The 2026 MLP Draft is going down at 10am ET on Friday, February twenty seventh. There will probably be a response present that airs on pickleballtv, Sunday, March 1st, at midday ET, involving Dave Fleming and others.
The Dink could have a draft recap article prepared a pair hours after the draft concludes on Friday and I’m certain Zane and Nico will focus on the draft intimately on the PicklePod podcast. They will even be doing a fast response video proper after the draft as properly.
Common guidelines of the draft
First, each workforce will need to have no less than 4 roster spots crammed earlier than any groups can begin bidding for his or her fifth or sixth participant.
There are 28 draft slots within the “first spherical” of the draft – 16 girls and 12 males. The primary spherical that means the entire draft picks to get all groups to no less than 4 rostered gamers.
The second spherical will encompass 38 extra draft picks so each workforce can get to 6 whole rostered gamers. The minimal bid within the first spherical is $10k and the minimal bid within the second spherical is $1k.
Subsequent, the draft is a dynamic bidding course of. Within the draft room, groups can see what different groups are bidding and the way a lot the bids are going for. Do not forget that the bids are for a selected draft slot – not a participant. So groups are bidding on a slot, after which as soon as they win it, they select a participant.
The place does the cash go? The cash goes again to the league. Bear in mind the groups don’t pay their gamers’ salaries, the UPA does. So the cash derived from the draft slots after which in later years, the keeper prices, go to the league.
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So who will get drafted?
As beforehand talked about, there are 16 girl draft spots out there within the first spherical and 12 male spots, for a complete of 28 picks.
Here’s a breakdown of what each workforce must get to 4 rostered gamers:
- Atlanta Bouncers: One girl
- Bay Space Breakers: One girl and one man
- Brooklyn Pickleball Group: One man
- California Black Bears: One girl and two males
- Carolina Hogs: 4 roster spots taken
- Chicago Slice: Two girls
- Columbus Sliders: One girl
- Dallas Flash: One girl
- Florida Smash: One girl
- LA Mad Drops: 4 roster spots taken
- Las Vegas Evening Owls: 4 roster spots taken (they usually have a fifth)
- Miami Pickleball Membership: One girl and one man
- New Jersey 5s: One girl
- Orlando Squeeze: One man
- Palm Seaside Royals: One man
- Phoenix Flames: One girl and two males
- SoCal Arduous 8s: Two girls and two males
- St. Louis Shock – One girl
- Texas Ranchers – Two girls
- Utah Black Diamonds – One man
For a full breakdown of every workforce’s roster and their most obvious want, take a look at our article after the keeper deadline:
Normally I might do a draft huge board, however that is my first yr being a Common Supervisor of a workforce (the California Black Bears), so I can’t actually give away too lots of my opinions of gamers. As an alternative, I requested DUPR to present me the highest 20 women and men out there within the draft. Right here it’s.
High 20 out there males & girls, by DUPR:
Tune in to The Dink’s electronic mail e-newsletter on Friday to see which gamers have been picked by which groups and for what value.
