Aces win draft lottery, will pick first again

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Steve Marcus

Las Vegas Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer is shown during the Aces’ game against the Chicago Sky at Mandalay Bay Events Center Thursday, July 5, 2018.

Tue, Aug 28, 2018 (7:50 p.m.)

When it comes to lottery luck, the Las Vegas Aces are on a roll.

The Aces won the WNBA’s draft lottery on Tuesday, making it three straight years that the franchise will have the first selection in the league’s draft.

After going 8-26 in 2017 and 14-20 this season, Las Vegas went into the lottery with the second-best chance of winning the top pick. The WNBA weights teams’ records across two seasons to determine lottery odds; Las Vegas had a 27.6-percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick, while the Indiana Fever had a 44.2-percent chance.

In April, the Aces made South Carolina center A’ja Wilson the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, and she went on to enjoy a superlative rookie season, averaging 20.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

When the franchise was still known as the San Antonio Stars, it made Washington guard Kelsey Plum the top pick in the 2017 draft. Plum posted 9.5 points this season and ranked fourth in the league in 3-point accuracy (43.9 percent).

The draft will be held in April of 2019, after the upcoming college basketball season.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

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