After two years of anticipation, the first WNBA team in Canada will finally add players.
The Toronto Tempo will start building their inaugural roster on Friday with the WNBA expansion draft.
This expansion draft will look very different from the 2024 rendition that brought the Golden State Valkyries their first roster. Now, there are two teams sharing the draft as the Portland Fire are also set to join the league this year. On top of that, there are an unprecedented number of free agents that will complicate the available options, and 13 teams to choose from, but only 12 spots to fill on each team.
The expansion draft is just the first step in the roster-building process — free agency and the college draft will be two other vitally important avenues for team construction. Even so, as the Valkyries proved last year, the Tempo can still find season-altering talent in players who currently find themselves on roster fringes.
Breaking down the rules of the draft
The WNBA's CBA negotiations delayed the expansion draft, causing the league to only release the rules for how it will work on March 25. With how the off-season has played out so far, there are a few tricky regulations for teams, players and fans to work through before the action on Friday.
After the Tempo won a coin flip on Friday, they chose to take the sixth pick in the college draft (all earlier picks were previously determined by a draft lottery on Nov. 23), and as a result, the Fire will make the first selection in the expansion draft.
Consequently, the Fire will pick seventh in the college draft. Both teams will alternate the sixth and seventh picks in the second and third rounds of the college draft, meaning the Tempo will have the 22nd and 36th overall picks as well as the sixth.
As a result of winning the coin flip, the Tempo will also have the first position on the waiver wire.
The expansion draft will have two rounds with six picks per round, which will alternate between both teams. It is a snake-style draft, so after making the 12th selection, Toronto will go on to make the 13th and kick off the second round.
On Sunday, each of the 13 WNBA teams sent roster lists to the league, Tempo and Fire that outlined the status of each of their players. On those lists, each team indicated five protected players who are ineligible to be chosen in the expansion draft. Unrestricted free agents, reserved, suspended, retired, draft list and core players are all indicated as such on the submitted lists. Following the expansion draft, teams will only be able to offer the core designation to protected players. No team will lose more than two players through the expansion draft, and there is the potential for some teams to lose one or none.
When the Tempo and Fire select a player, they retain the same rights to that player that their previous team had. For example, if the Tempo select a restricted free agent like Cecilia Zandalasini — assuming she is left unprotected by the Valkyries — they will be eligible to give her a qualifying offer and will retain the right to first refusal should another team send her an offer sheet.
The Tempo and Fire are each only allowed to select one unrestricted free agent through the draft. When an unrestricted free agent is selected, the drafting team becomes the only team that can offer that player a supermax contract. However, other teams are still able to negotiate with that player. Each team is only eligible to sign one player to a supermax contract.
Before the expansion draft, both new teams have two options for trading with existing WNBA teams. The Tempo or Fire could make an agreement to select a specific player in the draft and trade her to a team other than her previous one, or the drafting teams could make an agreement to select or not select a specific player from a particular team’s unprotected list.
Making the best of unique circumstances
Unrestricted free agents are the most important part of roster building during this unprecedented off-season.
With only two veteran players signed to contracts just over a month before the first game, there is a lot of uncertainty about who will play where and for how much.
Given the number of unrestricted free agents (77), there will be many left off of the team's protected lists, meaning there will be ample opportunity for the Tempo and Fire to fulfill their one UFA quota — if they choose to do so.
Although the protected lists have not yet been released, we can assume quality players — including some potentially worthy of maximum or supermax contracts — will be available through the expansion draft. Immediate possibilities are Arike Ogunbowale from the Dallas Wings, who already have lots of key assets they may prioritize protecting, and Azura Stevens from the Los Angeles Sparks, who are in a similar situation. Expect that big UFA names may be available from teams that are in the process of rebuilding, like the Wings, Sparks, Sky and Sun. These clubs have picked up many young assets in recent years and will likely prioritize rookie contract players over veterans who won’t have a long-term role on the team.
The Fire will likely take an unrestricted free agent with their first pick to ensure they get their top prospect. The Tempo, on the other hand, won’t need the same urgency when making a UFA selection because after the Fire make their choice, they will become ineligible to pick another UFA per the expansion rules.
After the UFA options are sorted, expect Valkyries players to be the next hottest commodity. Golden State exceeded expectations last year largely due to its gritty, young roster. With only five protection spots, expect a couple of these game-changing players to be available as reserved or rookie contract options in the expansion draft.
The Tempo’s best approach
It’s hard to predict what the Tempo will do with their 12 picks, especially without the protected player lists available, but there are some best practices to consider based on the circumstances and what worked for the Valkyries last season.
International talent was a big piece of Golden State’s plan last year — of the 11 selections they made, seven were players from outside the United States.
The W has a large pool of players who have been drafted but have yet to make their league debut and have instead continued developing in top international leagues overseas. There are other international players (Julie Vanloo is a primary example) who choose to step away from the league for periods during the season to represent their home countries. Such players may be left unprotected by their current teams because of their absences, or simply because teams don’t want to risk a prime spot on someone they aren’t sure will fit well in the league. Either way, these fringe options become excellent options for the not-really-in-a-spot-to-be-too-picky Tempo, and there’s a very real potential these lesser-known names could reap substantial reward even if they don’t stick around on the Toronto roster for the entire season.
The last expansion draft caveat is that not all the available selections have to be made. As the Valkyries did in 2024 when they didn’t draft from the Seattle Storm, the Tempo don’t have to fill all 12 spots on Friday afternoon. With two more key roster-building opportunities — free agency and the college draft — still to come before May 8, the Tempo may not be concerned with picking from teams they don’t deem to have worthy options.
