrey, Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, 7/17/24)