The WNBA announced Wednesday that the double expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo — the two new franchises joining the league this season and bringing the total number of teams to 15 — will be held on Friday, April 3, just hours before the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four.
The league also announced the official rules and regulations for the process, which will be slightly different from the Golden State Valkyries’ expansion draft ahead of the 2025 season. This is the first multi-team expansion draft since 2000, when the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire (2000-02) and Seattle Storm all joined at the same time.
Here’s everything you need to know about how this unique event will work and the implications for not only the Fire and Tempo, but the existing 13 teams.
2026 WNBA expansion draft
- Date: Friday, April 3
- Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN | Streaming: fubo (try for free)
What is the format and which team gets the first pick?
The WNBA will conduct a coin toss on Friday, March 27, to determine the order of the expansion draft and where the Fire and Tempo will pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
Expansion teams are always slotted into the annual draft order immediately after the lottery, which includes five picks this year. Thus, the Fire and Tempo will have picks Nos. 6 and 7 overall in the first round, Nos. 21 and 22 in the second round and Nos. 36 and 37 in the third round.
The winner of the coin toss will get to choose between having the first pick in the expansion draft or the No. 6 pick in the annual college draft.
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The expansion draft will be two rounds, with up to 12 picks per round — six for each team. The teams will alternate picks within each round and there will be a snake format between rounds to reverse the order. Additionally, the teams will snake picks in the annual draft, so the team that picks No. 6 overall will select No. 22 overall and No. 36 overall, while the team that picks No. 7 overall will then have the Nos. 21 and 37 selections.
It will be fascinating to see the result of the coin toss and which decision the winning franchise makes. Will they want the first pick in the expansion draft or a better pick in the WNBA Draft?
The No. 6 pick in the annual draft and the second and fourth picks in the expansion draft seem to be more valuable than the No. 7 pick in the annual draft and the first and third picks in the expansion draft. However, that may depend on which players are available in the expansion draft.
As of now, it’s unclear if the team that wins the coin toss will have to decide immediately or if it can wait and see which players are available.
Here are the two paths:
- Option A: Picks Nos. 6, 22 and 36 in the WNBA Draft and picks Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 in the expansion draft.
- Option B: Picks Nos. 7, 21, 37 in the WNBA Draft and picks Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 in the expansion draft.
Determining the player pool
Ahead of the expansion draft, each of the 13 existing teams will be required to submit a list to the league of every player to whom it has rights — players on the team’s active, suspended, draft list/reserved, core, or retired lists — as of the final day of the 2025 regular season.
The 13 existing teams will then be allowed to designate five “protected players” who will not be available for selection in the expansion draft.
All other players will be deemed “unprotected players” and will be eligible for selection by the Fire and Tempo.
How many players can be selected from each existing team?
Two, but only one in each round.
In the interest of fairness, both the Fire and Tempo will be allowed to select a maximum of two players from each of the 13 existing teams. That prevents a situation where one team (or teams) has its roster decimated, while others are left intact.
Additionally, the Fire and Tempo are not required to make the maximum 12 selections. The Valkyries, for example, only made 11 selections in their draft.
What about upcoming free agents?
Most players lined up their contracts so that they would be free agents this winter in anticipation of a major pay raise under the new collective bargaining agreement. As a result, there are well over 100 free agents this winter, including dozens of unrestricted free agents.
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If the Fire or Tempo select a player who is an upcoming free agent, they will receive whatever contract rights the previous team had with said player. Thus, if a player was set to become a restricted free agent, for example, the Fire or Tempo would have the right of first refusal on a contract offer from another team.
It is important to note that the Fire and Tempo can only select one player in the expansion draft who will be an unrestricted free agent. Also, unlike the Valkyries’ expansion draft, an unrestricted free agent may be selected even if they can no longer be designated as a Core Player.
Can the Fire and Tempo make trades?
Yes. Here’s what the league has to say on that matter:
“Between the time that the roster lists are submitted and a designated time on the day before the expansion draft, Portland and Toronto will be permitted to make the following trades with existing teams: (i) an agreement to select a particular player from an unprotected list and trade that player to a team other than her existing team; and (ii) an agreement to select (or not select) a particular player from such trading team’s unprotected list.”
