WNBA 2023 Draft Lottery odds: Feber has best chance to win No. 1 pick; Dream, Mystics, Lynx in the mix

The 2022 WNBA season ended Sunday, and after the Las Vegas Aces clinched the No. 1 seed and the New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury clinched the final two postseason spots, the playoffs are now set. All the action will tip off on Wednesday night when the race for the 2022 title begins.

Looking further ahead, the end of the regular season means the 2023 WNBA Draft Lottery odds are locked in. As a reminder, the WNBA’s lottery odds are calculated using the combined records from the previous two seasons. Another important note is that when the Washington Mystics traded the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft to the Atlanta Dream, they acquired swap rights to the Los Angeles Sparks’ 2023 first-round pick in the deal, and they will certainly activate that option. .

Here’s a look at which teams are headed to the lottery and their chances to win the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft.

The Fever have been a disaster for more than half a decade now, and they closed this season on an 18-game losing streak that was the longest in franchise history and the second-longest in WNBA history. They lost 23 games by double digits (only one other team in the league lost a total of 23 games) and finished in last place for the second straight season at 5-31. As they prepare for a sixth consecutive lottery appearance, they will hope to get the No. 1 pick for the first time in franchise history.

After a disastrous 2021 both on and off the field, Dream made a hard restart in the winter and were the surprise team in the first few months. But between injuries, youth and a general lack of talent, they collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs by one game. It was probably for the best in the long run, though, as they’ll go back into the lottery and have a good chance to pick No. 1. Either way, they’ll be adding another talented young player to the mix.

Last year, the Mystics won the lottery in their first appearance since 2016. They didn’t actually make the No. 1 pick, but traded it to the Dream for a blockbuster package that included trade rights to the Sparks’ 2023 first-round pick. That aspect of the deal paid off, and they will surely pick up those rights to go back to the lottery on the Sparks’ dime. Can they win it again? There has been some history of teams going back-to-back; The Aces franchise did it three times in a row from 2017-19, while the Storm did it in 2015-16.

As for the Lynx, their late-season surge fell short, and despite the best efforts of retiring legend Sylvia Fowles, they are in the lottery for the first time since 2010. That year, they won the No. 1 overall pick and selected Maya Moore, who helped franchise to win four titles and will go down as one of the game’s all-time greats. Doing so again will require some luck as they have the worst odds of the bunch at just 10.4 percent.

The projected No. 1 overall pick is South Carolina center Aliyah Boston, who was named Naismith College Player of the Year, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player last season as she led the Gamecocks to their second national championship in the school. history.