WNBA Draft Order & How It's Determined

Karl Rasmussen | Apr 2, 2025

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks before the 2024 WNBA Draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The 2025 WNBA draft is just around the corner, and all eyes will be on the Dallas Wings, who own the No. 1 pick. This year's draft will be in Hudson Yards, New York at The Shed. The draft is scheduled for Monday, April 14 and coverage will get underway at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The WNBA draft consists of three rounds. This year, there will be a total of 38 selections, with 12 picks in the first round and 13 picks in each of the next two rounds. The first round has one fewer pick because the Las Vegas Aces were docked their first-round pick after being found guilty of violating league rules on impermissible player benefits and workplace policies following a league investigation.

With the newest crop of talent set to enter the league, we're going to take a look at this year's draft order, as well as discuss how the WNBA draft order is determined.

Full 2025 WNBA Draft Order

Round	Pick	Team
1	1	Dallas Wings
1	2	Seattle Storm
1	3	Washington Mystics
1	4	Washington Mystics
1	5	Golden State Valkyries
1	6	Washington Mystics
1	7	Connecticut Sun
1	8	Connecticut Sun
1	9	Los Angeles Sparks
1	10	Chicago Sky
1	11	Minnesota Lynx
1	12	Dallas Wings
2	13	Las Vegas Aces
2	14	Dallas Wings
2	15	Minnesota Lynx
2	16	Chicago Sky
2	17	Golden State Valkyries
2	18	Atlanta Dream
2	19	Indiana Fever
2	20	Indiana Fever
2	21	Los Angeles Sparks
2	22	Chicago Sky
2	23	Washington Mystics
2	24	Minnesota Lynx
2	25	Connecticut Sun
3	26	Seattle Storm
3	27	Dallas Wings
3	28	Los Angeles Sparks
3	29	Seattle Storm
3	30	Golden State Valkyries
3	31	Dallas Wings
3	32	Washington Mystics
3	33	Indiana Fever
3	34	Seattle Storm
3	35	Las Vegas Aces
3	36	Atlanta Dream
3	37	Minnesota Lynx
3	38	New York Liberty

There were plenty of trades that shook up the draft order this year. Notably, the Storm acquired the No. 2 pick as part of a three-team trade that saw them offload Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces. The No. 3 pick, now owned by the Mystics, was dealt to Washington from the Chicago Sky in exchange for Ariel Atkins.

In fact, of the 12 first-round picks in this year's draft, eight of them have been involved in a trade. Only the Wings (No. 1), Mystics (No. 4), Valkyries (No. 5) and Lynx (No. 11) still own their first-round picks in 2025.

No team in the WNBA draft is better represented than the Mystics, who own three picks in the top six, and a total of five picks altogether.

Here's a look at each team's selections in the 2025 WNBA draft:

Team	Draft Picks
Atlanta Dream	No. 18, No. 36
Chicago Sky	No. 10, No. 16, No. 22
Connecticut Sun	No. 7, No. 8, No. 25
Dallas Wings	No. 1, No. 12, No. 14, No. 27
Golden State Valkyries	No. 5, No. 17, No. 30
Indiana Fever	No. 19, No. 20, No. 33
Las Vegas Aces	No. 13, No. 35
Los Angeles Sparks	No. 9, No. 26, No. 28
Minnesota Lynx	No. 11, No. 15, No. 24, No. 37
New York Liberty	No. 38
Phoenix Mercury	No picks in 2025 WNBA draft
Seattle Storm	No. 2, No. 21, No. 29, No. 34
Washington Mystics	No. 3, No. 4, No. 6, No. 23, No. 32

How is the WNBA Draft Order Determined?

The WNBA draft order is determined by the reverse order of the league standings from the previous season, except for the top four picks. Those four teams that missed out on the WNBA playoffs are entered into a draft lottery in order to determine the order of the first four picks in the draft.

The 2025 WNBA draft lottery was held in November of 2024, and saw the Wings win the No. 1 pick for the first time in franchise history. The Los Angeles Sparks had the worst record in the WNBA last season, and thus had the best odds to win the draft lottery, but they missed out on the No. 1 pick, winding up at No. 2––a pick they later traded to the Storm.

WNBA Draft Lottery Odds

Team	Percent Chance for Pick No. 1	Percent Chance for Pick No. 2	Percent Chance for Pick No. 3	Percent Chance for Pick No. 4
Los Angeles Sparks	44.2%	31.1%	24.7%	0.0%
Dallas Wings	22.7%	27.3%	44.3%	5.7%
Chicago Sky	22.7%	27.3%	31.0%	19.1%
Washington Mystics	10.4%	14.3%	0.0%	75.3%

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