2026 WNBA Draft Was One for the History Books

On Monday, April 13, the WNBA hosted its annual entry draft. Women's basketball players from all over the world declared for the draft in hopes of being selected for the prestigious league. For 45 players, that dream came true.

Despite UCLA winning the NCAA championship, no player from the team went first off the board. Instead, the honor of the first overall pick went to the Dallas Wings, who selected University of Connecticut’s Azzi Fudd. For the second draft in a row, a player from UCONN went first overall. Last year, it was the Wings who selected Paige Bueckers. Now, the two teammates are back together and will work towards putting the Wings in a better position for the 2026 season.

The Minnesota Lynx were up next, selecting Olivia Miles from TCU, and the Seattle Storm went third and picked Awa Fam Thiam. It wasn’t until the Washington Mystics’ fourth pick of the draft that a player from UCLA was off the board, selecting Lauren Betts.

After UCLA won the championship, it put them on the map. Betts was not the only player from UCLA to be drafted in the first round. In fact, UCLA set a new record with five players being drafted in the first round. Betts’ teammates Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice were off the board fifth and sixth, respectively. Jaquez was selected by the Chicago Sky, while the new expansion team, the Toronto Tempo, selected Rice. Betts will have a familiar face with her, as Angela Dugalic joins her on the Mystics after she was selected by Washington, ninth overall. Finally, the Connecticut Sun selected Gianna Kneepkens with the 15th overall pick, the final one in the first round.

Surprisingly enough, the first round draft excitement isn’t done just yet. With the eighth overall pick, the Golden State Valkyries selected LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson. With the first pick in the second round, 16th overall, the Storm selected Marta Suarez. While it seemed like everything was fine and dandy, the two teams shocked everyone when the Valkyries traded the rights to Johnson in exchange for Suarez. After the draft, Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin set the record straight and confirmed that the trade was already set in motion before the draft even began. Regardless of the decision, both teams came out on top and got what they needed. This was not a bad trade by any means for either team, with both getting strong players to help grow their new rosters.

Each team is getting a major shake-up, thanks to the huge free agency market, due to the new CBA that was signed last month. The new CBA will guarantee every player is making more money, hence why most aren’t signed to contracts at this moment. This incoming draft class is a deep, strong class that will help aid their new team as they get ready for the 2026 season. Even though the draft was just on April 13, training camp is already set to begin on April 19, with the first preseason games happening on Friday, April 24. The WNBA is in crunch time to get the 2026 season ready for tip-off, and it will be here before we know it.