WNBA draft lottery set for Sept. 17 on ESPN2
By Kim Doss
Will New York’s odds work in its favor or will someone else luck out?
While all eyes are currently on the six teams still competing for a WNBA title, there are four teams who are looking for a different kind of victory. The WNBA draft lottery will be held on Sept. 17 during halftime of Game 1 of the semifinal series hosted by the Connecticut Sun.
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At 8-26, the Atlanta Dream finished with the worst record this season, but they do not have the best odds of winning the rights to the first pick in the 2020 draft. Instead, it will be the 10-24 New York Liberty with 442 of 1,000 chances to get the rights to draft a player like Sabrina Ionescu or Lauren Cox.
Odds are determined by a team’s combined record from the last two seasons. The Liberty have a combined record of 17-51 over that period.
Despite finishing last in the 2019 standings, the Dream actually emerged with the worst odds of getting the top pick in the WNBA’s 19th draft. A stellar 23-11 performance in 2018 gives them a two-year composite record of 31-37, six games better than the Dallas Wings.
The Indian Fever (13-21 in 2019, 19-49 combined) and the Wings (10-24 this season, 25-43 composite) complete the quartet of teams hoping for an immediate impact player.
The High Post Hoops mock draft has Oregon’s Ionescu projected as the top pick. Cox (Baylor), Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut), Beatrice Mompremier (Miami) and Bella Alarie (Princeton) round out the top five.
The lottery will be completed in Secaucus, New Jersey, then announced by Head of League Operations Bethany Donaphin on ESPN2. The announcement will be made during halftime of a game that tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
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