2026 WNBA Draft: Date, time, venue, and how to watch on TV and stream online
A month out from the new WNBA season, the women’s basketball league holds the 2026 Draft in New York City today.
The Dallas Wings are to pick first in the 2026 WNBA Draft in New York City, where 45 prospects will find out where they’ll be plying their trade in North America’s elite women’s basketball league.
What time is the 2026 WNBA Draft?
Held at The Shed, the 2026 WNBA Draft takes place today, Monday, April 13, at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT.
The Draft comes just under a month before the beginning of the 2026 WNBA regular season, which kicks off on Saturday, May 9.
How can I watch the WNBA Draft in the U.S.?
Viewers in the United States can follow English-language coverage of the WNBA Draft on ESPN. A Spanish-language broadcast will also be available, on ESPN Deportes.
You can stream ESPN and ESPN Deportes on the online platform fubo, which offers new users a free, introductory trial.
WNBA Draft 2026: format and order
The WNBA Draft will take place across three rounds, each involving 15 picks. For the second straight year, the Wings secured the first overall selection in the Draft Lottery - and the Texans could again plump for a UConn star.
Having chosen the Huskies’ Paige Bueckers at No. 1 in 2025, Dallas is this year being tipped to go for UConn guard Azzi Fudd. Spanish center Awa Fam is also a frontrunner to be the Wings’ opening pick.
Two expansion franchises - the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire - are taking part in their first Draft: in round one, they’ll pick at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. On April 3, Toronto and Portland were also given the chance to build up their 2026 rosters in the Expansion Draft.
First-round WNBA Draft order:
1. Dallas Wings
2. Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago)
3. Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles)
4. Washington Mystics
5. Chicago Sky (from Connecticut)
6. Toronto Tempo
7. Portland Fire
8. Golden State Valkyries
9. Washington Mystics (from Seattle)
10. Indiana Fever
11. Washington Mystics (from New York)
12. Connecticut Sun (from Phoenix)
13. Atlanta Dream
14. Seattle Storm (from Las Vegas)
15. Connecticut Sun (from Minnesota)
For more on the 2026 WNBA Draft order, check out this explainer by AS USA’s Jen Bubel.
Why doesn’t Las Vegas have a first-round pick?
The Las Vegas Aces, who head into the 2026 season as the WNBA champions, will not be involved in the first round of the Draft. This is the second year in a row that this has been the case.
In 2025, the Aces were denied an opening-round selection as punishment for breaking league rules; this year, Las Vegas’s absence from the top 15 is because they sent that pick to Seattle in February 2025, as part of trade that took guard Jewell Lloyd from the Storm to Sin City.
Every No. 1 WNBA pick so far:
- 2025: Paige Bueckers - Dallas Wings
- 2024: Caitlin Clark - Indiana Fever
- 2023: Aliyah Boston - Indiana Fever
- 2022: Rhyne Howard - Atlanta Dream
- 2021: Charli Collier - Dallas Wings
- 2020: Sabrina Ionescu - New York Liberty
- 2019: Jackie Young - Las Vegas Aces
- 2018: A’ja Wilson - Las Vegas Aces
- 2017: Kelsey Plum - San Antonio Stars
- 2016: Breanna Stewart - Seattle Storm
- 2015: Jewell Loyd - Seattle Storm
- 2014: Chiney Ogwumike - Connecticut Sun
- 2013: Brittney Griner - Phoenix Mercury
- 2012: Nneka Ogwumike - Los Angeles Sparks
- 2011: Maya Moore - Minnesota Lynx
- 2010: Tina Charles - Connecticut Sun
- 2009: Angel McCoughtry - Atlanta Dream
- 2008: Candace Parker - Los Angeles Sparks
- 2007: Lindsey Harding - Phoenix Mercury
- 2006: Seimone Augustus - Minnesota Lynx
- 2005: Janel McCarville - Charlotte Sting
- 2004: Diana Taurasi - Phoenix Mercury
- 2003: LaToya Thomas - Cleveland Rockets
- 2002: Sue Bird - Seattle Storm
- 2001: Lauren Jackson - Seattle Storm
- 2000: Ann Wauters - Cleveland Rockers
- 1999: Chamique Holdsclaw - Washington Mystics
- 1998: Margo Dydek - Utah Starzz
- 1997: Tina Thompson - Houston Comets
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