Jump to content

2026 WNBA expansion draft

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2026 WNBA expansion draft
General information
SportBasketball
DateApril 3, 2026
NetworkESPN
Overview
LeagueWNBA
Expansion teamsPortland Fire
Toronto Tempo
← 2024
2028 →

The 2026 WNBA expansion draft was the seventh expansion draft of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[1] The draft was held on April 3, 2026, for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo to select players from the other teams in the league to fill out their inaugural rosters for the 2026 WNBA season.[2] Toronto was awarded an expansion team on May 23, 2024, becoming the first team in the league outside the United States, while Portland, Oregon, was awarded a team on September 18 that same year.[3][4] This was the second expansion draft that featured the Fire. A previous iteration of the team took part in the 2000 expansion draft and played in the WNBA from 2000 to 2002.[5]

On March 27, Toronto won a coin toss for the first expansion pick, but opted instead for the sixth overall selection in the 2026 WNBA draft. Consequently, Portland received the first overall expansion pick and the seventh regular draft pick.[6] Ahead of the draft, the existing WNBA teams submitted lists of players under contract from the end of the 2025 season and were allowed to protect up to five players each.[7] On April 1, Portland and Toronto agreed not to select any of the Chicago Sky's unprotected players. In exchange, both expansion teams received the Sky's second-round regular draft picks, while Chicago acquired Portland's second-round pick.[8]

The Fire are owned by RAJ Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal.[4] They paid a then-record expansion fee of US$125 million.[9] In October 2025, the team hired Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Alex Sarama as the franchise's first head coach.[10] The Fire's selections included the first overall pick in the draft, Bridget Carleton, who was acquired from the Minnesota Lynx. Other notable selections included Carla Leite from the Golden State Valkyries and Luisa Geiselsöder from the Dallas Wings.[11] On May 6, Portland traded two of their selected players in separate deals; they traded Maya Caldwell (9th pick) to the Minnesota Lynx and Chloe Bibby (11th pick) to the Phoenix Mercury.[12] On May 21, the Fire waived Haley Jones and Sug Sutton, who were the 14th and 20th picks, respectively.[13]

The Tempo are owned by Kilmer Sports Ventures, led by Larry Tanenbaum, who paid US$115 million for the team.[3] In November 2025, the team hired veteran coach Sandy Brondello as the franchise's inaugural head coach.[14] The Tempo's selections included Julie Allemand from the Los Angeles Sparks with the second overall pick. Other notable additions included Nyara Sabally from the New York Liberty and Marina Mabrey from the Connecticut Sun.[11] On April 30, Toronto waived 23rd pick Kristy Wallace.[15] A week later, the team waived three more of their selections: Aaliyah Nye (8th pick), Nikolina Milić (19th pick), and Kitija Laksa (21st pick).[16]

Rules

[edit]

The expansion draft consisted of two rounds in snake draft format: the team that picks first in the first round picks last in the second round, and vice versa.[7]

  • The Fire and the Tempo were permitted to select one unprotected player from each of the other 13 existing teams' 2025 rosters.
  • For players who were selected by an expansion team but were not under contract for the 2026 season, the drafting team acquired the same rights to that player that their former team would have held.
  • Players who had completed their prior contracts and possessed at least five years of service in the league were designated as "potential unrestricted free agents". Each expansion team was permitted to select only one potential unrestricted free agent in this draft.
  • The following deals were permitted to be made by the expansion teams:
    • Agreeing to select a player from an unprotected list and trade that player to a team other than her existing team
    • Agreeing to select or not select a player from a team's unprotected list; Portland and Toronto exercised this with their non-selection from Chicago's list[8]

Selections

[edit]
Bridget Carleton in a blue Minnesota Lynx uniform in 2019
Bridget Carleton
Julie Allemand warming up before a game while playing for Fenerbahçe in 2024
Julie Allemand
Carla Leite warming up before a game while playing for Villeneuve d'Ascq in 2024
Carla Leite
Nyara Sabally of the New York Liberty during a game
Nyara Sabally
Carleton and Leite were selected first and third respectively by the Portland Fire, and Allemand and Sabally were selected second and fourth by the Toronto Tempo.

Source:[17]

