2026 WNBA Draft: How to Watch, Listen and Stream & Draft Open Thread

Six Bruins will find out which WNBA teams they will play for at tonight's draft.

Six members of UCLA’s national championship team could be drafted tonight. (Photo Credit: Joe Piechowski)

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It’s been quite the week for UCLA women’s basketball. After winning UCLA’s 126th NCAA Championship last Sunday, members of the team have been on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, been honored at Lakers and Clippers games, celebrated with Bruin fans at Pauley Pavilion, traveled to New York City for tonight’s WNBA Draft and even appeared on Good Morning America this morning.

No other pro sports league holds their entry draft as close to the end of the collegiate season as the WNBA. Baseball used to be close, but the MLB draft was pushed back to July a few years ago.

Personally, I kind of like this as it potentially builds on the excitement of Women’s March Madness by holding the draft just eight days after the women’s national championship game.

Of course, it’s most exciting when your school wins the natty and has six players eligible to be drafted.

One of the rules of the WNBA draft which was mentioned during the Final Four press conferences is that the WNBA requires players to be at least 22 years old (unless they have used up their college eligibility). This rule was frequently cited as having kept players like Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez at UCLA or, at least, in college for four years. The NBA would be wise to consider something similar to help bring some sanity back to the men’s game.

Five Bruins—Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Gianna Kneepkens, and Angela Dugalic—were among the 15 players invited by the league to attend this year’s draft. Of course, those 15 are the players someone thinks will be the first round picks, but anyone who watched projected NFL first-round pick Shadeur Sanders fall to the fourth round last year knows that anything can happen. So, while Charlisse Leger-Walker wasn’t among the 15 “invited” players, she’s in New York as well, and she could end up being one of the draft’s steals, either late in the first round or early second round. Any team needing a point guard would be wise to consider drafting her sooner rather than later.

One big difference between the NBA and the WNBA drafts is that the WNBA draft consists of three rounds, instead of the NBA’s two rounds. That virtually guarantees that all six Bruins will be drafted tonight, even if one or more fall to the second or third round.

As the draft order stands right now, there is a decent chance that a team could land multiple Bruins. The Washington Mystics have three first-round selections while the LA Sparks, Seattle Storm and Connecticut Sun, who will be moving to Houston next season, each have two first-round picks. The Sparks, Storm, Sun and Mystics also hold four of the first five second-round picks.

Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s WNBA draft:

How to Watch, Listen and Stream the 2026 WNBA Draft

• What: 2026 WNBA Draft

• Date: Monday, April 13, 2026

• Times:

  WNBA Orange Carpet Special: 2:30 pm PT

  WNBA Countdown: 3:30 pm PT

  WNBA Draft: 4:00 pm PT, Monday, April 13, 2026

• Location: The Shed, New York, NY

• TV:

  WNBA Orange Carpet Special: ESPN2
  WNBA Countdown: ESPN
  WNBA Draft: ESPN with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Andraya Carter and Holly Rowe

• Stream:

  WNBA Orange Carpet Special: WatchESPN
  WNBA Countdown: WatchESPN
  WNBA Draft: WatchESPN

• Satellite Radio: SiriusXM NBA Radio Ch. 86 (Draft only)

Draft Order

First Round:

1. Dallas Wings
2. Minnesota Lynx (from Chicago Sky)
3. Seattle Storm (from Los Angeles Sparks)
4. Washington Mystics
5. Chicago Sky (from Connecticut Sun)
6. Toronto Tempo
7. Portland Fire
8. Golden State Valkyries
9. Washington Mystics (from Seattle Storm)
10. Indiana Fever
11. Washington Mystics (from New York Liberty)
12. Connecticut Sun (from Phoenix Mercury)
13. Atlanta Dream
14. Seattle Storm (from Las Vegas Aces)
15. Connecticut Sun (from Minnesota Lynx)

Second Round:

1. Seattle Storm (from Dallas Wings)
2. Chicago Sky
3. Connecticut Sun
4. Washington Mystics
5. Los Angeles Sparks
6. Portland Fire
7. Toronto Tempo
8. Golden State Valkyries
9. Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle Storm)
10) Indiana Fever
11) Chicago Sky (from New York Liberty)
12) Phoenix Mercury
13) Atlanta Dream
14) Las Vegas Aces
15) Washington Mystics (from Minnesota Lynx)

Third Round:

1. Dallas Wings
2. Chicago Sky
3. Connecticut Sun
4. Washington Mystics
5. Los Angeles Sparks
6. Toronto Tempo
7. Portland Fire
8. Golden State Valkyries
9. Seattle Storm
10. Indiana Fever
11. New York Liberty
12. Phoenix Mercury
13. Atlanta Dream
14. Las Vegas Aces
15. Minnesota Lynx

Of course, this is the best place to keep tabs on what’s going on with the Draft today.

This is your 2026 WNBA Draft open thread.


Go Bruins!!!

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