How one WNBA team could win the championship and land the No. 1 pick

The Minnesota Lynx are having a classic revenge season.

After falling just short of the WNBA title in 2024, losing in overtime of a do-or-die Game 5 against the Liberty, Minnesota has looked every bit a team on a mission this year. For the near entirety of the season, they’ve sat atop the standings and are almost certainly going to head into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.

Napheesa Collier is likely going to take home regular-season MVP honors and, as things stand, the Lynx are the current betting favorites to win the 2025 WNBA title. In just about every sense, it’s your typical bounce-back season from a great team after narrowly missing out on their goal.

Where things deviate from typical, though, is that the Lynx are also in the running for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.

Yes, you read that right. Last April, Minnesota traded its 2025 first round pick to Chicago, used to select Hailey Van Lith, in exchange for the Sky’s unprotected 2026 pick. Chicago, who also traded the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft — which turned out to be Sonia Citron — for Ariel Atkins, has struggled mightily this season.

With Angel Reese sidelined for large portions of the season, Chicago currently sits at 8-24 and in the second spot in the lottery which means, as it stands, Minnesota sits in the No. 2 spot in the lottery and the No. 1 spot in the standings.

There are also some details that need to be ironed out in the CBA to see just how realistic the chances are that the Lynx win the title and the No. 1 pick

Last season, the Valkyries, entering their first year in the league, drafted after the four lottery teams. Will the same thing happen to Toronto and Portland, who will embark on their inaugural seasons in 2026? Similarly, the odds for the upcoming draft lottery will differ from previous years when only four teams took part. That, too, will have to be finalized heading into next April ahead of the draft.

But this still does bring in the very realistic possibility that the Lynx win the WNBA title in the fall, then hold the No. 1 pick in the draft next spring. Phee could, conceivably, win the MVP, then welcome in a No. 1 pick for next season.

Even setting aside the novelty of winning a title and the No. 1 pick in the same season, Minnesota is one of the league’s best teams that will have a top pick next summer in a fairly strong draft class. Almost certainly one of Azzi Fudd, Lauren Betts, Olivia Miles, Flau’Jae Johnson or some other top prospect will be on the Lynx roster next season.

It’s a terrific scenario for Minnesota, who look primed to be a contender in the present and while potentially welcoming in their future at the same time.