Any collegiate or international athletes who turned 22 years old last year are eligible to enter the draft and renounce any NCAA eligibility they have left to opt into the 2026 WNBA Draft.
Draft Format
The WNBA Draft has three rounds. The first five picks are decided by the Draft Lottery, which took place in November 2025 and awarded the first overall round pick to the Dallas Wings. This year’s full draft order is listed below. Teams often trade picks up until the night before the Draft, so the order is subject to change.
You may notice two new teams, the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire, that were created as a result of the WNBA expansion and will play in their first season later this year. Just last year the WNBA announced a historic expansion to 18 teams with the new addition of teams in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. This is a testament to the WNBA’s growing popularity and increases opportunities for the next generation in women’s basketball to play at the highest level.
Tomorrow, April 13th at 7 p.m. ET, the 2026 WNBA draft will be held at the Shed in Manhattan, New York. Coverage begins on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. Tune in to see where your favorite college players will be playing this season!
[Cathy Engelbert booed while awarding A’Ja Wilson the MVP trophy at the 2025 WNBA championship trophy ceremony.]
Since the end of the 2025 WNBA season, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) are still at odds over a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). They set a deadline for January 9th, 2026 to finalize the new deal (this was their third extension). WNBA All-stars Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm) and Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx) serve as WNBPA president and vice president, respectively, and Cathay Engelbert has served as WNBA Commissioner since 2019. As tensions between both sides persist with no deal, the league and player’s union have entered a stage of “status quo,” where negotiations will continue, and a work stoppage (a potential boycott/strike) can be declared at any time.
The WNBPA has accused the WNBA of “jeopardizing the livelihoods of players and the trust and investment of fans, all in the name of preserving regressive provisions that no longer belong in women’s basketball.” The WNBA responded that their “priority is a deal that significantly increases player salaries, enhances the overall player experience, and supports the long-term growth of the league for current and future generations of players and fans.” However, as negotiations continue it begs the question if the players are the league’s priority, why have they been unable to reach a deal with the player’s union and why are so many players unhappy with the current framework..
For context, in January of 2020, the WNBA and WNBPA (formerly the players’ union) agreed to a collective bargaining agreement, which included a more flexible free agency system, greater benefits for players and their families, and significant salary increases. This deal also included a new system called “prioritization,” which requires players to put the WNBA season ahead of their overseas commitments or potentially risk suspension if they are late to training camp. This is a big ask from a league where roughly 50% of their players play overseas in the off-season to supplement their low salaries in the WNBA. So, as you can imagine the players were not exactly fond of this addendum, but agreed to the deal due to the other more favorable changes like increased salaries and benefits.
[Breanna Stewart & Napheesa Collier pre-game interview before the inaugural game of Unrivaled basketball.]
Last year, the launch of the Unrivaled league, founded by WNBA superstars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, offered a lucrative alternative to overseas play for WNBA players during the off season. Unlike the WNBA, Unrivaled offered a 6-figure salary average, equity in the league, and 50% of revenue shares. In addition, the league offered tons of amenities and benefits to players, many of which the players had been advocating for in their CBA negotiations.
[WNBA All-Stars wear “Pay Us What You Owe Us” T-shirts at last year’s All-Star game to protest for fair pay amid CBA negotiations.]
During last year’s WNBA All-Star game in Indianapolis, many players wore T-shirts with the words”Pay Us What You Owe Us” written out across the front. Both Collier and Ogwumike have lauded how united the players are right now and have maintained that they are not going to accept a bad deal. This unity was especially apparent after Collier’s exit interview from the WNBA semifinals when she alleged that the WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelberty told her in a private conversation that Caitlin and Clark and other young superstars “should be on their knees” in gratitude for the platform the league has given them. Despite calls for her resignation, Engelbert has denied these statements, and has maintained that she has the players’ best interests at heart.
[Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier calls out Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the WNBA leadership in an explosive exit interview.]
In a recent interview with ESPN, Ogwumike and Collier described the negotiations with the league as “disappointing.” Ogwumike said that their fight is about more than money or headlines, but for players to be “well-represented and valued.” Collier agreed, stating that the league’s tone throughout the negotiations has been “dismissive and very disrespectful.” The WNBPA is negotiating for over a year to instill a “new salary system that is tied to a meaningful share of the revenue.” (Click here to read the full interview).
The WNBA season typically starts in mid-May, but with the CBA negotiations still ongoing the exact date has yet to be confirmed. With no deal on the horizon and high potential for delays, it is unclear what will happen with the upcoming WNBA season.
The WNBA is currently home to some of the most talented players in the world, from A’ja Wilson, to Napheesa Collier, to Breanna Stewart, to Angel Reese, to Caitlin Clark, and many others, but it is also home of the most competitive rosters known in the world of American sports. The league has twelve teams, with each team having 12 or less players, bringing the total of available spots in the league to just 144.
On the flipside, the NBA can have up to fifteen players per team, and they can even recruit an additional 3 players, if needed. Unrelatedly, the National Football League (NFL) can have a maximum fifty-three players per team during regular season, and that is noteworthy considering the available options the new athletes are considering when entering a professional American based league.
Other sibling leagues, like the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and its male counterpart, the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), have the same rules in terms of tournament size and prize money. While the sports are different, it shows that women’s sports can be just as profitable as the men’s. Another example is the PVF (Professional Volleyball Federation). PVF athletes and WNBA athletes suffer a similar fate when it comes to the pay ranges that are offered, as well as the amount of roster slots that are available. On April 14th, hoopers all over the country (and internationally) were tuned into the 2025 WNBA draft, with the hope of getting the opportunity to play professional basketball at the highest level. Unfortunately, the joy is quickly taken from several women (and fans) as the WNBA is forced to waive players before the season even starts.
