WNBA expansion roster building starts with a dedicated expansion draft where new franchises select players left unprotected by existing teams. But they do not just pick random names out of a hat and start the season. The process combines an expansion draft, a pre-draft trade window, the annual college draft, and standard free agency to build a complete squad from scratch.
The league enforces strict rules to ensure new teams are competitive immediately, without completely gutting the existing 13 franchises.
How The WNBA Expansion Draft Works
The core mechanism of WNBA expansion revolves around a specialized draft format. According to official league documentation, the expansion draft consists of two rounds. Each expansion team is permitted to make up to six selections per round. In the 2026 expansion cycle featuring the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, the league utilized a “snake” format to keep things fair.
Portland picks first in the opening round, alternating with Toronto. Toronto then receives the first selection in the second round, alternating again. To prevent draining a single franchise of its depth, expansion teams can select a maximum of two players from any existing team. This is strictly limited to one selection per team, per round.
Why Teams Use Protected Lists
Incumbent teams obviously do not want to lose their star players to a new city. To prevent this, every existing franchise submits a protected list.
For the 2026 expansion cycle, existing teams can protect up to five players on their roster. This is a reduction from the six players allowed during the 2024 Golden State Valkyries expansion, as confirmed by the Indiana Fever. The lowered protection limit gives new teams a slightly deeper talent pool to evaluate.
Existing franchises must submit a massive, comprehensive roster list to the league office detailing every player they hold rights to. This includes active, suspended, draft list/reserved, core, and retired players. Anyone left unprotected across these various categories immediately becomes eligible for selection by the expansion franchises.
There are no positional requirements dictating these selections. Expansion teams can choose players strictly based on roster needs and talent availability without regard to filling specific on-court positions right away.
Unrestricted Free Agents and Supermax Deals
Handling Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) involves a completely different set of rules. The WNBA places strict limits on how expansion teams can use the draft to acquire UFAs. Each expansion team is only allowed to select one UFA during the entire expansion draft.
If an expansion team selects a UFA, they automatically acquire that player’s league negotiation rights. That means the player cannot negotiate with other teams during the initial free agency window.
A major rule change for the 2026 draft also allows expansion teams to select UFAs who have already exhausted their “Core” eligibility. This means the player can no longer be restricted from free agency by their previous team. If an expansion franchise drafts them, that new franchise becomes the only team authorized to offer them a one-year supermax contract. That financial leverage is a massive advantage for pulling in veteran talent.
The Pre-Draft Trade Window
Before the expansion draft even happens, the WNBA opens a distinct window allowing new franchises to negotiate trades with the league’s existing teams.
Expansion teams routinely form agreements to intentionally select—or explicitly avoid selecting—specific players from an incumbent team’s unprotected list. In exchange, the incumbent team sends over draft assets or other roster considerations to the expansion team.
Franchises can also get creative. An expansion team might draft an unprotected player with a pre-arranged agreement already in place to immediately trade that player’s rights to a third-party team.
Completing the Roster: College Draft and Free Agency
A common misconception is that the expansion draft fills out the entire team. It doesn’t. New teams are not required to fill their entire roster during this event. They must also participate in traditional free agency and the annual WNBA College Draft to complete their inaugural squads.
In the 2026 cycle, Portland and Toronto’s draft positions were determined by a simple coin toss. Toronto won the toss. They elected to take the No. 6 overall pick in the college draft. That choice pushed Portland to No. 7 but gave Portland the No. 1 overall pick in the expansion draft.
The college draft picks for the expansion teams will alternate or “snake” through the subsequent rounds to ensure competitive balance as both franchises build their final depth charts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a WNBA Expansion Draft?
An Expansion Draft is a process that allows a new professional team to build its roster by selecting players from a designated pool of unprotected players from the league’s existing franchises.
How many players can a WNBA team protect in the expansion draft?
During the 2026 expansion draft, each of the 13 existing WNBA teams is permitted to protect a maximum of five players on their roster from being selected by the new franchises.
Can WNBA expansion teams draft free agents?
Yes, but with strict limitations. Each expansion team is limited to selecting only one Potential Unrestricted Free Agent (defined as a player with five or more years of service and an expired contract) during the expansion draft.
Are expansion teams required to fill their entire roster during the expansion draft?
No. The expansion draft is only the beginning of the roster-building process. Teams complete their final rosters by participating in the traditional free agency period and the college draft.