The WNBA Draft process sets the path for the events to play out each season. Every team dreams of grabbing the best talent for their roster to give themselves a fighting chance. Here is everything you need to know about how the WNBA Draft process will work in 2025.
All You Need To Know About the WNBA Draft Process
The WNBA Draft Lottery is the first step in determining the order of the top picks. Unlike some leagues where the worst-performing team automatically gets the No. 1 pick, the WNBA uses a lottery system.
How Many Teams Are in the WNBA Draft Lottery?
Four teams participate in the lottery, consisting of those that missed the playoffs in the most recent season (2024). For the 2025 draft, the eligible teams were the Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings, Chicago Sky, and Washington Mystics.
Their 2024 records were 8-32, 9-31, 13-27, and 14-26, respectively. The Sparks missed the playoffs in both 2023 and 2024, while the Wings, Sky, and Mystics made the postseason in 2023 but faltered in 2024.
How Does the WNBA Draft Lottery Work?
The lottery is based on a team’s cumulative record over the past two seasons (2023 and 2024). A lottery machine mixes 14 balls numbered 1 through 14, and four balls are drawn to create a four-digit combination.
Before the draw, 1,000 of the 1,001 possible combinations are assigned to the four teams, weighted by their two-year performance. The team with the worst combined record — this year, the Los Angeles Sparks — receives the most combinations (and thus the highest odds) for the No. 1 pick.
The 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery took place on Nov. 17, 2024, and the results were as follows:
- Dallas Wings (won the No. 1 pick)
- Seattle Storm (won the No. 2 pick via a trade with the Los Angeles Sparks)
- Washington Mystics (No. 3 pick)
- Washington Mystics (No. 4 pick via a trade with the Chicago Sky)
The process was repeated to determine the No. 2 pick after the No. 1 was assigned. For pick Nos. 3 and 4, the remaining two lottery teams were ranked by their two-year records, but trades and lottery outcomes shifted the final order.
Notably, the Sparks, despite having the highest odds, did not secure the top pick, and the Mystics ended up with two of the top four selections due to prior trades.
How Does the Rest of the WNBA Draft Work?
The 2025 WNBA Draft consists of three rounds, with each round originally featuring 12 picks, totaling 36 selections. However, due to the Las Vegas Aces having their first-round pick stripped for violating league rules (regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies), only 12 first-round picks will be made in 2025.
After the lottery determines pick Nos. 1-4, the remaining first-round order is set by the inverse of the 2024 regular-season standings, adjusted for trades and the penalty. The Golden State Valkyries, the league’s newest expansion team debuting in 2025, are guaranteed the No. 5 pick in each round as part of their expansion agreement.
Pick Nos. 6 through 12 (there’s no 13th pick due to the Aces’ forfeiture) follow the 2024 standings, with playoff teams selecting last.
Here’s the confirmed first-round order as of April 10, 2025:
- Dallas Wings
- Seattle Storm (via Los Angeles Sparks)
- Washington Mystics
- Washington Mystics (via Chicago Sky)
- Golden State Valkyries
- Washington Mystics (via Phoenix Mercury)
- Phoenix Mercury
- Indiana Fever
- Seattle Storm
- Chicago Sky (via Atlanta Dream)
- Minnesota Lynx
- New York Liberty (can swap with Phoenix Mercury)
Teams can trade picks until the order locks at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 13, 2025, the day before the draft. The event itself is scheduled for Monday, April 14, 2025, at The Shed in New York City, airing live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Before the main draft, the Valkyries participated in an expansion draft on Dec. 6, 2024. Each of the 12 existing teams could protect up to six players, leaving the rest available for Golden State to select one player per team (up to 12 total) to kickstart their roster.
Who’s Eligible for the WNBA Draft?
Eligibility for the 2025 WNBA Draft follows strict guidelines under the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA):
- U.S. Players: Must turn 22 during the 2025 calendar year (born on or before Dec. 31, 2003). NCAA seniors graduating in 2025 are automatically eligible, while underclassmen with remaining eligibility must renounce it by notifying the WNBA no later than April 4, 2025 (ten days before the draft). Players in postseason tournaments, like the NCAA Tournament, have 24 hours after their final game to declare.
- International Players: Defined as those born and residing outside the U.S. who never played college basketball in the U.S., they must turn 20 in 2025 (born on or before Dec. 31, 2005).
KEEP READING: 2025 WNBA Draft Big Board
Notable prospects expected to declare include UConn’s Paige Bueckers, widely projected as a top pick, along with stars like USC’s Kiki Iriafen, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, and UConn’s Azzi Fudd, among others.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!
