The Dallas Wings took the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft for the second year in a row. The franchise had the top lottery odds and cashed in again, strengthening a young core that already includes 2024 No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers.
“It’s great for our franchise to have this opportunity,” said Dallas Wings head coach Jose Fernandez. “We will continue to evaluate the great position we are in for next season and for the future of the organization. Our fans and season ticket members are certainly as excited as we are about tonight’s results.”
ESPN announced the lottery results during a 30-minute special. This is the 14th year in a row that the network has broadcast the event. The draw followed the exact order of the teams’ odds, only the fifth time this has happened in the competition’s history (previous: 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018).
Top 5 picks:
- Dallas Wings – 420 chances; cumulative record of 19-65.
- Minnesota Lynx (via Chicago) – 261 chances.
- Seattle Storm (via LA) – 167 chances.
- Washington Mystics – 97 chances.
- Chicago Sky (via Connecticut) – 55 chances.
Lottery odds are based on each team’s combined record for 2024-2025; Dallas was guaranteed a top-3 pick.
Several picks were influenced by previous trades and swaps involving Chicago, Minnesota, LA, Phoenix and Connecticut.
Ernst & Young supervised the drawing.
League Notes on the Lottery Draw
- Chicago and Minnesota overturned Minnesota’s right to trade its own first-round pick for Chicago’s own first-round pick and Chicago traded its own first-round pick to Minnesota (Sika Koné, Nikolina Milić, 4/14/24), (Draft picks, 4/13/25)
- Los Angeles traded its own first-round pick to Seattle (Kia Nurse, 1/31/24)
- Phoenix had traded its own first round pick to Chicago (Kahleah Copper, Morgan Bertsch, Michaela Onyenwere, Brianna Turner, 2/6/24) and Chicago had traded Phoenix’s first round pick for Connecticut’s own first round pick (Marina Mabrey, Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, 7/17/24)
Concept lottery video
#Dallas #secures #Lynx #Storm #Follow #WNBA #Draft #Lottery #Hoopfeed.com