The WNBA draft lottery is a yearly event in which teams that missed the playoffs during the previous season participate. It is used to determine the draft order of players in the first round of the WNBA draft.

The event was first held in 2002 in which the Seattle Storm won the chance to have the first pick. This lottery gave a chance to the team with the worst record from the 2001 season to have an equal opportunity at the first overall pick.

The player to go to the Storm was Sue Bird, who later won the Championship title four times with the same team. Hence, the draft lottery is an event of utmost importance. It gives teams that are lacking behind a chance to pick the best players coming out of the NCAA league and have a shot at rebuilding.

What are the current rules of the WNBA draft lottery?

Now the rules have been tweaked a bit as the WNBA draft lottery is based on the cumulative result of the last two seasons. The four teams that had the worst outcome in the previous two seasons are given a chance at the lottery.

Ping-pong balls numbered 1 to 14 are used in the lottery, with each team assigned a number of combinations out of the 1001 possible combinations based on their recent record. The number 11-12-13-14 remains unassigned.?

Then four balls are taken out of the lottery machine. The team which has the drawn combination gets the No.1 overall pick. The method is repeated for the No.2 pick. For the rest of the two picks, the players are assigned in reverse order of their winning percentage.

What is the order of picks for the 2024 WNBA season?

This year?s WNBA draft lottery will take place on December 10. The Indiana Fever, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Phoenix Mercury, and the Seattle Storm will participate in the lottery.

With the worst record, the Fever has the best odds (44%) of getting the No. 1 pick. Otherwise, they have a guarantee of having the No. 3 pick since their record has been the worst compared to other teams.

The Mercury has 28% odds due to their 24-52 record, whereas the Sparks have an 18% opportunity to get the top pick. The lowest chance among the four belongs to the Storm with only 10%.

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The rest of the draft lottery pick-up order is in descending order of the team?s regular season.

5. Dallas Wings
6. Washington Mystics
7. Minnesota Lynx
8. Atlanta Dream
9. Dallas Wings
10. Connecticut Sun
11. New York Liberty
12 Los Angeles Sparks

While the Wings bagged the No. 5 overall pick in a previous deal with the Chicago Sky, the Sparks have the No. 12 pick in an agreement with the back-to-back championship winner – the Las Vegas Aces.

When is the draft lottery?

The Iowa Hawkeyes point guard Caitlin Clark came up as the number one recruit in a mock draft. Although it remains to be seen, if she will opt for another year at college basketball as she got an extra year due to COVID waiver.

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The lottery will take place around 4.30 p.m. between the second and the third game that day. And it remains to be seen if Clark will declare for the draft and be the top pick.