The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) expansion draft is an event hosted by the WNBA as needed that allows expansion teams to select from a pool of existing WNBA players to build their debut rosters. Pre-existing WNBA teams are allowed to protect six players on their current rosters from being drafted.
Prior to the 2000 expansion draft, the WNBA allocated players from outside of the league to new expansion teams both prior to and following the WNBA draft and expansion drafts.
The WNBA has hosted seven expansion drafts since the league's creation in 1996 with the introduction of the Detroit Shock and Washington Mystics in 1998; the Minnesota Lynx and Orlando Miracle in 1999; the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire, and Seattle Storm in 2000; the Chicago Sky in 2006; the Atlanta Dream in 2008; the Golden State Valkyries in 2024; and the Toronto Tempo and the new Portland Fire team in 2025.
1998: Detroit Shock, Washington Mystics
Initial player allocation PickPlayerNationalityWNBA teamSchool/club team 1 Cindy Brown (F) Detroit Shock Long Beach State (from Seattle Reign, ABL) 2 Razija Mujanović (C) Detroit Shock Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 Nikki McCray (G) Washington Mystics Tennessee (from Columbus Quest, ABL) 4 Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (C) Washington Mystics Pool Comense (Italy)
Expansion draft PickPlayerNationalityNew teamFormer team 1 Rhonda Blades (G) Detroit Shock New York Liberty 2 Heidi Burge (F) Washington Mystics Los Angeles Sparks 3 Tajama Abraham (C) Detroit Shock Sacramento Monarchs 4 Penny Moore (F) Washington Mystics Charlotte Sting 5 Tara Williams (G) Detroit Shock Phoenix Mercury 6 Deborah Carter (F) Washington Mystics Utah Starzz 7 Lynette Woodard (G) Detroit Shock Cleveland Rockers 8 Tammy Jackson (F/C) Washington Mystics Houston Comets
1999: Minnesota Lynx, Orlando Miracle
Initial player allocation PickPlayerNationalityNew WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 Kristin Folkl (F) Minnesota Lynx Stanford 2 Nykesha Sales (G/F) Orlando Miracle Connecticut
Expansion draft selections PickPlayerNationalityNew WNBA teamFormer WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 Brandy Reed (F) Minnesota Lynx Phoenix Mercury Southern Mississippi 2 Andrea Congreaves (F) Orlando Miracle Charlotte Sting Mercer 3 Kim Williams (G) Minnesota Lynx Utah Starzz DePaul 4 Kisha Ford (G) Orlando Miracle New York Liberty Georgia Tech 5 Octavia Blue (G) Minnesota Lynx Los Angeles Sparks Miami (FL) 6 Yolanda Moore (F) Orlando Miracle Houston Comets Mississippi 7 Adia Barnes (F) Minnesota Lynx Sacramento Monarchs Arizona 8 Adrienne Johnson (G) Orlando Miracle Cleveland Rockers Ohio State
Post-expansion draft player allocation PickPlayerNationalityNew WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 Katie Smith (F) Minnesota Lynx Ohio Statefrom Columbus Quest, ABL 2 Shannon Johnson (G/F) Orlando Miracle South Carolina from Columbus Quest, ABL
2000: Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire, Seattle Storm
PickPlayerNationalityNew WNBA teamFormer WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 Gordana Grubin (G) Indiana Fever Los Angeles Sparks MiZo Pecs (Hungary) 2 Edna Campbell (G) Seattle Storm Phoenix Mercury Texas 3 Kate Starbird (G) Miami Sol Sacramento Monarchs Stanford 4 Alisa Burras (F) Portland Fire Cleveland Rockers Louisiana Tech 5 Sophia Witherspoon (G) Portland Fire New York Liberty Florida 6 Sandy Brondello (G) Miami Sol Detroit Shock BTV Wuppertal (Germany) 7 Sonja Henning (G) Seattle Storm Houston Comets Stanford 8 Stephanie McCarthy (G) Indiana Fever Charlotte Sting Purdue 9 Nyree Roberts (C) Indiana Fever Washington Mystics Old Dominion 10 Angela Aycock (F) Seattle Storm Minnesota Lynx Kansas 11 Debbie Black (G) Miami Sol Utah Starzz St. Joseph's 12 Tari Phillips (C) Portland Fire Orlando Miracle Florida 13 Coquese Washington (G) Portland Fire New York Liberty Notre Dame 14 Sharon Manning (F) Miami Sol Charlotte Sting North Carolina State 15 Nina Bjedov (C) Seattle Storm Los Angeles Sparks Basket Bees Pavia (Italy) 16 Rita Williams (G) Indiana Fever Washington Mystics Connecticut 17 Kara Wolters (C) Indiana Fever Houston Comets Connecticut 18 Toni Foster (F) Seattle Storm Phoenix Mercury Iowa 19 Lesley Brown (F) Miami Sol Detroit Shock Virginia 20 Molly Goodenbour (G) Portland Fire Sacramento Monarchs Stanford 21 Jamila Wideman (G) Portland Fire Cleveland Rockers Stanford 22 Yolanda Moore (F) Miami Sol Orlando Miracle Mississippi 23 Charmin Smith (G) Seattle Storm Minnesota Lynx Stanford 24 Chantel Tremitiere (G) Indiana Fever Utah Starzz Auburn
2006: Chicago Sky
On November 16, 2005, an expansion draft occurred to help fill the roster for the Chicago Sky.
