2026 WNBA draft
Basketball player selection
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2026 season will be held following the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. This will be the first draft for the league's two newest expansion teams: the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo.
| 2026 WNBA Draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Date | April 13, 2026 |
| Network | U.S.: ESPN |
| Overview | |
| 45 total selections in 3 rounds | |
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Teams | 15 |
| Expansion team | Portland Fire Toronto Tempo |
Draft lottery
In November 2025, the WNBA announced that the 2026 WNBA Draft Lottery would be held on November 23, 2025.[1][2] The lottery decided the order of the first 5 picks in the 2026 WNBA draft and was televised on ESPN in the United States.[1] The five teams that did not qualify for 2025 WNBA playoffs participated in this draft lottery.
Lottery chances
The lottery chances were based on the combined record from the 2024 and 2025 WNBA seasons. In the drawing, 14 balls numbered 1 to 14 were placed in a lottery machine and mixed. Four balls were drawn to determine a four-digit combination. The team assigned that four-ball combination received the No. 1 pick. The four balls were then be placed back into the machine and the process was repeated to determine the second pick. Of the three teams not selected in the drawings, the team with the worst cumulative two-year record was selected third; the team with the next worst record selected fourth; and the remaining team, fifth.[1]
A representative from the league's independent accounting firm, Ernst & Young, was in attendance to oversee the draft lottery process.[1]
Note: The team selected for the No. 1 pick in the lottery is noted below in bold text.
| Team | Combined 2024–25 record | Lottery chances | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Wings | 19–65 | 42.0% | 1st pick |
| Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago Sky)[a] | 23–61 | 26.1% | 2nd pick |
| Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles Sparks)[b] | 29–55 | 16.7% | 3rd pick |
| Washington Mystics | 30–54 | 9.7% | 4th pick |
| Chicago Sky (from Connecticut Sun)[c] | 39–45 | 5.5% | 5th pick |
- Notes
- April 13, 2025: Chicago to Minnesota[3][4]
- Minnesota acquired the 2026 first-round pick outright, and extinguished the previous right to exchange 2026 first-round draft picks with Chicago
- Chicago acquired the 2025 No. 11 draft pick (Hailey Van Lith)
- January 31, 2024: Seattle to Los Angeles[5]
- Los Angeles acquired Kia Nurse and a 2024 first-round pick (Rickea Jackson)
- Seattle acquired a 2026 first-round pick
- July 17, 2024: Connecticut to Chicago[6]
- Chicago acquired Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, a 2025 first-round pick (Ajša Sivka), and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks
- Connecticut acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2025 second-round pick (Rayah Marshall)
Draft
| # | Denotes player who never played in the WNBA regular season or playoffs |
| Bold | Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year |
First round
| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas Wings | |||
| 2 | Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago)[a] | |||
| 3 | Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles)[b] | |||
| 4 | Washington Mystics | |||
| 5 | Chicago Sky (from Connecticut)[c] | |||
| TBD | Portland Fire | |||
| TBD | Toronto Tempo | |||
| 8 | Golden State Valkyries | |||
| 9 | Washington Mystics (from Seattle)[d] | |||
| 10 | Indiana Fever | |||
| 11 | Washington Mystics (from New York via Minnesota and Connecticut)[e][f][g] | |||
| 12 | Connecticut Sun (from Phoenix via Chicago)[h][c] | |||
| 13 | Atlanta Dream | |||
| 14 | Seattle Storm (from Las Vegas)[i] | |||
| 15 | Connecticut Sun (from Minnesota via Washington)[f][g] |
