The Sports Informant

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2009 – The Minnesota Lynx won the ninth annual WNBA Draft Lottery and earned the top pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft, the league announced today.  

Minnesota had 428 chances out of 1,000 to receive the first overall selection by virtue of owning New York’s combinations (261) in addition to its own (167). The Sacramento Monarchs, who had 420 chances, will have the second pick followed by the Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky.

Minnesota had the combinations for the New York Liberty’s pick due to the trade involving Sidney Spencer, Noelle Quinn and Raffaella Masciadri on May 5, 2009.

WNBA officials and a representative from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young conducted the Draft Lottery in New York City to establish the order of selection for the first five picks of the 2010 WNBA Draft.  The order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third round is determined by inverse order of the teams’ respective regular-season records.

Following are results of the 2010 WNBA Draft Lottery:  

2010 WNBA DRAFT LOTTERY ORDER
Pick        Team             2009 Record         Chances (out of 1,000)
1.        Minnesota (from New York)        13-21        261
2.        Sacramento        12-22        420
3.        Connecticut        16-18        76
4.        Minnesota        14-20        167
5.        Chicago        16-18        76

Following is the remaining order for the first round as determined by overall records from 2009:

REMAINING ORDER FOR FIRST ROUND

Pick        Team             2009 Record                
6.        San Antonio        15-19
7.        Washington        16-18
8.        Tulsa        18-16       
9.        Los Angeles        18-16       
10.        Atlanta        18-16       
11.        Seattle        20-14       
12.        Indiana        22-12  
13.        Los Angeles (from Phoenix)        23-11