For the second consecutive offseason, the WNBA is holding an expansion draft. But this time around, the draft is happening a little over a month before the start of the regular season, due to the lengthy CBA negotiations that condensed the offseason timeline. Two new teams are entering the league this year: the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo.
The Fire hired former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama as their new head coach under GM Vanja Černivec, while the Tempo will be coached by former New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, with Monica Wright Rogers serving as GM.
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So how does Friday’s expansion draft work? Yahoo Sports breaks it all down below:
When is the expansion draft?
The expansion draft will take place on Friday, April 3, ahead of the women’s NCAA Final Four. Coverage of the expansion draft will air on ESPN at 3:30 p.m. ET.
How is the draft order determined?
The league held a coin toss last week, which the Toronto Tempo won. That gave them the choice to take the first pick in the expansion draft, or to select the higher pick in the WNBA’s college draft. Toronto opted to take the higher WNBA draft pick, giving the Fire the No. 1 overall pick for the expansion draft.
How many rounds is the expansion draft?
The expansion draft is two rounds with 12 picks in each round. The teams will switch off selecting. The order is as follows:
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Round 1:
1. Portland
2. Toronto
3. Portland
4. Toronto
5. Portland
6. Toronto
7. Portland
8. Toronto
9. Portland
10. Toronto
11. Portland
12. Toronto
Round 2:
13. Toronto
14. Portland
15. Toronto
16. Portland
17. Toronto
18. Portland
19. Toronto
20. Portland
21. Toronto
22. Portland
23. Toronto
24. Portland
Which players are available in the expansion draft?
Each of the WNBA’s existing 13 teams submitted a roster list to the league office that will be comprised of every player a team had the rights to on the final day of last year’s regular season.
Each team will designate a maximum of five “protected players,” who will not be available for selection during the expansion draft. The rest of the players will be available as “unprotected players.”
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That said, within those classifications, according to the W’s release, “any player who has completed the playing services called for by her [previous] player contract and has five or more years of service as of the end of the 2025 season must be designated on the roster list as a ‘potential unrestricted free agent.’”
The Fire and Tempo can each select only one “potential unrestricted free agent” in the expansion draft. Whichever team selects that player will be the only team able to negotiate a supermax contract with them.
There’s no limit on selecting other players not currently signed to a contract for the 2026 season who don’t qualify for the “potential unrestricted free agent” distinction. The selecting team will receive whatever rights to that player that the existing team would have had if said player wasn’t picked in the expansion draft, per the league’s release.
In the process, both teams will acquire each selected player’s contract or their negotiating rights.
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How many players from each existing team can the Fire and Tempo select?
Only two unprotected players from each team can be selected in the expansion draft (only one per round).
Where will the expansion teams select in the WNBA Draft?
The college draft takes place April 13, just eight days after the end of the NCAA tournament. The Tempo will have the No. 6 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, with the Fire holding the No. 7 overall pick.
For the second year in a row, the Dallas Wings will have the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, followed by the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky to round out the top five picks. The WNBA Draft will include a number of top college prospects, like UConn’s Azzi Fudd, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, UCLA’s Lauren Betts and more.
