The Washington Mystics had a relatively small chance to win the lottery. They ended up with the fourth overall pick for the second year in a row. Washington selected Kiki Iriafen fourth overall in the 2025 draft and got an instant contributor and All-Star selection. The 2026 WNBA Draft promises to be another successful outing for the Mystics.
With three first-round picks, the Mystics will be able to add to their array of young talent. Most importantly, they are well set up to get a lottery pick who can fill the team’s biggest need: on-ball creation and scoring. The Mystics sorely missed that after they traded Brittney Sykes to the Seattle Storm for Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke, and a 2026 first-round pick.
The upcoming lottery is the perfect opportunity to fill that need with a player who fits the team’s timeline. At least one of Flau’jae Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson should be available when the Mystics make their pick.
The Mystics have optionality in the 2026 WNBA Draft
The Mystics had three first-round picks in this year’s draft. They selected Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Georgia Amoore. While Amoore missed the 2025 season due to an ACL tear, the Mystics checked all the important boxes with their selections. They got a young point guard, a floor-spacing wing, and a star-level big. As a result, the Mystics don’t have a positional need they desperately need to fill. They need a very specific skill set, though, and the 2026 draft offers it.
The actual order in which players will be selected is still very much up in the air. Unlike in recent years, there is no consensus number one pick, and the Wings’ decision will heavily depend on the expansion draft, free agency, and the progression of the 2025-26 season. Nevertheless, it isn’t far-fetched to expect Azzi Fudd, Awa Fam, and Olivia Miles to make up the top three. Fudd and Fam would both be interesting fits in Dallas or Minnesota, and Miles is a dream selection for the Storm.
That would mean that both Flau’jae Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson should be available when the Mystics make their pick. Both could provide what the Mystics lost when they traded Sykes to improve their standing in the 2026 draft while fitting the team’s timeline perfectly.
Flau’jae Johnson does a little bit of everything. She’s a strong defender, rebounds well for a guard, and averages 3.7 assists over six games in her final season at LSU. Her biggest asset is her scoring, though. Johnson can regularly score between 15 and 20 points from several levels, thriving especially in the open floor. She is currently averaging 37.8% shooting from three for her collegiate career. Johnson can create her own shot and add scoring punch to a Mystics team that finished the regular season eleventh in offensive rating and total points scored.
Johnson isn’t the only certified scoring guard who should be available for the Mystics, though. Ta’Niya Latson is widely projected to go sixth overall to the Tempo or Fire, but her scoring ability makes her an interesting prospect for the Mystics as well. Latson spent her first three seasons at Florida State University and never averaged fewer than 20 points as the team’s main star. In the 2024-25 season, she led the country in scoring. After the season, she transferred to South Carolina, entering a very different situation.
With the Gamecocks, Latson is one of many great players rather than the main star of the show. Her shot attempts are down, as she is proving to WNBA teams that she can succeed next to other high-level players and be a more consistent two-way presence. Nevertheless, Latson still averaged over 18 points over her first six games, scoring very efficiently.
The one concern with Johnson and Latson is that both are rather small and the Mystics already drafted an undersized guard when they selected Amoore.