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WNBA draft lottery set for Nov. 23 with Dallas Wings having best odds
The WNBA will hold its annual draft lottery on Nov. 23 with Dallas having the best chance to win it for the second consecutive season.
The Wings, who drafted Paige Bueckers No. 1 last year, have a 42% chance to secure the top pick again. Dallas introduced its new coach Jose Fernandez, longtime head of South Florida, on Thursday.
The WNBA is currently negotiating with the players’ union for a new collective bargaining agreement. The two sides agreed to extend a Oct. 31 deadline to Nov. 30. Assuming a new CBA can get negotiated, the draft is normally held in April.
Minnesota, which possesses the Chicago Sky’s first-round pick after a previous trade, has a 26% chance at getting the No. 1 choice. The Lynx had the best regular-season record in the WNBA before losing to the Phoenix Mercury in the semifinals of the playoffs.
Seattle owns the Los Angeles Sparks’ top pick and has a 16.7% chance of winning the lottery. Washington has just under a 10% opportunity and the Sky, after owning the Connecticut Sun’s first-round choice, have a 5.5% chance.
The lottery will be shown on ESPN for the 14th straight year with Bethany Donaphin, WNBA head of league operations, revealing the results. Lottery odds are based on the two-year cumulative results of the five teams that didn’t make the postseason this past year.
With the worst record, the Wings are guaranteed no worse than the No. 3 pick.
While there’s no clearcut No. 1 pick in the draft like Bueckers last season, there’s a host of draft-eligible players in college including UCLA’s Lauren Betts, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson and TCU’s Olivia Miles.
The league is expanding to 15 teams this season with the addition of the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. Details of the expansion draft for those two new franchises hasn’t been announced yet.
In the past, the expansion teams would pick after the lottery teams.
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