The WNBA’s 2026 season confirmation accelerated league processes to meet the season tip-off date. The first process, the expansion draft, was supposed to be completed by December and will be held on April 3, with Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo selecting players from the available league teams.
While the Portland Fire showed its creativity by reuniting Portlandia Stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in a fun campaign ahead of its WNBA debut, the testing period now begins, with the team looking to form a roster via the expansion draft, free agency signings, and the WNBA draft.
Portland Fire Gets First Pick In WNBA Expansion Draft
As per the rules, a coin toss decides the order of selection, with the winner choosing either the first pick in the expansion draft or a higher pick in the WNBA draft. As per the recent update, Toronto Tempo won the coin toss.
But the Tempo team selected a higher draft pick, which is the sixth overall pick in the WNBA draft; the Portland Fire will select first in the expansion draft.
the results are in 🪙🔥
— Portland Fire (@theportlandfire) March 27, 2026
The Portland Fire will select first in the Expansion Draft and has received the 7th, 21st, and 37th overall picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft! pic.twitter.com/GkIQ7bUmqI
With two teams in the expansion draft, the rules are a bit different from those of the 2025 expansion draft. Teams will be able to protect five players from their roster, including under-contract players, in the expansion draft. This makes the selection even more difficult. Teams like the Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, and New York Liberty face roster vulnerabilities in the expansion draft.
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While there are 13 active franchises and 24 players for selection in the expansion draft, the following is the process for the upcoming expansion draft.
Working Of WNBA Expansion Draft Explained
With every team securing five players, the expansion draft will feature a maximum of 65 protected players, regardless of their contract status. The selected player will carry the contract to the new franchise.
For selection, there will be two rounds of 12 selections each. It will be a snake-draft format, so the Portland Fire will have the first pick in the first round and the second pick in the second round. Otherwise, both teams will alternate selections for a maximum of 12 picks.
As for selections from existing teams, the expansion teams can select one player from each existing team per round, with a maximum of two players from each team selected in total.
As for the players, they have limited control in the expansion draft. Players cannot unilaterally “deny” a move if they are selected from the unprotected list. Moreover, players under contract for 2026 and on the unprotected list must move to the expansion team if selected.