The requirements to declare for the WNBA draft as well as the limited number of slots available makes becoming a professional women’s basketball player in the WNBA a big challenge. First, every basketball player in the NCAA that would like to move onto the WNBA must be 22 years old or have a 4-year degree, whichever comes first. By contrast, to play in the NBA, those athletes only have to compete for a single year in the NCAA before declaring for the draft, though most players still stay 2-3 years to work on their skillset and notoriety before declaring.
While it is important that women pursuing the WNBA can use their degrees to pivot careers (if they are not selected by a WNBA team), it is not fair to these athletes when they put in the same amount of blood, sweat, and tears as their counterparts within the NBA. To add fuel to the fire, NBA players are less concerned with being cut from a team just weeks after being signed/drafted on, simply because there is more room in the budget for them to do so. In many cases, women are cut from a team, not because they aren’t good enough, but because there are simply not enough roster slots and not enough of the budget to go around. A bigger issue is that some players are locked into multi-year contracts, which is good for that individual player, but it boils down to a rookie not being able to play due to the lack of roster slots.
Deja Kelly (the 2020 Mcdonald’s All American, the 2020 ACC All-Freshman Team, and the 3x First-team all-ACC, etc.) was more likely a victim of budget cuts from the Las Vegas Aces than a victim of performance retention. Many fans are distraught with the news of her being waived, especially after she went undrafted during the 2025 WNBA Draft. As indicated above, she was no stranger to winning accolades for her success during her years playing in college. In fact, Deja scored a career high of 32 points in a single game against Syracuse when she played for North Carolina.
Deja Kelly was able to obtain a contract during training camp/pre-season with the Las Vegas Aces. Her teammates spoke very highly of her, and it appeared that she would have been a lasting roster member ahead of the regular season debut, especially after she put up a miraculous performance in the Aces vs Mercury game during preseason. Deja came off the bench and played 13 minutes, and within that short timeframe she was able to score 15 points, 5 out of 7 from the field, 2 assists, and she even made all 4 of her free throw attempts.
Without Deja being in that game, the Las Vegas Aces would have absolutely lost. Kelly was responsible for the game winner being that she scored a mid range jumper with less than 5 seconds left in the Aces vs. Mercury preseason game. Since the Aces season started, their current rank is 2-1, which means they have Deja to thank for 50% of their wins currently. She, and many others are evidently packed with talent, and are able to adjust to this new world of basketball pretty seamlessly.
However, the Las Vegas Aces already have six protected contracts on their roster, which means half of their roster cannot currently be traded out/replaced. On top of that, they already had players from previous years signed to multi-year contracts, leaving space for only one new player to join the team this year, and that slot went to Aaliyah Nye. Aaliyah rightfully earned her spot on the roster, as well as Deja Kelly, but unfortunately, it boiled down to numbers when it came to Deja’s current future, and despite her stat numbers being spectacular, the Aces budget is currently still in the negatives.
Laeticia Amihere is another person who fans thought had a fresh start this season, with her being drafted to the Golden State Valkyries, the newest team within the WNBA (2025).
The launch of the Golden State Valkyries this season was supposed to open up 12 new opportunities for women athletes to play in the WNBA. However, the Valkyries already had their own “mock draft” ahead of the real draft for this current season, and that meant that they were able to pick players that were already within the league to join their team. This forced teams all over the league to state who they wanted to “protect” from being traded, and subsequently leaving the remaining people on their team up for grabs.
To make matters even more complicated, the GSV had three prospective picks for the actual WNBA Draft this season, and they have effectively waived all three draftees: Shyanne Sellers, Kaitlyn Chen, and Laeticia Amihere. Shyanne Sellers was waived prior to their first preseason game debut, and she was able to land a spot temporarily with the Atlanta Dream before being waived again after her very first preseason game with them.
Many fans argued that Shyanne’s performance was not up to par with the other rookies on the team, however, it is believed that she had the least amount of practice with said team prior to that game, due to her being waived by the Valkyries right before the preseason started for the Dream. While Laeticia and Chen were able to play with GSV during the preseason, they were still waived, and many new fans of the team were absolutely distraught over said choice. In Laeticia’s first game with the Valks, she scored 20 points, 2 rebounds, 7-11 from the field, and made 50% of her 3 pointers. On paper, that does not sound like a player who deserves to be waived, but the Valkyries just had other players in mind that they would like to protect, including overseas players that will not be participating in this current season.
Luckily, the Unrivaled Basketball league is growing and they are launching seasons for both the summer and winter time (check out our latest article on Unrivaled). This will give waived and current players in the WNBA time to work on their craft while getting paid more than what they would during the regular WNBA season. This gives players like Laeticia and Deja some hope, but it shouldn’t have to be this way. The WNBA League is planning on adding three more teams by 2026, but until these problems are addressed across the board (limited roster slots, not pushing for players to join Unrivaled, not having a “G league”, limited budgets for player compensation, lack of designated practice facilities, etc.) then the very women the WNBA needs in order to grow the game as a whole will continue to be let down.
Here is a full list of the waived players from this current 2025 season. There is way too much talent on this list, and it is heartbreaking to know that these women dedicated their lives to a sport that does not guarantee a more promising future like other U.S.-based leagues. Hopefully, in the next few years as more fans join the WNBA world, and more people/companies invest in the league, things will drastically improve, so that these athletes can have a more fair chance at success. Unfortunately for everyone, only time will tell.
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