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The WNBA's 2021 draft lottery will take place Friday during halftime of the Jimmy V Women's Classic game between No. 5 Louisville and No. 20 DePaul (ESPN, 6:30 p.m. ET). WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin will reveal the lottery results on ESPN. The New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever will take part in the lottery for next April's draft. Lottery odds are based on the cumulative records of the two most recent regular seasons. With a cumulative record of 12-44, the Liberty have the most chances to land the top pick (442 out of 1,000) and are guaranteed at least the third pick. Atlanta (15-41) has 276 chances out of 1,000 to win the top pick, Dallas (18-38) has 178 and Indiana (19-37) has 104. These same four teams had the lottery picks for 2020 as well, with New York getting the No. 1 selection -- the first time that happened in franchise history -- and taking Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu. Dallas drafted her Oregon teammate Satou Sabally at No. 2, Indiana took Baylor's Lauren Cox at No. 3 and Atlanta took Texas A&M's Chennedy Carter at No. 4. Atlanta has had the No. 1 selection once, in 2009, when the Dream picked Louisville's Angel McCoughtry. Dallas, a franchise that previously was in Detroit and Tulsa, has never had the No. 1 selection, and neither has Indiana. In the drawing, 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 would select fourth. The selection order for the rest of the first round and the entire second and third rounds is determined by inverse order of the teams' regular season finish in 2020.
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