WNBA expansion draft big board: Who will Toronto and Portland select?
Now that the collective bargaining agreement has been ratified unanimously by the WNBPA and the league’s Board of Governors, the first big piece of business this offseason will be the expansion draft on April 3. This is the first opportunity for the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire to begin to build their rosters for the rapidly approaching 2026 WNBA season. Although the league had an expansion draft last year for the Golden State Valkyries, the situation is different in 2026 because that process is collectively bargained, and there is a new CBA.
The rules of the expansion draft were only announced on Wednesday, creating even more of a time crunch for the two new franchises. Each of the 13 existing teams can protect five players — these can be players who are under contract or free agents. They can also be previously drafted players who haven’t yet joined the team.
For example, the Atlanta Dream drafted Nyadiew Puoch from Australia in 2024, and she hasn’t yet come to play in the U. S. , but the Dream would still have to protect Puoch to avoid losing her to Toronto or Portland.
Once teams submit their protected lists to the Tempo and Fire by Sunday, the new teams will review the names and formulate a draft strategy. They’ll choose players in a snake draft format, and the first pick will be decided by a coin flip. It is expected that each existing team can have a maximum of two players selected.
Per the CBA term sheet, which was released to teams and obtained by The Athletic , Toronto and Portland can select only one unrestricted free agent each during the expansion draft and then offer her the core designation, which allows the team to pay the player up to the supermax salary. If the incumbent team fails to protect that unrestricted free agent during the expansion process, that team cannot core the player afterward. In an offseason with more than 100 unrestricted free agents, this setup limits the pool of players available to the Tempo and the Fire, who figure to have to do most of their team-building work through the college draft and free agency.
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