After the Washington Mystics finished a 2025 season in which they emphasized development much more than results, general manager Jamila Wideman told reporters to expect “more of the same” in 2026. The franchise is just one year into a multi-year rebuild, as Wideman and head coach Sydney Johnson were both hired in December 2024.
But Year 2 of the rebuild is starting off even more like Year 1 than Wideman might’ve counted on. On Sunday, the Mystics got the No. 4 overall pick in the WNBA Draft for the second straight year.
That was exactly where the odds had projected the Mystics would land. They had a 65.4% chance to get the No. 4 pick, a 22.7% chance to rise to No. 1 or No. 2, and a 12.0% chance to fall to No. 5. In the 11 draft lotteries the Mystics have been in all-time, they’ve now gotten their projected pick five times, gotten a worse pick four times and gotten a better pick twice.
In April, the Mystics drafted forward Kiki Iriafen with the fourth pick. Wearing a hot pink suit with silver buttons and trim, Iriafen represented the franchise at Sunday’s draft lottery. But despite her positive energy and the Mystics’ social media team’s efforts to crowdsource even more good luck, the Mystics couldn’t leapfrog three franchises for the No. 1 overall pick. The Dallas Wings got the top pick, followed by the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm.
When the Mystics’ pick was announced, Iriafen clapped and smiled, then held up four fingers on each hand. The team declined to make Wideman available to discuss the result.
The Mystics now have the Nos. 4, 9 and 11 picks in the 2026 draft, giving them three first-round picks for the second straight draft. They picked third, fourth and sixth in 2025, choosing guard Sonia Citron, Iriafen and guard Georgia Amoore, respectively. In both seasons, the Mystics have been the only team with three first-round picks.
“We look at the offseason as having a number of different tools for us to continue to get better,” Wideman said in September. “And I think the draft is one of those.”
Though their 2026 picks are later in the first round than their 2025 picks were, the Mystics hope this draft class will give them similar returns as the 2025 class. Citron and Iriafen became WNBA All-Stars and were the team’s top offensive options by the end of their rookie seasons. Amoore hurt her ACL in training camp and missed the entire season, but is expected to be an important piece in 2026.
Players who could be available at No. 4 include LSU wing Flau’jae Johnson, South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson and UConn guard Azzi Fudd. Later in the first round, UCLA guard Kiki Rice, Maryland guard Yarden Garzon and Tennessee wing Janiah Barker could be options.
“What I would emphasize about the process [of scouting for the 2025 draft] is that it involved a lot of really smart and thoughtful and experienced people,” Wideman said. “And so it was very much leveraging … the insights that we had from a scouting perspective, from a data and analytics perspective, just from a basketball IQ perspective in terms of thinking about how do parts go together? …
“So that group I look forward to reconvening and taking a deep dive and learning what the talent is … for next year.”
At some point, it would be fair to wonder whether the Mystics will run out of room on their roster for all of these draft picks. The Wings have had that issue in the past, piling up 14 first-round picks in the 2020 through 2025 drafts.
But ahead of the 2025 season, the Mystics weren’t very active in free agency, leaving room for their three first-round picks to make the team. And heading into 2026, their roster is again relatively open.
Leaguewide, nearly all veteran players are set to hit free agency this offseason. That’s because they anticipated a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which is expected to be agreed on soon. The Mystics currently have only five players under contract for 2026: the three first-round picks from 2025, second-round pick Lucy Olsen and 25-year-old guard Jacy Sheldon.
Center/forward Shakira Austin and point guard Sug Sutton are restricted free agents, meaning that the Mystics have the right to match any offer. And forward Emily Engstler and guard/forward Madison Scott are reserved players, meaning that the team has exclusive negotiating rights with them. (For all four players, the Mystics must first issue qualifying offers to be granted those rights.)
The Mystics will also likely lose one or two of those nine players in the upcoming expansion draft. However, the WNBA has not released details yet of how that draft will work or when it will take place.
All of that leaves plenty of room for the Mystics to have their three 2026 first-round picks on the roster as rookies, assuming they keep the picks rather than trading them. That could give the 2026 Mystics one of the youngest rosters in WNBA history.
“When you think about building anything, you have to start with some sort of a foundation, and then the fun part is when you get to add those next layers,” Wideman said in September.
Citron, Iriafen and Amoore became part of the Mystics’ foundation as soon as they were drafted. Now, the 2026 first-round picks will help determine the next layer of the Mystics’ rebuild, whether Wideman keeps them or uses them to get other pieces for the future.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Basketball. The IX Basketball’s editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.
