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% 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 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.
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. The two teams will also pick sixth and seventh in the draft next April.
There was plenty of excitement tonight in Arlington as the Dallas Wings beat the Phoenix Mercury 97 to 76 in their final regular-season game. Their season is ending just as negotiations with the WNBA heat up. Labor leaders stood in solidarity with players advocating better pay. NBC 5 Candace Sweat has the story.