Next season, the WNBA will add a Bay Area team, the Golden State Valkyries, before Portland and Toronto begin play in 2026, with another franchise likely to arrive in 2028.
These teams will of course need new players. And Golden State will choose its new stars Friday in an expansion draft. The WNBA has enjoyed five expansion drafts so far – in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2008. This year’s edition will allow the Valkyries to select at least 11 players on their roster. They also have the numbers 5, 17 and 30 in next year’s draft.
The expansion draft will be a chaotic time for other teams, who can only protect a handful of players from Golden State, and for fans, who are attached to their team’s rosters and likely won’t be happy about the departure of anyone. But at the same time, an expansion draft indicates that the WNBA is a thriving ecosystem that can nurture and support more teams, which means more players, more coaches and more women’s basketball. So take a deep breath, because the expansion project is a GOOD thing.
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At the same time, don’t worry once Friday’s business is over, because next year the league will host two drafts for the Portland and Toronto teams. Plus, about 90% of the league’s players will be free agents at the same time, which means things will be pretty spicy.
When is the WNBA Expansion Draft?
The draft is scheduled for Friday, December 6 and will air on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Who are the Golden State Valkyries?
The team was officially announced in October last year, and within hours more than 2,000 deposits for season tickets were made. Ohemaa Nyanin joined the Valkyries as the team’s general manager in May, and former Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase was named head coach. The team will play at Chase Center in San Francisco, also the home of Golden State’s other team, the NBA’s Warriors.
How does the expansion project work?
Each of the current WNBA teams will be able to protect six players from being drafted by the Valkyries. Golden State will then be able to recruit players from each team. These are players that teams are entitled to, including active, suspended, drafted/reserved, core, and retired athletes. The team can then acquire the rights to one player from each of the 12 teams, and can also only choose one unrestricted free agent from all teams. the list of those available.
At the end of the expansion draft, the Valkyries are expected to have at least 11 players (the maximum players are 12 and the team has the No. 5 pick in next year’s WNBA draft).
Can the Valkyries take any unprotected player they want?
The team can only sign one unrestricted free agent – one in the entire league – and the Valkyries can then draft that player to protect them in future drafts and trade deals. The player will not be able to sign with any other team for one year (and will receive the league’s supermax salary of $249,244 for 2025).
Additionally, among the list of potential players, some have spent the last two seasons in their own team and cannot be there again. Right now, that means six players (Brittney Griner, Brionna Jones, Natasha Howard, DeWanna Bonner, Nneka Ogwumike and Tina Charles) that the Valkyries could technically select, but they would likely end up losing them anyway after the 2025 season – and would lose this investment of almost $250,000.
Which players will be protected?
The list of protected players will remain confidential, so it is unclear who is on the list and who is not. However, educated guesses can (and are) made. Teams will make sure to retain their best players. So, sorry Golden State fans, stars like Caitlin Clark, A’Ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese aren’t going anywhere.
Which teams will lose the most
The New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx will need to keep their starting lineup safe (unless someone has specifically requested to be traded to San Francisco, which is not information they are likely to share before the expansion draft), which means they each risk losing key young players from their roster. The Lynx only have three players – Diamond Miller, Dorka Juhasz and Alissa Pili – under the age of 27, so losing any of them would be difficult for the team. On top of that, Miller and Pili were both top picks (No. 2 and No. 8, respectively).
How Expansion Teams Fared
There have been five expansion projects since the WNBA’s inception in 1996. The league added the Detroit Shock and Washington Mystics in 1998, the Orlando Miracle and Minnesota Lynx in 1999, the Indiana Fever, the Miami Sol , the Portland Fire and the Seattle Storm in 2000. , the Chicago Sky in 2006 and the Atlanta Dream in 2008.
These teams have run the gamut in terms of first season highs and lows. The Shock finished their first season with a 17-13 record and a three-way tie with the Miracle and Charlotte Sting for the playoffs, but quickly suffered a years-long slump that was only corrected by the former Detroit Pistons player and coach. Bill Laimbeer took over in 2003 and the team won the WNBA Finals. The team moved to Tulsa after Laimbeer left in 2009 and eventually folded.
The Mystics entered their first season with high hopes after adding Olympian Nikki McCray to their roster, but lost 27 of 30 games – they didn’t reach the playoffs until 2000. And although the Lynx are absolutely dominant now, they struggled for several years until the team made the playoffs in 2003. The drafting of Seimone Augustus in 2005 was a boon, but the Lynx didn’t win a championship until after 2011, although they have since added three more, in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
The Miracle didn’t have the durability that the Lynx enjoyed. Although the team reached the playoffs in 2000, Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos opted not to keep the team in Florida. They moved to Connecticut, where they became The Sun, in 2003.
The Fever had their first successful year in 2002 after Tamika Catchings was named Rookie of the Year and helped lead the team to its first playoff appearance, where they lost to the Liberty. The Sol took three seasons into the team’s existence after failing to raise enough money to continue operating, a problem that also plagued the Portland Fire after president Paul Allen was unable to purchase the team. ‘team.
The Storm had two difficult seasons before signing Sue Bird in 2002. Bird proved to be an instrumental player for the franchise and the team was WNBA champion in 2004. They won three more championships, in 2010, 2018 and 2020.
The Sky joined the WNBA with much fanfare (Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams and Beyoncé’s father, Matthew Knowles, were announced as minority shareholders), but without much initial success. The 2013 playoffs marked a significant turning point for the team after drafting Elena Delle Donne as the second overall pick. The team won its first, and so far only, championship in 2021.
The Dreams’ first season was dismal – they went 4-26 in 2008. But they drafted Angel McCoughtry No. 1 overall in 2009 and made the playoffs that same year. Like many teams, the Dream has experienced frequent coaching changes, but reached the WNBA Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
