WNBA playoff berth, seeds, draft spots up for grabs on last day of regular season

The 2024 WNBA regular season ends Thursday night with all 12 teams in action, although some games are much more important than others – at least when it comes to this year’s playoffs and the 2025 draft lottery.

Seven of the eight playoff berths have been clinched, with only the final one up for grabs tonight with the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics still in contention. Two of those teams could also drop into next year’s lottery for a shot at the No. 1 overall pick.

As for the teams that have already clinched playoff berths, there’s still some seedings to be determined. The top two teams are locked into position, as are the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 spots, leaving the third and fourth seeds to be finalized.

Sound complicated? It’s actually simpler than it appears. Here is a breakdown of what’s at stake tonight, the schedule and the standings heading into the final day:

WNBA schedule on final day of regular season

Six games are on tap Thursday night (all times ET):

WNBA standings

x=clinched playoff berth; e=eliminated from playoff contention

WNBA playoff seedings

Five of the seeds are locked into place entering tonight’s games:

1. New York Liberty

2. Minnesota Lynx

3. TBD

4. TBD

5. Seattle Storm

6. Indiana Fever

7. Phoenix Mercury

8. TBD

How final WNBA playoff seeds will be determined

The three “to be determined” seeds could be finalized as soon as the early games end, pending the outcomes. Here are the clinching scenarios:

• Atlanta Dream clinch No. 8 seed with a win or a Chicago loss

• Washington Mystics clinch No. 8 seed with a win and an Atlanta loss and a Chicago win

• Chicago Sky clinches No. 8 seed with a win and with losses by Atlanta and Washington

• Connecticut Sun clinches No. 3 seed with a win or a Las Vegas loss

• Las Vegas Aces clinch No. 3 seed with a win and a Connecticut loss

2025 WNBA lottery

The Los Angeles Sparks and Dallas Wings are assured of being in next year’s draft lottery for a shot at the No. 1 overall pick. As are the Washington Mystics, no matter what the results of tonight’s games are. Washington previously acquired Atlanta’s 2025 first-round pick in a trade, so the Mystics would either end up with their own lottery pick if they miss the playoffs, the Dream’s, if Washinton makes the playoffs, or two lottery picks if both teams miss the playoffs..

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA playoffs: What’s at stake on final day of 2024 regular season