Editing WNBA draft (section)

==Structure==
The 1997 WNBA draft was divided into three parts. The first part was the initial allocation of 16 players into individual teams.  Players such as [[Cynthia Cooper (basketball)|Cynthia Cooper]] and [[Michelle Timms]] were assigned to different teams.  The second part was the [[WNBA Elite draft]], which was composed of professional women's basketball players who had competed in other leagues.  The last part would be the 4 rounds of the regular draft.

The next three seasons to follow [[1998 WNBA Draft|1998]], [[1999 WNBA Draft|1999]] and [[2000 WNBA Draft|2000]] would all have expansion drafts.  There would not be another expansion draft until the [[2006 WNBA draft|2006 season]].

All seasons before [[2002 WNBA Draft|2002]] had 4 rounds.  Since [[2003 WNBA draft|2003]], all drafts are 3 rounds.

In 2003 and [[2004 WNBA draft|2004]], there were dispersal drafts due to the folding of the [[Cleveland Rockers]], [[Miami Sol]] and [[Portland Fire]].  The players from Rockers, Sol and Fire were reallocated to existing teams. There were also dispersal drafts in [[2007 WNBA draft|2007]] with the folding of the [[Charlotte Sting]], 2009 with the shuttering of the [[Houston Comets]], and in 2010 when the [[Maloof family|Maloofs]] cast off the [[Sacramento Monarchs]] to focus their resources on the Kings franchise in the NBA.