Fire receive first pick over Tempo in WNBA expansion draft

The Portland Fire will be on the clock first when the WNBA holds its two-team expansion draft on April 3.

The WNBA held a coin toss Friday between the Fire and Toronto Tempo, the two expansion franchises that will bring the league up to 15 teams in 2026.

The Tempo won the toss and had the option to pick first in the expansion draft or pick ahead of the Fire in the WNBA Draft -- sixth overall instead of seventh. Toronto chose to have the sixth overall pick, giving Portland first dibs in the expansion draft.

In the expansion draft, the Fire and Tempo will alternate the first 12 picks comprising Round 1. In Round 2, the order will be flipped, with the Tempo leading it off on the odd-numbered picks and the Fire on the evens.

WNBA teams will designate up to five players as "protected players" who cannot be chosen in the expansion draft. The remainder of their rosters will be available as Portland and Toronto pick one unprotected player from each of the existing teams.

In the standard collegiate draft April 13, the Tempo and Fire will follow the five-team lottery: the Dallas Wings, Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky.

--Field Level Media