The WNBA’s two newest franchises, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, will begin building their rosters April 3 in the 2026 expansion draft.
In the two-round draft, Portland and Toronto will alternate picks and each select up to six players per round. The Fire will pick first after they won a coin toss. Only one player from each existing franchise can be picked in each round, and no more than two players total from each team can be selected.
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Each of the 13 preexisting teams is able to protect up to five players from being selected in the expansion draft. The protected lists won’t be publicly released but are likely to include some of the league’s biggest stars such as A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers.
With that in mind, here is the best player expected to be available from each team:
Atlanta Dream: Maya Caldwell (G, 5-foot-10)
Caldwell was initially drafted by Indiana late in the third round of the 2021 WNBA draft but was cut in training camp and in 2022 played nine games for Atlanta. She played 30 games for Indiana in 2023 before returning to Atlanta for the last two seasons. In 2025, Caldwell became a rotation fixture for the Dream, averaging 5.4 points and career bests of 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists while playing in 41 games with 16 starts.
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Chicago Sky: Exempt from expansion draft
Earlier this week, Portland and Toronto both made trades with Chicago in which the expansion teams agreed not to select players from the Sky’s unprotected list. Chicago swapped their No. 17 overall pick in the second round of the 2026 WNBA draft for Portland’s No. 21 pick. Chicago also sent pick No. 26 (via New York) in the April 13 draft to Toronto.
Connecticut Sun: Tina Charles (C, 6-foot-4)
Charles, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft and eight-time WNBA All-Star, proved she is still a force to be reckoned with while playing her 15th WNBA season last year for the Sun. Charles led the Sun in scoring and was the team’s second-best rebounder, averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 43 games played with 42 starts.
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Dallas Wings: Ty Harris (G, 5-foot-10)
The seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft out of South Carolina, Harris carved out a starting role with the Connecticut Sun in 2024 before she was traded in a four-team deal to the Dallas Wings prior to the 2025 season. In Dallas, Harris played in just five games off the bench before she had season-ending knee surgery.
Golden State Valkyries: Temi Fágbénlé (C, 6-foot-4)
Fagbenle was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the previous WNBA expansion draft from the Indiana Fever. She played three seasons for Minnesota from 2017-2019 and took a five-year break from the WNBA before returning in 2024 to sign with Indiana. With Golden State, Fagbenle was a starter who averaged 23.7 minutes, 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds; however, the Valkyries have a glut of talented frontcourt players to potentially protect over Fagbenle, including Kayla Thornton, Janelle Salaun and Monique Billings.
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Watch: When is WNBA Expansion Draft? How to watch and full order of picks
Indiana Fever: Natasha Howard (F, 6-foot-3)
Howard is a veteran forward who has played 12 WNBA seasons for five different teams, most recently with the Fever. She started a career-high 44 games for Indiana last season, when she shot 55.2% from the field and averaged 11.4 points and 6.6 rebounds, and would be a valuable plug-and-play piece for either expansion team.
Las Vegas Aces: Jewell Loyd (G, 5-foot-11)
Loyd joined the Aces in 2025 after spending the first 10 seasons of her career with the Storm, but in Vegas she hasn’t generated the same level of production as she did in Seattle – partially due to a reduced role. Loyd averaged 11.2 points, 1.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds as a part-time starter for the Aces and came off the bench for every playoff game of Las Vegas’ WNBA 2025 championship run. She could thrive in a high-volume shooting role on an expansion roster.
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Los Angeles Sparks: Rae Burrell (G/F, 6-foot-2)
Burrell, a first-round pick by Los Angeles in the 2022 WNBA draft, is coming off her best season, yet could be left unprotected in the expansion draft simply because the Sparks have so many other key players to protect. Burrell played in 28 games for Los Angeles last season while averaging 18.4 minutes, 7.5 points and 2.3 rebounds.
Minnesota Lynx: Dorka Juhász (F, 6-foot-5)
Juhász sat out all of last WNBA season to rest and recover from playing year-round each of the previous two years both in the W and overseas. She was most productive for the Lynx during her rookie season in 2023, when she averaged 6.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 38 games, and in 2024 averaged 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.
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New York Liberty: Marine Johannès (G/F, 5-foot-10)
The French national team star has spent the entirety of her WNBA career with the Liberty, where she played in 2019 and 2022-2025. Johannès is a fan favorite who suffers from streaky shooting. She was the only Liberty player to appear in all 44 regular-season games in 2025 but fell out of the rotation during the playoffs.
Phoenix Mercury: Kathryn Westbeld (F, 6-foot-3)
Westbeld, a Notre Dame alumna and the older sister of Chicago Sky guard Maddy Westbeld, made her WNBA debut in 2025 after playing professionally in Australia, Puerto Rico, France, Italy and Hungary. Kathyrn Westbeld appeared in 43 games for the Mercury with 24 starts and averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 rebounds.
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Seattle Storm: Brittney Sykes (G, 5-foot-9)
Sykes, a four-time WNBA All-Defensive honoree, was traded midseason from Washington to Seattle in 2025. Before she was traded, Sykes’ performance for the Mystics earned her first career All-Star game selection. After the trade, she was a key player on both offense and defense for the Storm. In total during the 2025 season, Sykes averaged 14.1 points, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals.
Washington Mystics: Stefanie Dolson (C, 6-foot-5)
Dolson, a UConn product and veteran center entering her 13th season in the WNBA, averaged career lows of 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 43 games (14 starts) for the Mystics last season. Shakira Austin’s emergence as a skilled big for Washington might leave Dolson fighting for playing time again.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA expansion mock draft best available players for Portland, Toronto
