WNBA expansion draft: Which six players will be protected by every team?
With the Dallas Wings having won Sunday's WNBA draft lottery, the focus of the 12 existing teams now shifts toward a very different type of draft: the Golden State Valkyries expansion draft, the first in the WNBA since 2008.
Ahead of the Dec. 6 announcement of the draft results on ESPN, each current team has until Monday to submit a list of up to six protected players, including both those who finished the season on their roster and all others to whom the team holds rights.
The inclusion of player rights, most notably for draft picks who have yet to come to the WNBA and are "stashed" overseas, could produce interesting decisions on who teams will protect. Conversely, teams don't have to protect unrestricted free agents who have already played the maximum two years on contracts signed with the core designation, taking some of the league's biggest names off the table.
Golden State can choose one player from each team and only one total unrestricted free agent, who then becomes eligible to be designated a core player by the Valkyries. With those rules in mind, let's make a guess at which players each team will protect and who might be available for Golden State's inaugural roster.
Roster designationsbr/>DP: unsigned draft pickbr/>R: restricted free agentbr/>RS: reserved free agentbr/>S: suspended list and contract expiredbr/>U: unrestricted free agent
Projected protected:
Projected unprotected:
Ineligible: Tina Charles
None of the Dream's three 2024 draft picks joined the team, maintaining their rights but making them subject to the expansion draft. As a first-round pick, I'd give the 20-year-old Puoch the best chance of being protected alongside Atlanta's four eligible starters. I've given the last spot to Borlase -- another 20-year-old Australian drafted No. 20 -- over former first-round pick Rupert, for whom Atlanta has exclusive negotiating rights after she opted to sit out the 2024 season to play for France in the Olympics.
Chicago Sky
Projected unprotected:
Protecting core players won't be a challenge for the Sky. In fact, Chicago has room to protect three restricted free agents in addition to promising young players Cardoso and Reese, andveteran Williams.After averaging a team-high 17.5 points last season, Carteris another easy choice, and Onyenwere has emerged as a starter.
Evans, another restricted free agent, fell out of favor under Teresa Weatherspoon but could have a new start with Tyler Marsh replacing Weatherspoon as coach. Meanwhile, the Valkyries drafting any of the Sky's veterans would add to their stockpile of cap space.
Projected unprotected:
Ineligible: DeWanna Bonner
The one question is whether Connecticut might choose reserve post Nelson-Ododa over Burton, but Burton's exclusive negotiating rights as a reserved player are valuable.
Dallas Wings
Ineligible: Natasha Howard
Despite not having to protect Howard, the Wings will have to leave multiple recent first-round picks unprotected. Dallas will probably start by protecting the team's top five eligible players last season in minutes per game, including key reserve Siegrist. That leaves one spot between backup center Kalani Brown, part-time starting point guard Uzun, 2023 first-round picks Lopez Senechal and Soares,and last year's No. 9 pick, guard Leite from France. Of that group, I think the Wings are most likely to protect Leite -- particularly after winning the draft lottery and potentially landing UConn point guard Paige Bueckers to replace Uzun.
Projected protected list:
