Michael Voepel, ESPN.comOct 31, 2023, 02:53 PM ET
CloseMichael Voepel covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball, and other college sports for espnW. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
The 2024 WNBA draft lottery will take place Dec. 10 on ESPN, the league announced Tuesday.
A 30-minute draft lottery special will air at 4:30 p.m. ET between the last two games of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase tripleheader that day. The draft is scheduled for April 15.
The Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm missed the 2023 WNBA playoffs and qualified for the upcoming lottery.
Lottery odds are based on the cumulative records of the past two WNBA regular seasons (2022 and 2023). With a cumulative record of 18-58, the Fever have the most chances to land the top pick (442 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least the third pick. Indiana had the No. 1 selection in the 2023 draft and took South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, who was named Rookie of the Year.
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Phoenix went a combined 24-52 the past two seasons and has 276 chances out of 1,000 to win the top pick. Los Angeles (30-46) has the third-most chances with 178, and Seattle (33-43) has 104.
In the drawing, balls numbered 1-14 are placed in a lottery machine and mixed. Four balls are 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.
If the team with the lowest cumulative two-year record (Indiana) does not have its numerical combinations come up in the first two four-ball combinations, it 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’ regular-season records from 2023 only.
The rest of the first round in order: 5. Dallas Wings; 6. Washington Mystics; 7. Minnesota Lynx; 8. Atlanta Dream; 9. Dallas; 10. Connecticut Sun; 11. New York Liberty; 12. Los Angeles Sparks.
Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark is the projected No. 1 pick in ESPN’s most recent mock draft. But like several other potential draftees, Clark is eligible to return for a fifth college season in 2024-2025 because of the COVID-19 waiver. Players can wait to declare for the draft until after they have completed this college season.
The Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase tripleheader in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Dec. 10 will feature the UCLA Bruins vs. the Florida State Seminoles at noon, followed by the Utah Utes vs. South Carolina at 2:30, and the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. the UConn Huskies at 5 p.m. All times are Eastern. The draft lottery will be shown between the second and third games.