How many teams participated in the 2026 WNBA draft lottery? Five teams participated.
The lottery was for the first five selections in the 2026 WNBA draft. The eligible teams were the five clubs that missed the 2025 WNBA playoffs: the Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics, and Chicago Sky. Some entries represented traded draft rights, including picks connected to the Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, and Los Angeles Sparks.
The lottery odds were based on each team’s combined record across the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Fourteen balls were used to create four-digit combinations, with the winning combinations determining the top selections. The remaining teams were ordered by their cumulative records.
A common mix-up is confusing the five lottery participants with the larger number of teams involved in the full draft order. The 2026 WNBA draft included 15 teams, but only five entered the lottery for the opening picks. Dallas ultimately won the No. 1 selection.