The Dallas Wings won the WNBA draft lottery for the second consecutive season on Sunday night.
The Wings, who drafted Paige Bueckers No. 1 last year, had a 42 per cent chance to secure the top pick again. Minnesota, which had the best record in the league last year, will pick second. The Lynx possessed the Chicago Sky’s first-round pick after a previous trade.
Seattle, Washington and Chicago rounded out the lottery.
The league is expanding to 15 teams this season with the addition of the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire. Details of the expansion draft for those two new franchises hasn’t been announced yet. The two teams will also pick sixth and seventh in the draft next April.
The Tempo and Fire will flip a coin at a later date to determine who will earn the sixth pick, according to the WNBA broadcast of the lottery.
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.
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. There’s also Spanish player Awa Fam.
