The WNBA Finals are still going on, but draft talk has already started to pick up around the league. The 2027 WNBA Draft Lottery now has a date, a time, and a list of teams. One franchise that has become a regular at this event will not be there this year, and the reason behind it is a good one for them.

“The Dallas Wings won’t participate in this year’s draft lottery after winning it the last two seasons. Forward progress,” as pointed out by a Dallas Wings reporter on X.

The Dallas Wings have been regulars at the WNBA Draft Lottery for the last two years, and both trips ended with the top pick. That run is now over. Only teams that missed the playoffs enter the lottery, and Dallas made it. On Aug. 25, the Wings beat the Portland Fire 96-78 to clinch a postseason spot.

That win moved them to 23-16, setting a team record for wins in a season. It was also their first playoff trip since 2023, and it came in Jose Fernandez’s first year as head coach. For a team that went 10-34 in 2025, that is a huge jump.

The lottery history makes the change even bigger. The Wings won the 2025 lottery and took Paige Bueckers at No. 1. Then, they won last November again with a 42% chance, which gave them the top pick once more. They used it on Azzi Fudd, Bueckers’ former UConn teammate.

Two lottery wins gave them two stars, and those stars helped turn Dallas into a playoff team. That is how they went from lottery regulars to a team with no need to be there.

The WNBA announced that the 2027 lottery will air on Sunday, Nov. 15, on ESPN from 7:30 to 8 p.m. ET. It follows the UConn vs. Louisville women’s basketball game, and TSN will carry it in Canada. Bethany Donaphin, the league’s Head of League Operations, will reveal the results. It is the 26th annual lottery.

Six teams are in the drawing: Houston, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington. The odds are based on 1,000 combinations. Houston and Toronto lead the way with 329 each, while Washington has 161 because it holds Chicago’s first-round pick from a trade. Seattle has 93, and Portland has 52. Los Angeles has 24 from its own record, plus 12 more from the Kelsey Plum deal with Phoenix.

The process is simple. Fourteen balls go into a machine, and four are drawn to form a combination. That combination decides the No. 1 pick. Then, the balls go back in, and the draw repeats for No. 2. The remaining lottery teams are slotted by record. The 2027 WNBA Draft is set for April 12, 2027.

What Dallas Holds in the 2027 Draft

Staying out of the lottery does not mean the Wings are staying out of the draft. Dallas still has its own first-round pick. Because the team made the playoffs, that pick will land outside the top seven.

There may be a second first-rounder, too. Bleacher Report reported in June 2025 that Dallas got Las Vegas’ 2027 first-round pick in the trade that sent NaLyssa Smith to the Aces. The Aces are not in this year’s lottery either, so that pick would also fall outside the top seven. At the time, Bleacher Report argued that Las Vegas paid a steep price, pointing to how loaded the 2027 class looks.

That class is led by USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Texas’ Madison Booker, and LSU’s Mikaylah Williams. CBS Sports says Watkins is the clear favorite to go No. 1, but she may not declare. She took a medical redshirt last season, so she could return to school for a fifth year.

For Dallas, that means a real chance to add depth around Bueckers and Fudd. One name linked with Dallas in early mock drafts is Kansas guard S’Mya Nichols, projected at No. 7. The 6’0″ guard is described as a dynamic pick-and-roll player who keeps getting downhill and draws a lot of fouls.

The next date to mark is Nov. 15, when the lottery order will be set. After that, the Wings can start planning for April.