WNBA announces date for Tempo and Fire expansion draft

While we had an inkling of when the 2026 WNBA expansion draft for the league’s two newest franchises – the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire – would go down, we now have confirmation.

The Tempo and their fellow expansion franchise, the Fire, will take the first step towards building their rosters on April 3 with an expansion draft.

A coin toss between the two teams will give the winner the choice between selecting first in the expansion draft, or picking sixth – instead of seventh – in the WNBA Draft on April 13.

The expansion draft will consist of two rounds with Toronto and Portland choosing from a pool of non-protected players, as determined by each the previously existing 13 teams. Teams will be permitted to protect a maximum of five players on their roster, and all others will be eligible for selection.

They will also be able to select players who are unsigned but whose rights are connected to an existing team. In this case the rights would transfer to the Tempo giving them a chance to sign the player under those conditions.

A “snake” format will be used for the draft, meaning the teams will alternate picks, and that the team who drafted first in the opening round will select second in the latter.

The April 13 college draft will follow a similar format, as the teams will alternate between the sixth and seventh picks each round.

There are a couple interesting wrinkles. One, the expansion teams will each be allowed to pick one “potential unrestricted free agent,” a player who has completed the playing services required by her previous contract and has five or more years of experience. Players with this status may be selected even if they cannot be designated as Core Players, giving the selecting team exclusive rights to negotiate a super max contract with them.

The Tempo and Fire will also be able to agree to select unprotected players and trade them to other teams prior to the draft.

Still, the greatest team-building opportunity of the truncated offseason will come in free agency, where 80 percent of the league – including 21 of the 24 All-Stars from last season – are set to be available.

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