The lottery for the 2026 WNBA draft will take place Nov. 23 on ESPN, the league announced Friday.
The Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky all qualified for the upcoming lottery, which will air at 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN).
Lottery odds are based on the cumulative records of the past two WNBA regular seasons for the five teams that did not make the playoffs in the most recent season. This year, two trades landed Minnesota and Seattle in the lottery.
With a cumulative record of 19-15, the Wings have the most chances to land the top pick (420 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least a top-three pick. Dallas had the No. 1 selection in the 2025 draft and selected UConn's Paige Bueckers, who was named Rookie of the Year.
As a result of a trade between the Lynx and Sky, Minnesota holds Chicago's first-round pick and has 261 chances to win the top pick. Seattle, which owns the Los Angeles Sparks' first-round pick, has the third-most chances (167).
Of the three teams not selected in the lottery, the team with the worst cumulative two-year record will be awarded the third pick, the team with the next-worst record will select fourth, and the final team will pick fifth.
UCLA's Lauren Betts is the projected No. 1 pick in ESPN's most recent mock draft. She was projected to be a top-five pick in this year's draft but decided to return to the Bruins for her senior season. Players who are eligible to return to school can wait to declare for the draft until after they have completed this college season.
The WNBA did not say where the league's two new teams, the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, would fall in the draft order. For the 2025 draft, the Golden State Valkyries had the No. 5 pick following that season's four lottery teams.
The WNBA draft is scheduled for April 13. An expansion draft for the Fire and Tempo will not be scheduled until the league and players reach a new collective bargaining agreement.