– Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, and Chicago Sky

to Take Part in WNBA Draft Lottery 2026 –

NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2025 – The WNBA Draft Lottery 2026 will be broadcast on Sunday, Nov. 23, on ESPN, the WNBA announced today.

ESPN will air the 30-minute, WNBA Draft Lottery Special at 6:30 p.m. ET with WNBA Head of League Operations Bethany Donaphin revealing the results of the Lottery during ESPN’s coverage.  This marks the 14^th consecutive year that ESPN networks will present the WNBA Draft Lottery.

The Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, and Chicago Sky will take part in the 25^th annual WNBA Draft Lottery. The 2026 WNBA Draft is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 13, 2026.

Lottery odds 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. 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).

In the drawing, 14 balls numbered 1-14 will be placed in a lottery machine and mixed.  Four balls will be drawn to determine a four-digit combination.  The team assigned that four-ball combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The four balls will then be placed back into the machine and the process will be repeated to determine the second pick.  Of the three teams not selected in the drawings, the team with the worst cumulative two-year record shall select third; the team with the next worst record will select fourth; and the remaining team shall select fifth.

A representative from the league’s independent accounting firm Ernst & Young will be in attendance to oversee the Draft Lottery process.

Below are the number of chances for teams to land the top pick in WNBA Draft Lottery 2026.

* 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)

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