PickPlayerNationalityFormer WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 Jia Perkins (G) Charlotte Sting Texas Tech 2 Brooke Wyckoff (F) Connecticut Sun Florida State 3 Elaine Powell (G) Detroit Shock LSU 4 Kiesha Brown (G) Houston Comets Georgia 5 Deanna Jackson (F) Indiana Fever Alabama-Birmingham 6 Laura Macchi (F) Los Angeles Sparks Pool Comense (Italy) 7 Stacey Lovelace-Tolbert (F) Minnesota Lynx Purdue 8 DeTrina White (F) New York Liberty LSU 9 Ashley Robinson (C) Phoenix Mercury Tennessee 10 Chelsea Newton (G) Sacramento Monarchs Rutgers 11 Bernadette Ngoyisa (C) San Antonio Silver Stars Congo 12 Francesca Zara (G) Seattle Storm Napoli Basket Vomero (Italy) 13 Stacey Dales-Schuman (G) Washington Mystics Oklahoma
2008: Atlanta Dream
On February 6, 2008, an expansion draft occurred to help fill the roster for the Atlanta Dream. The team also participated in the 2008 WNBA draft prior to the team's first season.
PickPlayerNationalityFormer WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 Carla Thomas (F) Chicago Sky Vanderbilt 2 Érika de Souza (F) Connecticut Sun Spain 3 Katie Feenstra (C) Detroit Shock Liberty 4 Roneeka Hodges (F) Houston Comets Florida State 5 Ann Strother (G) Indiana Fever Connecticut 6 LaToya Thomas (G) Los Angeles Sparks Mississippi State 7 Kristen Mann (F) Minnesota Lynx UC Santa Barbara 8 Ann Wauters (C) New York Liberty Valenciennes Olympic (France) 9 Jennifer Lacy (F) Phoenix Mercury Pepperdine 10 Kristin Haynie (G) Sacramento Monarchs Michigan State 11 Chantelle Anderson (C) San Antonio Silver Stars Vanderbilt 12 Betty Lennox (G) Seattle Storm Louisiana Tech 13 Yelena Leuchanka (F) Washington Mystics West Virginia Source:WNBA.com: Atlanta Dream
2024: Golden State Valkyries
On December 6, 2024, an expansion draft occurred to help fill the roster for the expansion Golden State Valkyries. The team also participated in the 2025 WNBA draft prior to the team's first season in 2025.
The WNBA announced on September 30, 2024, that the expansion draft would be held on December 6 and televised by ESPN, and also announced the draft rules. Each existing WNBA team had to provide the league office with a list of all players to which it held contract rights as of the final day of the 2024 regular season; the submission deadline was not determined, but was expected to be about 10 days before the draft. Each team also had to designate no more than six players who would not be eligible for selection. The Valkyries were allowed to select one available player from each of the 12 previously existing teams. Only one player eligible to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024 season could be chosen, and that player could not have played under a "core player" contract for two or more seasons. The Valkyries were allowed to make trades prior to the expansion draft, including agreements to (1) select a given player and trade that player to another team, or (2) select or not select an available player from a given team.
PickPlayerNationalityFormer WNBA teamCollege/country/team 1 (C) Atlanta Dream France 2 (F) Chicago Sky Florida State 3 (G) Connecticut Sun Northwestern 4 (G) Dallas Wings France 5 (C) Indiana Fever USC 6 (G) Las Vegas Aces Iowa 7 (F) Los Angeles Sparks Australia 8 (F) Minnesota Lynx Italy 9 (F) New York Liberty UTEP 10 (F) Phoenix Mercury UCLA 11 No selection — Seattle Storm — 12 (G) Washington Mystics Belgium Source:
2026: Portland Fire, Toronto Tempo
On April 3, 2026, an expansion draft was held to help fill the rosters for the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo. A coin flip determined the first team to draft. The draft consisted of two rounds with each team alternating selecting from a pool of unprotected WNBA roster players. Portland had the first pick in the first round, while Toronto had the first pick in the second round.
Pick Player Position Nationality New WNBA team Former WNBA teamCollege 1 Bridget Carleton F Portland Fire Minnesota Lynx Iowa State 2 Julie Allemand G Toronto Tempo Los Angeles Sparks BC Castors Braine 3 Carla Leite Portland Fire Golden State Valkyries – 4 Nyara Sabally C Toronto Tempo New York Liberty Oregon 5 Luisa Geiselsöder Portland Fire Dallas Wings – 6 Marina Mabrey G Toronto Tempo Connecticut SunNotre Dame 7 Emily Engstler F Portland Fire Washington MysticsLouisville 8 Aaliyah Nye G Toronto Tempo Las Vegas Aces Alabama 9 Maya Caldwell Portland Fire Atlanta Dream Georgia 10 Lexi Held Toronto Tempo Phoenix Mercury DePaul 11 Chloe Bibby Portland Fire Indiana Fever Maryland 12 No selection / pass – – Toronto Tempo – – 13 María Conde F Toronto Tempo Golden State Valkyries Florida State 14 Haley Jones G Portland Fire Dallas Wings Stanford 15 Maria Kliundikova F Toronto Tempo Minnesota Lynx Dynamo Kursk 16 Nyadiew Puoch G Portland Fire Atlanta Dream – 17 Adja Kane F Toronto Tempo New York Liberty – 18 Sarah Ashlee Barker G Portland Fire Los Angeles Sparks Alabama 19 Nikolina Milić F Toronto Tempo Connecticut Sun – 20 Sug Sutton G Portland Fire Washington Mystics Texas 21 Kitija Laksa F Toronto Tempo Phoenix Mercury South Florida 22 No selection / pass – – Portland Fire – – 23 Kristy Wallace G Toronto Tempo Indiana Fever Baylor 24 Nika Mühl G Portland Fire Seattle Storm Connecticut
Future expansion
On June 30, 2025, the WNBA announced that it would expand to Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030), bringing the total to 18 teams.
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