WNBA Draft Guide: Everything you need to know about the 2021 Draft

The 2021 WNBA draft will be held virtually on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The draft will be televised on TSN2 in Canada and ESPN in the US.

A draft lottery was held on December 4 2020 to determine the order of the top four selections in the 2021 draft. The four non-playoff teams in 2020 were eligible for the lottery drawing.

The New York Liberty won the lottery for the second year in a row and were awarded the first overall pick. The Atlanta Dream will pick second, followed by the Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever.

The Wings later acquired the No. 1 pick in the draft after trading forward Katie Lou Samuelson and a second-round pick in 2022 to the Seattle Storm. The Storm first acquired the No. 1 pick, alongside a 2022 first-round pick and a 2022 second-pick from the Liberty for former Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard.

Dallas is now the first team in WNBA history to own the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the same draft.

2021 WNBA Draft Order

WNBA Draft Eligibility

Here are just some of the eligibility rules for the WNBA Draft under the current collective bargaining agreement. 

• Player's 22nd birthday must fall during the calendar year of the draft.
• Player has either:
• completed her college eligibility;
• received a bachelor's degree, or is scheduled to receive such in the 3 months following the draft; or
• is at least 4 years removed from high school graduation.

International players are defined as such if all of the following is true:

• Born and currently residing outside the U.S.
• Never "exercised intercollegiate basketball eligibility" in the U.S.

International players' eligibility age is 20, also measured on the year in which the draft is held.

2021 WNBA Draft prospects

See below for a list of notable prospects eligible for WNBA Draft 2021.