The Portand Fire and Toronto Tempo finally have some players. In the first step of what should be a frenzied offseason, the WNBA held its expansion draft Friday. I feel like the expansion draft has been largely overlooked by friends and media, as evidenced by it being broadcast in the early afternoon on Good Friday. Nevertheless, the Golden State Valkyries proved last season how important the expansion draft can be. They made the playoffs last season largely on the strength of the players selected in the expansion draft. I doubt either Toronto or Portland will make the playoffs this season, but there was plenty to take away from their drafts nonetheless.

1. Bridget Carleton was a stretch with the first pick

Portland’s general manager, Vanja Černivec, was the vice president of basketball operations for the Golden State Valkyries last season. That team was built on players who defended their butts off and were willing three-point shooters, so taking Bridget Carleton with the first pick makes some sense. The problem is, I don’t think Carleton is a candidate to expand her game the way Kayla Thornton and Veronica Burton did with the Valkyries last season. Carleton had plenty of opportunities in Minnesota over the years, when they dealt with myriad injuries and international absences, and she has never had a usage over 13.5 percent.

We don’t know which unrestricted free agents were protected, or who else was unprotected on Minnesota’s roster, but I just don’t love using the top pick, and then paying a ton of money, to a role player who turns 29 next month. I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t have found a better use for that money in free agency, not to mention the opportunity cost of selecting Carleton instead of someone else. Three-and-D wings are valuable, but I think Carleton needs to be more than that to live up to this pick.

2. I didn’t love ESPN’s Expansion Draft broadcast.

They gave us both teams’ first picks, then they told us the Fire’s entire draft, and then Toronto’s entire draft. It went way too quickly to be able to wrap your mind around what had happened. Why not take an entire hour and give us each pick in turn? One of the interesting aspects of any draft is the ebb and flow as each pick is made, and draft boards change. This draft had the added intrigue of one player getting drafted off a roster in each round. Once Portland selected Bridget Carleton, for instance, no Lynx player could be selected until the second round. That was hardly even mentioned during the broadcast. I wanted some discussion of what the expansion draft meant for the existing teams, and that was completely missing. I know that few people enjoy an expansion draft as much as I do, but there was so much more meat left on this bone. I hope we get expanded coverage next year, especially since the draft will be held in the winter and not a month before training camp.

3. Maya Caldwell is poised to win Most Improved Player

Last season, the Golden State Valkyries selected Veronica Burton from the Connecticut Sun, and she parlayed the opportunity for increased minutes and offensive touches into winning the WNBA Most Improved Player award. If there is a ‘next Veronica Burton’ in this expansion draft, I think it will be Maya Caldwell. Caldwell did well to carve out any playing time in Atlanta, considering how stacked that team was in the backcourt. Caldwell has shot 34.4 percent on threes and 81.5 percent on free throws during her four-year career. If she can get to the line more often, a la Brittney Sykes last season, that could be low-hanging fruit for increasing her productivity. I would also like to see Caldwell take even more threes. She averaged 5.2 three-point attempts per 36 minutes last season, but I think she could get that number up over six pretty easily. When it comes time to predict the Most Improved Player for 2026, Caldwell will likely be near the top of my list.

4. I feel a little bit bad for Marina Mabrey.

She’s almost certainly going to get the core designation and a boatload of money, so I don’t feel too bad, but I’m not looking forward to seeing her with the ball in her hands on a bad team yet again. Mabrey played that role in Connecticut last season and barring a surprise free agent signing, she’ll have to play that same role in Toronto. She would be perfect as a floor spacer and second-side creator on a good team, but barring a huge step forward from

5. I’m surprised neither team selected Cecilia Zandalasini.

Unless Golden State protected her instead of Kayla Thornton. In that case, I think I would have rather had Thornton as an unrestricted free agent over Carleton or Mabrey. Also, would the Valkyries really have protected Zandalasini over Carla Leite, who is eight years younger? In either case, I would consider Golden State one of the winners of the expansion draft. They still have work to do with Kayla Thornton, Monique Billings, Temi Fagbenle and Tiffany Hayes all free agents, but with Burton, Iliana Rupert, Janelle Salaun, Zanalasini, Kate Martin, and Laeticia Amihere all returning, the Valkyries should be in a good position to return to the playoffs in 2026.

6. I want so badly to know who the Dallas Wings protected.

I’m guessing Portland would have selected Aziaha James or Li Yueru over Haley Jones if they were available, but we can’t know that for sure. I also find it hard to believe Dallas would protect Diamond Miller over Luisa Geiselsoder, which would mean Miller was probably also unprotected and Portland chose Jones over Miller. Miller only has one more year of team control, but I just think her ceiling is so much higher than Jones’s.

7. Is it possible Nika Muhl’s injury made her even more likely to be selected?

She will miss a second consecutive season with a torn ACL, so she won’t take up a roster spot. She’s young enough and talented enough that she could make Portland’s rotation in 2027, or she could be selected in the next expansion draft. Maybe Muhl would have been selected anyway, but perhaps her injury allowed Seattle to protect Brittney Sykes when they might not have otherwise.

8. I think Toronto reached for Adja Kane.

I would have rather had Raquel Carrera, Ivana Dojkic, Han Xu or even Annika Soltau, though the first three are older than Kane and none of the four are guaranteed to play in the WNBA next season. It's interesting to note that the Liberty still has the rights to all of those players. With Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu reportedly coming back, the Liberty could have a deep team yet again, even with Natasha Cloud, Kennedy Burke, Isabelle Harrison, Stephanie Talbot and Emma Meesseman all hitting unrestricted free agency.

9. Toronto has the better team right now, but Portland has more upside.

Marina Mabrey was the best player selected, and Jule Allemand is a starting-caliber point guard. A post rotation of Nyara Sabally, Maria Kliundikova and Nikolina Milić is very solid. Toronto doesn’t really have a small forward outside of Kitija Laksa, but they’ll have a chance to find one in the draft or free agency. I don’t think Toronto is good enough to make the playoffs, but they should be competitive.

We already know how much I like Maya Caldwell, and I think Carla Leite was the best young player selected in this expansion draft. She averaged 15.1 points and 4.2 assists per 36 minutes as a 21-year-old rookie despite shooting just 17.3 percent on threes. If her three point shot develops at all, she could be a very good player in this league. I think Chloe Bibby’s three-point shot is legit, and Luisa Geiselsoder was arguably Dallas’s second-best player last season. I also like taking a shot on 2024 first-round draft pick Nyadiew Puoch, even if she hasn’t been great in the WNBL this season. She turns 22 in June and should be in a good position to develop behind Geiselsoder, Bibby, and Emily Engstler.