Here's what you need to know about the WNBA Expansion Draft: Explaining the rules

After months of anticipation, we're now just weeks from the WNBA Expansion Draft, where the Golden State Valkyriesare set to fill out their roster. The most recent WNBA Expansion Draft was back in 2008 with the Atlanta Dream. Erika De Souza was a notable player from that draft (formerly on the Connecticut Sun), while LaToya Thomas was drafted by Atlanta and later traded for Ivory Latta.

The Valkyries have already announced that their first head coach will be
Natalie Nakase. She has spent most of her coaching career thus far as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and their G League affiliate. For the past three seasons, Nakase served as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces under head coach Becky Hammon. This will be Nakase's first head coaching job in the WNBA.

Rules for WNBA Expansion Draft

On December 6th, the Golden State Valkyries will participate in a WNBA Expansion Draft to begin forming their team with an eye on beginning play in the 2025 season. This will be the WNBA's 13th franchise in league history. Each team will be required to submit a list of every player to whom the team has rights, including: players on the team’s active roster, suspended players, draft list/reserved, core, and retired lists. The deadline for the submission is typically around two weeks prior to the date of the Expansion Draft (Dec. 6th).

Each of the current 12 teams are required to select up to six “protected players” who will not be available for Golden State to select in the Expansion Draft. All other players on each team’s roster list will then be eligible for selection by the Valkyries. Golden State will then have the opportunity to draft one player from each team that is available. After the Expansion Draft is complete, the Valkyries can then make trades with other teams and prepare for the WNBA Draft as well to help finalize their roster.

Looking ahead to future WNBA Expansion Drafts

The WNBA continues to grow each and every year. We just witnessed a record-breaking WNBA season across the board.

As the WNBA continues to trend upward, there's more expansion on the horizon. With the Valkyries joining the league in the 2025 season, there will likely be a Toronto WNBA team and a Portland WNBA team as well, with both teams expected to join and begin play for the 2026 season. League commissioner Cathy Engelbert has made it known the league would like to have 16 teams by 2028, which would be a record size. The way the game is trending, this is only the beginning of the growth of the WNBA.