FILE -WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks prior to Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, Oct. 3, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher), File)

By The Canadian Press

WNBA sets April 3 expansion draft for new teams in Portland and Toronto

Mar 25, 2026 | 5:37 PM

The WNBA will hold an expansion draft for its new franchises in Portland and Toronto on April 3, the league announced Wednesday.

A coin toss will be held Friday, with the winning franchise getting to choose either the first pick in the expansion draft or the No. 6 pick in the college draft on April 13. Whichever team doesn’t get the sixth pick in the college draft will choose seventh.

The rules for the expansion draft were announced a day after the league’s Board of Governors ratified the new collective bargaining agreement that was reached last week.

The expansion draft will have two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each round. The teams will alternate picks, with the team that picks second in the first round going first in the next round.

The new teams will pick among players left unprotected by their current WNBA teams, with no more than one player per existing team getting chosen. Teams have until Sunday to submit a list of five protected players.

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Teams can protect players they had rights to on the final day of the 2025 regular season.

Any player who has five or more years of service after the 2025 season must be put on the roster list as an unrestricted free agent or included on the unprotected list. Only two veteran players — Lexie Brown and Kalani Brown — had contracts that didn’t expire last season..

Toronto and Portland each may only select one player who’s a potential unrestricted free agent. The Tempo and Fire would then be allowed to negotiate a supermax contract with those players, which could be worth up to $1.4 million annually under the new CBA.

It’s the second consecutive year that the league has held an expansion draft. Golden State entered the league last year and became the first expansion team to make the playoffs.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press