Three things to know about the Lynx’s No. 2 pick in the 2026 WNBA draft

Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman spent a busy weekend in California, first appearing as their popular StudBudz duo at the National Women’s Soccer League championship game in San Jose before making their way south for important Lynx business.

The pair of guards left Los Angeles’ ESPN studios with what, almost two years removed from Minnesota’s trade with the Chicago Sky, feels somewhat like a steal.

The Lynx have the No. 2 pick in April’s WNBA draft after finishing this past season with the league’s best record.

In line with the draft lottery’s most likely odds, the Dallas Wings will pick first for the second year in a row. Dallas took former Hopkins standout Paige Bueckers No. 1 overall in this year’s draft.

“Now we know we’re number two, and we only have one team above us that we have to worry about,” Lynx coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve said Monday, sharing her thoughts on the draft pick with media members. “There’s not a whole lot of guessing, and we’ll home in on the players that we’ve identified.”

Here are three things to know about Minnesota’s No. 2 pick:

The Lynx had picked up the right to swap 2026 first-round picks with the Sky as part of a package deal that sent Minnesota’s No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft to Chicago in exchange for the Sky’s No. 8 selection. Chicago ended up taking Angel Reese, and Minnesota drafted Alissa Pili.

“[The trade] was a big step,” Reeve said. “As you remember in 2024, the transaction we made has always largely been about this pick, and so taking that next step and knowing where we’re picking, we can really get to work on who we’ll select to be a part of the team in April.”

A later trade with Chicago for the Lynx’s 2025 No. 11 pick would have negated the pick swap and allowed Minnesota to keep its original 2026 first-round pick as well, but that latter pick was eventually shipped off in a trade that brought Karlie Samuelson to the Lynx.

The No. 2 pick will be the Lynx’s highest since they used the second overall pick in 2023 to draft Diamond Miller, who was traded to Dallas this past season.

The past three WNBA drafts left little mystery as to who would go No. 1 overall.

In 2023, the Indiana Fever knew South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston was a special post talent. The next year, the Fever used their second consecutive No. 1 pick to take Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, no surprise to anyone who watched her rewrite NCAA record books. And this year, Dallas taking Bueckers first out of Connecticut was as expected.

The draft will include interior size in centers Lauren Betts of UCLA and Awa Fam from Spain. Sharpshooter Azzi Fudd (Connecticut), true point guard Olivia Miles (TCU) and versatile scorer Flau’jae Johnson (LSU) round out the five most cited top prospects.

“The diversity of talent in this draft, in the first half of the first round, I think that’s palpable, and that’s something that’s really interesting for us,” Reeve said.

“It reminds me a little bit of 2019,” she added, noting the year the Lynx took Napheesa Collier at No. 6. “Not so much the whole depth of a draft, but certainly the nature of very talented players but maybe not a consensus number one pick.”

Notably, Jackie Young went No. 1 to Las Vegas that year, and Arike Ogunbowale was picked No. 5 by Dallas. Phoenix drafted Alanna Smith eighth.

“That leads to a certain level of subjectivity,” Reeve said. “It leads to maybe focus more on position, that sort of thing.”

What the Lynx decide to do with their No. 2 pick might depend on how a malleable roster shakes out this offseason.

Most WNBA veterans signed contracts to coincide with this year’s expiration of the players association’s collective bargaining agreement with the league, making the vast majority of the league — and the Lynx — free agents.

For Minnesota, only Anastasiia Kosu and Dorka Juhasz remain on rookie contracts, while the Lynx have exclusive rights to negotiate new contracts with reserves Masha Kliundikova, Jaylyn Sherrod and Camryn Taylor.

New teams in Portland and Toronto will also get to pick players in an expansion draft, with the details still to be announced.

“It’s helpful ... the [to-be-drafted] player will be under team control,” Reeve said of the uncertain offseason. “But I also think, you know, free agents externally looking at the Lynx, we’re well positioned for success immediately, and that’s what players want. And so I do think that’s a big deal.”

This offseason, that timeline is not yet finalized because of ongoing collective bargaining agreements between the players association and the league, with the latest CBA extension running through the end of November.