WNBA expansion draft: how do the Golden State Valkyries build a team from scratch?

Next season, the WNBA will add a Bay Area team, the Golden State Valkyries, before Portland and Toronto begin play in 2026, with another franchise will likely arrive in 2028.

These teams obviously need new players. And Golden State will pick their new stars via an expansion draft on Friday. The WNBA has had five expansion drafts to date: in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2008. This year’s edition will allow the Valkyries to select at least 11 players for their roster. They also have Nos. 5, 17 and 30 in next year’s draft.

The expansion draft will be a chaotic time for the other teams, who can only protect a handful of players from Golden State, and for fans, who are attached to their team’s rosters and likely won’t be happy if anyone leaves. But at the same time, an expansion draft is an indication that the WNBA is a thriving ecosystem that can nurture and support more teams, which means more players, more coaches and more women’s basketball. So take a deep breath, because the expansion draft is a Good thing.

At the same time, don’t get too comfortable after Friday’s business is wrapped up, as next year the league will host two drafts for the Portland and Toronto teams. Plus, about 90% of the players in the league will be free agents at the same time, meaning it’s going to be pretty tough.

When is the WNBA Expansion Draft?

The draft is scheduled for Friday, December 6 and will air at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN.

Who are the Golden State Valkyries?

The team was officially announced last October and within hours more than 2,000 season ticket deposits were made. Ohemaa Nyanin joined the Valkyries as the team’s general manager in May, and former Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase was appointed as their head coach. The team plays at the Chase Center in San Francisco, also home to Golden State’s other team, the NBA’s Warriors.

How does the expansion design work?

Each of the current teams in the WNBA can protect six players from being drafted by the Valkyries. Golden State can then select players from each team. These are players that teams are entitled to, including active, suspended, draft listed/reserved, core and retired athletes. The team can then acquire the rights to one player from each of the twelve teams, and can also select only one unrestricted free agent from around the world. the list of available versions.

By the end of the expansion draft, the Valkyries should have at least 11 players (the roster maximum is 12, and the team has the No. 5 pick in next year’s WNBA draft).

Can the Valkyries take any unprotected player they want?

No. The team can collect just one unlimited free agent – ​​one from across the league – and then the Valkyries can core that player to protect him in future drafts and trade deals. The player cannot sign with another team for a year (and receives the league’s supermax salary of $249,244 for 2025).

Furthermore, within the list of potential players there are some who have played under their own team for the past two seasons and cannot be removed again. Right now, that means six players (Brittney Griner, Brionna Jones, Natasha Howard, DeWanna Bonner, Nneka Ogwumike and Tina Charles) that the Valkyries could technically select, but would likely lose after the 2025 season anyway — and would missing out on an investment of almost $250,000.

Which players are protected?

The list of protected players is kept confidential, so it is not definitive who is on the list and who is not. However, educated guesses can be (and are) made. Teams will make sure they keep their best players. So sorry Golden State fans, stars like Caitlin Clark, A’Ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese aren’t going anywhere.

Which teams will lose the most

Both the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx will need to keep their starting lineups safe (unless someone has specifically requested a transfer to San Francisco, which isn’t information they’re likely to share ahead of the expansion draft), meaning each is at risk losing important young players from their squads. The Lynx have only three players – Diamond Miller, Dorka Juhasz and Alissa Pili – under the age of 27, so losing any of them would be tough on the team. Additionally, both Miller and Pili were good picks (No. 2 and No. 8, respectively).

How expansion teams have fared

There have been five expansion drafts since the WNBA was founded in 1996. The league added the Detroit Shock and Washington Mystics in 1998, the Orlando Miracle and Minnesota Lynx in 1999, the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire and Seattle Storm in 2000. , the Chicago Sky in 2006 and the Atlanta Dream in 2008.

Those teams have run the gamut in terms of the highs and lows of the first season. The Shock finished their first season with a 17–13 record and a three-way tie with the Miracle and the Charlotte Sting for the playoffs, but soon suffered a year-long slump that was not corrected until former Detroit Pistons player and coach Bill Laimbeer took over in 2003 and the team won the WNBA Finals. The team moved to Tulsa after Laimbeer left in 2009 and eventually folded.

The Mystics entered their first season with high expectations after adding Olympian Nikki McCray to their roster, but lost 27 of their 30 games – not making the playoffs until 2000. And while the Lynx are absolutely dominant now, they had some times difficult. year until the team made the playoffs in 2003. Drafting Seimone Augustus in 2005 was a boon, but the Lynx didn’t win a championship until 2011, though they have added three more since then, in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

The Miracle didn’t have the staying power that the Lynx had. Although the team made the playoffs in 2000, Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos opted not to keep the team in Florida. They moved to Connecticut in 2003, where they became the sun.

The Fever had their first successful year in 2002 after Tamika Catchings was named Rookie of the Year and helped lead the team to their first playoff appearance, where they lost to the Liberty. De Sol folded three seasons into the team’s existence after failing to raise enough money to continue operating, a problem that also plagued the Portland Fire after chairman Paul Allen could not manage the team buy.

The Storm had two difficult seasons before Sue Bird was formed in 2002. Bird proved to be a franchise-defining player and the team became WNBA champions in 2004. They won three more championships, in 2010, 2018 and 2020.

The Sky joined the WNBA with much fanfare (Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams and Beyoncé’s father Matthew Knowles were announced as minority shareholders), but not much success initially. The 2013 playoffs marked a major turning point for the team after they drafted Elena Delle Donne with the second overall pick. The team won their first, and so far only, championship in 2021.

The Dream’s first season was dismal: They went 4-26 in 2008. But they drafted Angel McCoughtry No. 1 overall in 2009 and reached the playoffs the same year. Like many teams, the Dream experienced frequent coaching changes but reached the WNBA Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013.