Key
Abbreviation Position
G Guard
F Forward
C Center
# Denotes player who never played in the WNBA regular season or playoffs
Draft selections
Rnd. Pick Player Pos. Nationality Team Previous team WNBA years[a] Career with franchise[b] Ref.
1 1 Bridget Carleton F  Canada Portland Fire Minnesota Lynx 7 2026–present [18]
1 2 Julie Allemand G  Belgium Toronto Tempo Los Angeles Sparks 3 2026–present [19]
1 3 Carla Leite  France Portland Fire Golden State Valkyries 1 2026–present [20]
1 4 Nyara Sabally C  Germany Toronto Tempo New York Liberty 3 2026–present [21]
1 5 Luisa Geiselsöder Portland Fire Dallas Wings 1 2026–present [22]
1 6 Marina Mabrey G  United States Toronto Tempo Connecticut Sun 7 2026–present [23]
1 7 Emily Engstler F Portland Fire Washington Mystics 4 2026–present [24]
1 8 Aaliyah Nye G Toronto Tempo Las Vegas Aces 1 —[c] [25]
1 9 Maya Caldwell Portland Fire Atlanta Dream 4 —[d] [26]
1 10 Lexi Held Toronto Tempo Phoenix Mercury 1 2026–present [27]
1 11 Chloe Bibby  Australia Portland Fire Indiana Fever 1 —[d] [28]
1 12 No selection / pass — — Toronto Tempo — — —
2 13 María Conde F  Spain Toronto Tempo Golden State Valkyries 0 2026–present [29]
2 14 Haley Jones G  United States Portland Fire Dallas Wings 3 2026 [30]
2 15 Maria Kliundikova F  Russia Toronto Tempo Minnesota Lynx 3 — [31]
2 16 Nyadiew Puoch G  Australia Portland Fire Atlanta Dream 0 2026–present [32]
2 17 Adja Kane# F  France Toronto Tempo New York Liberty 0 — [33]
2 18 Sarah Ashlee Barker G  United States Portland Fire Los Angeles Sparks 1 2026–present [34]
2 19 Nikolina Milić F  Serbia Toronto Tempo Connecticut Sun 2 —[c] [35]
2 20 Sug Sutton G  United States Portland Fire Washington Mystics 4 2026 [36]
2 21 Kitija Laksa F  Latvia Toronto Tempo Phoenix Mercury 1 —[c] [37]
2 22 No selection / pass — — Portland Fire — — —
2 23 Kristy Wallace G  Australia Toronto Tempo Indiana Fever 3 —[c] [38]
2 24 Nika Mühl G  Croatia Portland Fire Seattle Storm 1 — [39]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Number of years played in the WNBA prior to the draft
  2. ^ Career with the expansion franchise that drafted the player
  3. ^ a b c d Waived prior to the 2026 WNBA season
  4. ^ a b Traded prior to the 2026 WNBA season

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Streng, Nik (January 8, 2026). "How the WNBA operated its six previous expansion drafts". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 8, 2026. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  2. ^ Merchant, Sabreena (March 26, 2026). "WNBA expansion draft big board: Who will Toronto and Portland select?". The Athletic. Archived from the original on March 27, 2026. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Toronto awarded WNBA's 1st team outside U.S., to play in '26". ESPN. May 23, 2024. Archived from the original on May 23, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  4. ^ a b Maloney, Jack; Gonzalez, Isabel (September 18, 2024). "WNBA awards Portland new expansion franchise: League's 15th team will begin play in 2026". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on September 19, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  5. ^ Streng, Nik (January 10, 2026). "By the numbers: 10 facts about the Portland Fire's run from 2000–2002". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 10, 2026. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  6. ^ Voepel, Michael (March 27, 2026). "Tempo win WNBA expansion coin toss, choose to draft sixth". ESPN. Archived from the original on March 30, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  7. ^ a b "WNBA Expansion Draft 2026 Presented By State Street Investment Management SPY Set For Friday, April 3 on ESPN". WNBA. March 25, 2026. Archived from the original on March 26, 2026. Retrieved March 25, 2026.
  8. ^ a b Hirsh, Alissa (April 1, 2026). "Sky trade second-round picks with Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
  9. ^ "Portland awarded WNBA expansion franchise for record-setting price". Sports Business Journal. September 18, 2024. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  10. ^ Shelburne, Ramona (October 17, 2025). "Fire hire Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama as 1st head coach". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 24, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  11. ^ a b Andrews, Kendra (April 3, 2026). "Fire make Bridget Carleton top WNBA expansion draft pick". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 3, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  12. ^ Jensen, Alex (May 6, 2026). "Portland Fire shakes up its roster with Bibby, Caldwell trade before WNBA deadline". KGW. Archived from the original on May 6, 2026. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  13. ^ Streng, Nik (May 21, 2026). "Portland Fire announce major roster shift, releasing multiple players and shifting developmental contracts". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  14. ^ Young, Ryan (November 4, 2025). "Toronto Tempo hire former Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on November 23, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  15. ^ "Tempo Waive Dara Mabrey, Maddison Rocci, and Kristy Wallace". Toronto Tempo. April 30, 2026. Archived from the original on May 8, 2026. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  16. ^ "Toronto Tempo Announce 2026 Opening Roster". Toronto Tempo. May 7, 2026. Archived from the original on May 8, 2026. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  17. ^ "Portland Fire, Toronto Tempo Select 22 Players in WNBA Expansion Draft 2026". WNBA. April 3, 2026. Archived from the original on April 3, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  18. ^ "Bridget Carleton Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on March 5, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  19. ^ "Julie Allemand Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on November 15, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  20. ^ "Carla Leite Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on January 16, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  21. ^ "Nyara Sabally Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on December 31, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  22. ^ "Luisa Geiselsöder Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on January 7, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  23. ^ "Marina Mabrey Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 27, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  24. ^ "Emily Engstler Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 17, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  25. ^ "Aaliyah Nye Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 20, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  26. ^ "Maya Caldwell Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on November 13, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  27. ^ "Lexi Held Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 18, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  28. ^ "Chloe Bibby Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 3, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  29. ^ "María Conde Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on November 5, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  30. ^ "Haley Jones Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on October 29, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  31. ^ "Maria Kliundikova Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on January 3, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  32. ^ "Nyadiew Puoch Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on January 12, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  33. ^ "Adja Kane Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on June 9, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  34. ^ "Sarah Ashlee Barker Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 27, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  35. ^ "Nikolina Milić Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 23, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  36. ^ "Sug Sutton Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on March 12, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  37. ^ "Kitija Laksa Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on February 27, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  38. ^ "Kristy Wallace Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on November 15, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
  39. ^ "Nika Mühl Statistics". Basketball Reference. Archived from the original on April 10, 2026. Retrieved April 26, 2026.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2026_WNBA_expansion_draft&oldid=1357135473"