The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo officially have a date they can begin building their rosters for the 2026 WNBA season.
On Wednesday, the league announced that both teams would assemble their rosters on Friday, April 3, during the WNBA expansion draft. The event will air on ESPN at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Advertisement
On Friday, March 27, Portland and Toronto will conduct a coin toss to determine which order the teams will pick in the expansion draft and the 2026 WNBA Draft, scheduled for Monday, April 13. The winner of the coin toss earns the right to choose between selecting first in the expansion draft or having the No. 6 overall pick in the WNBA draft versus having the No. 7 overall pick.
Based upon the results of the toss, the Fire and Tempo will alternate picks in the second and third rounds of the WNBA draft. Whichever team has the No. 6 overall pick in the first round will then have the seventh pick in the second round and the sixth pick in the final round of the draft. The team that earns the No. 7 overall pick will have the sixth pick in the second round and the seventh pick in the final round.
The 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft will have two rounds. Portland and Toronto will select players from a designated pool of available athletes determined by the league’s 13 teams. Both teams will conduct picks via a “snake” draft method.
The team that has the first pick in the first round of the expansion draft (following the coin toss) will have the second pick in the second round of the draft. During each round, the Fire and Tempo will alternate selections and have the right to acquire the player contract of, or negotiating rights to, one player from the available pool of unprotected players.
Advertisement
Here are some more details about the expansion draft:
Existing WNBA teams will build a pool of available players
Ahead of the expansion draft, the league’s existing teams will submit a roster list to the WNBA by Sunday, March 29, that includes every player the team has rights to as of the final day of the regular season (Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025). The roster includes players on the team’s active, suspended, draft, reserved, core or retired list.
Teams are also required to designate a maximum of five players as “protected”, who cannot be selected in the expansion draft. Any player not “protected” on each team’s roster list is eligible for selection by Portland and Tempo. These are considered “unprotected” players.
Advertisement
If Portland or Toronto selects a player who is not signed to a contract for the 2026 season, the drafting team receives whatever rights to the player that the existing team would have had if the player were not selected in the expansion draft.
Unrestricted free agents
Any player who has completed the required years of playing on their previous player contract and also has five or more years of service must be designated on an existing team’s roster list as a “potential unrestricted free agent.” Those players are further required to be designated as “protected” or included in the list of “unprotected” players.
The Fire and Tempo are only allowed to select one “potential unrestricted free agent” in the expansion draft. The “potential unrestricted free agent” is allowed to be selected by Portland or Toronto even if that player can no longer be designated a core player, allowing the selecting team to be the only one that can negotiate a supermax contract with the player.
Advertisement
Trades for WNBA expansion teams
Between Sunday, March 29, and a designated time on Thursday, April 2, Portland and Toronto are allowed to make trades with existing teams in the league. The trade can be completed as follows:
-
An agreement to select a player who is “unprotected” and trade that player to a team other than their current team
-
An agreement to select (or not select) a player from the trading team’s “unprotected” list
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA expansion draft 2026 date, rules for Portland, Toronto
