The Dallas Wings won the WNBA draft lottery Sunday and the chance to draft UConn star Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick.
The Wings had a 22.7% chance to win the lottery. The Los Angeles Sparks, who had the top chance at 44% to get the top choice, will pick second. The Sparks chose second last year also as well as fourth in the draft.
The Chicago Sky will pick third. There was no way they could get the No. 1 pick because of a trade with Dallas in 2023 that allowed the Wings to swap picks with the Sky.
Washington, which last won the lottery in 1999, will pick fourth. The Mystics, who need to hire a coach and GM still, had just under an 11% chance of getting the No. 1 pick.
Dallas last had the No. 1 pick in 2021 and chose Charli Collier, who is now out of the league. That season, the Wings had the second pick in the draft before acquiring the top choice via trade. The franchise had participated in the lottery 11 times before winning it.
The Wings hired Curt Miller as the team’s new general manager earlier this month, but still need to hire a coach after letting Latricia Trammell go last month.
Los Angeles also is in need of a new head coach after the franchise let Miller go.
The expansion Golden State Valkyries will draft fifth. The league will hold an expansion draft on Dec. 6 for Golden State to choose players for its roster from the other WNBA teams.
The rest of the first round will be Washington picking sixth after acquiring the pick from Atlanta. Defending champion New York goes seventh after trading for the pick with Phoenix. Indiana and Seattle are the next two.
Chicago, after acquiring the pick from Connecticut, will also pick 10th. Minnesota and Phoenix close out the first round.
The Indiana Fever won the lottery the past two years and selected Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark — the last two Rookie of the Year winners.
Other top players who could be eligible to be drafted include Kiki Iriafen of USC, Olivia Miles of Notre Dame and Lauren Betts of UCLA.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
