– Indiana, Atlanta, Washington, and Dallas Will Vie for No. 1 Overall Draft Pick –
NEW YORK, – WNBA Draft Lottery 2022 presented by State Farm® will be conducted on Sunday, Dec. 19, at 3 p.m. ET, the WNBA announced today.
ESPN will broadcast a 30-minute WNBA Draft Lottery special between games of its women’s college basketball doubleheader that afternoon featuring Baylor vs. Michigan and Louisville vs. Connecticut. WNBA Head of League Operations Bethany Donaphin will reveal the results of the Lottery during ESPN’s coverage from Bristol, Conn. ESPN networks will present the Draft Lottery for the 10th consecutive year.
The Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, Washington Mystics, and Dallas Wings (from the Los Angeles Sparks) have qualified for the 21st annual WNBA Draft Lottery. The winner will secure the top pick in WNBA Draft 2022 presented by State Farm®, which will be held next April.
Lottery odds are based on the cumulative records of the two most recent regular seasons (2020 and 2021). With a cumulative record of 12-42, the Fever will have the most chances to land the top pick (442 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least the third pick.
Atlanta, which posted a combined record over two seasons of 15-39, will have 276 chances out of 1,000 to win the top pick. Washington, which registered a two-year record of 21-33, has the third-most chances (178). Dallas has 104 chances after obtaining the 2022 first round selection from Los Angeles (27-27 over the past two regular seasons) in a trade last April.
In the drawing, 14 balls numbered 1-14 will be placed in a lottery machine and mixed. Four balls will be drawn to determine a four-digit combination. The team assigned that four-ball combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The four balls will then be placed back into the machine and the process will be repeated to determine the second pick. The team with the lowest cumulative two-year record whose numerical combinations do not come up in the first two four-ball combinations will select third and the remaining team will select fourth.
The order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third rounds is determined by inverse order of the teams’ respective regular-season records solely from 2021.
A representative from the independent accounting firm Ernst & Young will be in attendance to oversee the
Draft Lottery process.
Below are the number of chances for teams to land the top pick in WNBA Draft Lottery 2022 presented by State Farm®.
* Dallas acquired Los Angeles’ own 2022 first round pick in exchange for Dallas’ 2021 first round pick and 2022 second round pick in a trade on Apr. 14, 2021
**Pick exchanged as part of three consecutive trades on Feb. 10, 2021 that included Kia Nurse and Megan Walker moving from New York to Phoenix, Natasha Howard from Seattle to New York, and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan from Minnesota to Seattle
*** Indiana acquired Minnesota’s own 2022 first round pick and Minnesota’s own 2022 third round pick plus the player contract of Odyssey Sims and exclusive negotiating rights to Temi Fagbenle from Minnesota on Feb. 15, 2021 in exchange for Indiana’s own 2022 second round pick
