Washington Mystics forward Cotie McMahon will not start the 2026 WNBA season this weekend after suffering a partial ulnar collateral ligament tear in her left elbow during a preseason game against the Atlanta Dream on May 3. The team said Thursday that McMahon will be treated and reevaluated within a week.
McMahon played 27 minutes in that game, finishing with nine points on 50% shooting and two steals, but it is not clear when she was hurt. The Mystics open the season Friday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET against the expansion Toronto Tempo at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto.
The setback lands before McMahon has a chance to make her regular-season debut as the 11th overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. She arrived after a productive final college season at Ole Miss, where she started 36 games in 2025-26 and averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Before that, she spent three seasons at Ohio State, starting 97 games and averaging 15.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
For Washington, the timing is especially bruising because the injury marks the second consecutive year a Mystics first-round draft pick will miss part or all of her rookie season. Georgia Amoore, the No. 6 overall pick in 2025, suffered an ACL injury during an April practice and missed her entire rookie year. Coach Sydney Johnson had pointed to that lost depth when talking about what the team would have to replace in 2026.
The Mystics said McMahon is expected to be reevaluated within a week, and that is the next checkpoint that matters. For a team opening on the road with one of its newest players already out, the first answer is whether Washington can keep its rotation intact long enough for McMahon to return to it.
