(East Los Angeles, CA)[From The Editor’s Desk]: The Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) current “off-season” activities emerge during that given time of the year when all (12) teams can point towards the annual DRAFT Lottery Day in high hopes of strengthening their rosters in preparation for the upcoming and brand new 2024 season which will start in just about six months from now. 

The WNBA’s main office, located in New York City, recently issued this press announcement to inform all WNBA and L.A. Sparks fans that the WNBA DRAFT Lottery, 2024 presented by STATE FARM®, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 10th. We encourage Sparks fans to mark their calendars now before the holiday season arrives and you forget to add it. Give a good read of the Association’s release below for more of the exact DRAFT Lottery Day details plus a great description on how it will be conducted by the WNBA’s designated staff members. 

Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, and Seattle Storm Will Vie for No. 1 Overall Draft Pick

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2023 – The WNBA Draft Lottery 2024 presented by State Farm® will be broadcast on Sunday, Dec. 10, at 4:30 p.m. ET, (1:30 p.m. PST), the WNBA recently announced.

ESPN will air the 30-minute, WNBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm special between the final two games of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase tripleheader featuring Utah vs. South Carolina and North Carolina vs. UConn.

WNBA Head of League Operations Bethany Donaphin will reveal the results of the Lottery during ESPN’s coverage. This marks the 12th consecutive year that ESPN networks will present the WNBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm®.

The Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, and Seattle Storm have qualified for the 23rd annual WNBA Draft Lottery. The winner will secure the top pick in WNBA Draft 2024 presented by State Farm®, which is currently scheduled to take place on Monday, April 15.

Lottery odds are based on the cumulative records of the two most recent regular seasons (2022 and 2023). With a cumulative record of 18-58, the Fever will have the most chances to land the top pick (442 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least the third pick.

Phoenix, which posted a combined record of 24-52 over the past two seasons, will have 276 chances out of 1,000 to win the top pick. Los Angeles, 30-46 in that same span, has the third-most chances (178). Seattle (33-43) has 104 chances.

In the drawing, 14 balls numbered 1-14 will be placed in a lottery machine and mixed. Four balls will be drawn to determine a four-digit combination. The team assigned that four-ball combination will receive the No. 1 pick. The four balls will then be placed back into the machine and the process will be repeated to determine the second pick. The team with the lowest cumulative two-year record whose numerical combinations do not come up in the first two four-ball combinations will select third and the remaining team will select fourth.

The order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third rounds is determined by inverse order of the teams’ respective regular season records solely from 2023. A representative from the league’s independent accounting firm Ernst & Young will be in attendance to oversee the Draft Lottery process. Below are the number of chances for teams to land the top pick in WNBA Draft Lottery 2024 presented by State Farm®.

* On Feb. 11, 2023, Dallas received Chicago’s 2024 first-round pick, the right to swap its own 2025 first-round pick with Chicago’s 2025 first-round pick, Phoenix’s 2023 first-round pick previously acquired by Chicago, and Diamond DeShields from Phoenix in a four-team trade that also saw Chicago receive Marina Mabrey from Dallas via sign-and-trade and Phoenix’s 2024 second-round pick, while Phoenix received Michaela Onyenwere from New York and Chicago’s 2024 third-round pick and 2025 second-round pick, and New York received the right to swap its own 2025 first-round pick with Phoenix’s 2025 first-round pick, and the draft rights to Leonie Fiebich from Chicago along with Chicago’s 2024 second-round pick.

^ On Jan. 21, 2023, Los Angeles received Las Vegas’ 2024 first-round pick and Dearica Hamby in exchange for the exclusive negotiating rights to Amanda Zahui B. and Los Angeles’ 2024 second-round pick.