The 2026 MLP Draft: A Record-Setting Start to the New Season

The 2026 Major League Pickleball auction draft is in the books – and we've got plenty to talk about.

All 20 Premier Level teams now have complete rosters of six players each. And things are looking quite a bit different from last season.

A few highlights to whet your whistle:

The St. Louis Shock secured with No. 1 overall draft pick with a record-setting $1.23 million. Shocker to no one... they used it to bring back Anna Bright
Jorja Johnson went with the No. 2 pick, but not back to her beloved Dallas Flash. Nope. She's on the New Jersey 5s. At least for now.
A host of young pros were chosen in the top 20, among them Tama Shimabukuro (#9), Kiora Kunimoto (#15), Cam Chaffin (#16), and Will MacKinnon (#17)

Let's take a closer look at the new rosters for each team (alphabetical order).

I can tell you right now, these are not the final rosters for many teams. There are a ton of trades that will be announced in the coming week. There were plenty of draft day deals that were made, but they cannot be officially announced until Monday, at the earliest. This is the opening day of Trade Window #2 for the 2026 season.

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Biggest snubs from the 2026 MLP Draft

A list of players who probably deserve to be on a roster, but for one reason or another, find themselves in free agency to start the season (in no particular order):

Guys:

Anderson Scarpa - the veteran is always so steady and can play both sides great
Stephen Madonia - was on the Hustlers last year and played well at times
Rafa Hewett - the charismatic lefty did not make a roster to start the year
AJ Koller - the 2025 MLP sub machine is yet again not on a team
Zane Ford - the upstart Ford showed some signs of promise for the Hustlers in 2025, but finds himself without a team

Ladies:

Lingwei Kong - Kong has had some good results recently and was on the Hustlers last year
Christa Gecheva - Played a great support role for the 5s and then played well for D.C. last year
Pierina Imparato - Played for Chicago last year and is a good singles player
Mehvish Safdar - was on both Utah and LA last year, but couldn't crack the starting lineup
Irina Tereschenko - the MLP GOAT on the women's side no longer has a team to call home