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How does the WNBA expansion draft work?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 4, 2026. Last updated October 4, 2026.

How does the WNBA expansion draft work?

An expansion draft stocks a new team by letting it claim players from the rosters of existing teams. Each existing team sends the league a list of every player it holds rights to, marks a limited number as protected, and everyone else becomes available. The new team then picks from the unprotected pool, usually no more than one or two players per team.

The rules are not fixed in one place. The league announces them before each draft. For the 2026 draft, the roster list covered every player on a team's active, suspended, draft, reserved, core or retired list as of the final day of the 2025 regular season, per the WNBA announcement of the 2026 Expansion Draft. A player taken who has no contract for the coming season moves with whatever rights the old team held, including restricted free agency rights.

Trades are part of the process. In the days before the draft, an expansion team may agree to select a player and trade her to a third team, or agree to take or skip a specific player in exchange for something of value. Some of the most important moves in an expansion draft are the picks that are never made.

How did the 2024 expansion draft build the Golden State Valkyries?

The Valkyries were built under the simpler of the two recent formats. Each of the 12 existing teams could protect six players, Golden State could take one player per team, and its picks did not count against the salary cap at the moment of selection, per the Associated Press report on the 2024 rules. Only one pick could be a player headed to unrestricted free agency. It was the league's first expansion draft since 2008.

Golden State made 11 selections on December 6, 2024, and passed on Seattle's list, per USA Today’s draft results. Two of those picks, Kayla Thornton from New York and Veronica Burton from Connecticut, are still with the team. On October 4, 2026, the Valkyries opened the semifinals by beating the defending champion Las Vegas Aces 71-60 at Chase Center, per the Associated Press game recap.

The business result came first. CNBC valued the Valkyries at $1 billion in 2026, the first WNBA franchise to reach that mark, on 2025 revenue of $73 million, per NBC Bay Area’s report on the CNBC valuations. The franchise plays across the Bay from Oakland, and the guide to Bay Area basketball and scouting covers the college programs around it.

What changed for Portland and Toronto in 2026?

Two teams drafting at once forced new rules. Each of the 13 existing teams, now including Golden State, could protect five players instead of six, and the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo could take up to two players per team between them, one per round, per the WNBA announcement.

The free agent change mattered most. In 2026, each expansion team could select one potential unrestricted free agent with five or more years of service, even one no longer eligible for the core designation, and become the only team able to negotiate a supermax with her. That forced existing teams to spend protection slots on veterans they had never needed to protect before.

The Valkyries learned what it means to be an existing team. Portland took Carla Leite third overall and Toronto took María Conde 13th, both from Golden State, per the WNBA’s 2026 results. Both had joined the Valkyries in the 2024 expansion draft. A player can move through two expansion drafts in 16 months without ever asking to be traded.

What does being left unprotected mean for a player?

It means her contract, or her rights, can move to a new city without her consent. A player under contract keeps the same salary and terms with the new team. A player without a contract for the coming season brings her free agency status with her, so a restricted free agent becomes the new team's restricted free agent. Salary details are covered in WNBA salaries for 2026 and, for younger players, the WNBA rookie contract.

Unprotected is not a verdict on talent. Teams protect for roster fit, contract cost and age as much as ability, and a team with five strong starters may have no room for a sixth good player. From an agent's seat, the players most affected by an expansion draft are rarely the stars. They are the fifth through ninth players on a roster, the ones whose minutes depend on fit, and for them the new team is often a larger role.

Whether a particular player benefits depends on her contract, her service years and the two rosters involved. That question belongs with her certified agent and the Women's National Basketball Players Association, which bargained the rules that govern her rights.

When are the next WNBA expansion drafts?

Three more are scheduled. Cleveland begins play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, per the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors approval. Each should bring its own draft, and the league has rewritten the rules each time. By 2030 the league will have 18 teams, up from 12 in 2024. The team directory tracks every incoming franchise.

Expansion also means more jobs: every new team adds roster spots, coaching staffs and front office roles. The guide to becoming a WNBA agent covers the representation side of that growth.

What should a player do before an expansion draft?

1. Confirm her status. Know whether she is under contract, a restricted free agent or a potential unrestricted free agent on the roster list date.
2. Ask where she stands. Teams do not publish protected lists in advance, but an agent can ask the front office how the player fits its plans.
3. Plan for a move. Housing, offseason commitments overseas and family logistics all change if her rights move.
4. Read the announced rules. Each draft has its own, and a change like the 2026 supermax provision can turn an unprotected veteran into the most valuable pick on the board.