The WNBA’s annual expertise reshuffling delivered a well-known final result Monday night. For the second straight 12 months, the Dallas Wings secured the No. 1 choose within the 2026 WNBA Draft, extending a uncommon two-year stretch of lottery fortune for a franchise already reshaped by Rookie of the 12 months Paige Bueckers.
The outcomes had been revealed by WNBA Head of League Operations Bethany Donaphin throughout ESPN’s 30-minute Draft Lottery Particular, marking the 14th consecutive 12 months the community offered the occasion.
The pups had been paid actors 🤣 pic.twitter.com/1G2NeJt4ME
— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) November 24, 2025
Remaining WNBA Draft Lottery Order Holds True
For simply the fifth time in lottery historical past, the outcomes unfolded precisely so as of the assigned odds. The total 2026 WNBA Draft Lottery order is as follows:
1. Dallas Wings — 19–65 (420 possibilities)2. Minnesota Lynx (by way of Chicago Sky) — 23–61 (261 possibilities)3. Seattle Storm (by way of Los Angeles Sparks) — 29–55 (167 possibilities)4. Washington Mystics — 30–54 (97 possibilities)5. Chicago Sky (by way of Connecticut Solar) — 39–45 (55 possibilities)
Representatives for every franchise appeared on the stay broadcast:— Dallas: Maddy Siegrist (Ahead)— Minnesota: Courtney Williams (Guard) and Natisha Hiedeman (Guard)— Seattle: Gabby Williams (Ahead)— Washington: Kiki Iriafen (Ahead)— Chicago: Co-owner and working chairman Nadia Rawlinson
Wings Capitalize on Consecutive Alternatives
Dallas entered the evening with essentially the most mixtures (420 of 1,000) and was once more rewarded. The franchise is within the midst of a multilayered transformation — securing back-to-back No. 1 picks, hiring former longtime USF head coach José Fernandez earlier this offseason, and making ready to open a brand new apply facility forward of the 2026 WNBA season.
Final November, the Wings received the lottery for the primary time in staff historical past and used the highest choose on Bueckers, who delivered an All-Star beginning nod and the WNBA Rookie of the 12 months award.
“There’s so many thrilling issues going round in Dallas,” Siegrist mentioned. “New coach. We’re tremendous excited with José. Observe facility. Clearly a pair high picks the previous couple of years, so we’re simply tremendous excited to herald one other nice prospect.”
She added that the staff’s younger core and continuity have created an surroundings the place the subsequent addition can combine rapidly.
“Simply any person who desires to win,” Siegrist mentioned. “We’ve got an thrilling younger group, and we actually bond collectively. So I’m excited simply to carry any person else in.”
Successful a second straight high choose locations Dallas in an unusual place: the flexibility to stack elite WNBA prospects throughout a slender window of long-term roster reset, one thing that would essentially shift the franchise’s timeline.
The Wings’ win capped an final result that matched expectations throughout the board, becoming a member of the 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2018 lotteries as the one cases the place chance held completely.
The No. 1 choose within the 2025 WNBA Draft
PAIGE BUECKERS pic.twitter.com/dEtiGxPeBZ
— UConn Girls’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 14, 2025
A Multi-Group Rebuild Period Takes Form
Minnesota, represented by guards Williams and Hiedeman, will choose second because the Lynx proceed balancing veteran items with long-term roster growth. Seattle grabbed the third choose by its earlier cope with Los Angeles, with ahead Gabby Williams showing on its behalf.
Washington, represented by Kiki Iriafen, landed fourth, whereas Chicago — represented by Nadia Rawlinson — rounded out the highest 5 by a choose initially tied to Connecticut.
Lottery odds had been decided by the cumulative data of the WNBA’s 5 non-playoff groups throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons. An Ernst & Younger consultant oversaw the method for aggressive integrity.
The rest of the 2026 draft order — together with the remainder of the primary spherical and all later rounds — shall be introduced at a later date.
