Wings again win WNBA draft lottery, to pick No. 1

For the second year in a row, the Dallas Wings will have the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft.

The Wings, who took UConn's Paige Bueckers in 2025, won the 2026 WNBA draft lottery Sunday and will select first on April 13. They are the fourth franchise to have the first overall pick in consecutive seasons.

Lottery odds were based on the cumulative records of the past two WNBA regular seasons for the five teams that did not make the playoffs in 2025. Two trades landed the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm in the lottery.

With a cumulative record of 19-15, the Wings had the best odds to land the top pick (42%) and were guaranteed at least a top-three selection.

"[We want] someone who wants to win," said Dallas forward Maddy Siegrist, the team's lottery representative. "We've got an exciting young group and we really bond together. I'm excited to bring someone else in."

Bueckers won WNBA Rookie of the Year and was also named to the All-WNBA second team. But the Wings failed to make the postseason again and finished the 2025 season with the league's worst record (10-34).

Over the past five years, only the Indiana Fever have had more lottery picks than the Wings. Bueckers and Siegrist (selected third in 2023) were the only lottery picks to play for Dallas last season.

This year's draft lottery was the first to feature five teams since 2010. The Lynx, who had the second-best odds heading into Sunday, will select second. The Storm will pick third, followed by the Washington Mystics at No. 4 and the Chicago Sky at No. 5.

Center Awa Fam of Spain is projected to go No. 1 in ESPN's latest mock draft, with UCLA center Lauren Betts slotted in at No. 2. TCU's Olivia Miles, UConn's Azzi Fudd, and LSU's Flau'jae Johnson round out the rest of the projected lottery picks.

While most of the league's rosters are currently comprised of free agents, the Wings have five players under contract, including Bueckers, Siegrist, Diamond Miller, Aziaha James and JJ Quinerly.

Arike Ogunbowale, Li Yueru, Myisha Hines-Allen and Tyasha Harris are free agents.

The Wings enter the 2026 season with a new coach in Jose Fernandez after firing Chris Koclanes after just one year.

"There are so many exciting things going around Dallas," Siegrist said. "We've got a new coach ... the practice facility ... a couple of top picks the last few years. We're just super excited to bring in another top prospect."

The 2026 season will also feature two expansion franchises -- the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. They will select sixth and seventh, though the exact order is not set. A date has not been set for the expansion draft, the rules of which must be collectively bargained. CBA negotiations are ongoing after the players' union and league agreed to a one-month extension. The current CBA will now expire on Nov. 30.

The rest of the first-round WNBA draft order is as follows: No. 8 Golden State, No. 9 Washington, No. 10 Indiana, No. 11 Washington, No. 12 Connecticut, No. 13 Atlanta, No. 14 Seattle, and No. 15 Connecticut.