Second round
| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Seattle Storm (from Dallas)[j] | |||
| 17 | Chicago Sky | |||
| 18 | Connecticut Sun | |||
| 19 | Washington Mystics | |||
| 20 | Los Angeles Sparks | |||
| TBD | Toronto Tempo | |||
| TBD | Portland Fire | |||
| 23 | Golden State Valkyries | |||
| 24 | Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle)[i] | |||
| 25 | Indiana Fever | |||
| 26 | Chicago Sky (from New York)[k] | |||
| 27 | Phoenix Mercury | |||
| 28 | Atlanta Dream | |||
| 29 | Las Vegas Aces | |||
| 30 | Washington Mystics (from Minnesota)[l] |
Third round
| Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Dallas Wings | |||
| 32 | Chicago Sky | |||
| 33 | Connecticut Sun | |||
| 34 | Washington Mystics | |||
| 35 | Los Angeles Sparks | |||
| TBD | Toronto Tempo | |||
| TBD | Portland Fire | |||
| 38 | Golden State Valkyries | |||
| 39 | Seattle Storm | |||
| 40 | Indiana Fever | |||
| 41 | New York Liberty | |||
| 42 | Phoenix Mercury | |||
| 43 | Atlanta Dream | |||
| 44 | Las Vegas Aces | |||
| 45 | Minnesota Lynx |
Footnotes
- April 13, 2025: Chicago to Minnesota[3][4]
- Minnesota acquired the outright 2026 first-round draft pick, and extinguished the previous right to exchange 2026 first-round draft picks with Chicago
- Chicago acquired the 2025 No. 11 draft pick (Hailey Van Lith)
- January 31, 2024: Seattle to Los Angeles[5]
- Los Angeles acquired Kia Nurse and a 2024 first-round pick (Rickea Jackson)
- Seattle acquired a 2026 first-round pick
- July 17, 2024: Connecticut to Chicago[6]
- Chicago acquired Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, a 2025 first-round pick (Ajša Sivka), and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks
- Connecticut acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2025 second-round pick (Rayah Marshall)
- August 5, 2025: Seattle to Washington[7]
- Seattle acquired Brittney Sykes
- Washington acquired Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke, and a 2026 first-round pick
- March 16, 2025: New York to Connecticut[8]
- Connecticut acquired the 2025 No. 7 draft pick (Aneesah Morrow) and a 2026 first-round pick
- New York acquired Natasha Cloud
- April 14, 2025: Minnesota to Washington[9]
- Washington acquired 2026 first-round pick
- Minnesota acquired Karlie Samuelson
- August 7, 2025: Connecticut to Washington[10][11]
- Washington acquired Jacy Sheldon, and the right to swap 2026 first-round picks (Washington with Minnesota's own and Connecticut with New York's own acquired from prior trades)
- Connecticut acquired Aaliyah Edwards
- February 6, 2024: Phoenix to Chicago[12]
- Phoenix acquired Kahleah Copper and Morgan Bertsch
- Chicago acquired Brianna Turner, Michaela Onyenwere, a 2024 first-round pick (Kamilla Cardoso), Chicago's own 2025 second-round pick, a 2026 first-round pick, and the right to swap 2026 second-round picks with Phoenix
- February 1, 2025: Three-team trade among Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Seattle[13][14][15]
- Las Vegas acquired Jewell Loyd (from Seattle) and a 2025 second-round pick (Aaliyah Nye, from Los Angeles)
- Los Angeles acquired Kelsey Plum (from Las Vegas), a 2025 first-round (Sarah Ashlee Barker) and a 2026 second-round pick (from Seattle)
- Seattle acquired the rights to Li Yueru and a 2025 first-round pick (Dominique Malonga, from Los Angeles), and a 2026 first-round pick (from Las Vegas)
- June 14, 2025: Dallas to Seattle[16][17]
- Dallas acquired Li Yueru
- Seattle acquired a 2026 second-round pick (with right to swap with the Connecticut Sun) and a 2027 third-round pick (with right to swap with the Indiana Fever)
- March 14, 2024: New York to Chicago[18]
- New York acquired Rebekah Gardner
- Chicago acquired 2025 and 2026 second-round picks
- August 20, 2024: Minnesota to Washington[19]
- Minnesota acquired Myisha Hines-Allen
- Washington acquired Olivia Époupa, Sika Koné, and a 2026 second-round pick