Welcome to April 2026. The biggest season in WNBA history (and hopefully a successful one for the Washington Mystics as well) will be in just weeks. Below is a list of the key events for the 2026 WNBA season.
Expansion Draft
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Mar. 27 (already passed) — Coin toss between the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire (The Tempo won the coin toss and have the 6th overall pick in the 2026 Draft. The Fire have the first pick in the expansion draft)
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Mar. 29 (already passed) — WNBA teams not named the Tempo or Fire must submit their list of five protected players including the Washington Mystics. I already went over a possible list last fall.
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Apr. 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET — Expansion Draft on ESPN.
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Free Agency
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There is no set timeframe on when free agency and trades can happen. But teams cannot approach free agents or propose trades until rosters are set — including for the Tempo and Fire. The Tempo and Fire are having this draft now so they c an have some collection of players to use as assets for trades if nothing else. We can assume that teams can start making deals by next Monday.
Draft
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April 13 — The Draft will be at the Shed at Hudson Yard in Manhattan. The Mystics have the No. 4 pick in the draft.
Training camp, preseason and start of regular season
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April 19 — Training camps begin.
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April 25 — The Mystics host the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. ET at CareFirst Arena in their first preseason game.
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May 3 — The Mystics play on the road against the Atlanta Dream at 3 p.m. ET for their second and last regular season game.
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May 8 — The Mystics will begin the regular season on the road at the Coca-Cola Coliseum to play the Toronto Tempo. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. ET. This will be the Tempo’s first game in franchise history. Washington lost 10 games to end the 2025 season. Hopefully, the Mystics won’t let Toronto set the… tempo. Pun was intended.
