The WNBA landscape is about to shift dramatically. This Friday, the league's two newest franchises, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, will officially begin building their rosters through a pivotal double expansion draft. For fans of the growing women's game, this is a moment of high strategy and anticipation, as the foundations for future rivalries are laid.

The Tempo secured the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft after winning a recent coin toss. Consequently, the Fire will exercise the crucial first selection in Friday's expansion draft. The process will consist of two rounds, with each new team making up to six picks per round for a total of 12 selections each. They will alternate picks within each round, and the order will snake between rounds, ensuring a balanced and competitive draft process.

The existing 13 WNBA teams have already submitted confidential lists protecting up to five players each, rendering those athletes ineligible for selection. This leaves a pool of unprotected talent from which Portland and Toronto will craft their inaugural squads. While only two players can be taken from any single existing team (one per round), an expansion team could theoretically select two players from the same franchise, strategically blocking their new rival from that talent pool.

Notably, if a selected player is a free agent, the drafting team acquires their rights. However, each expansion squad is limited to selecting just one player who will be an unrestricted free agent, adding another layer of strategic depth to their decisions.

In the spirit of the draft, we're diving into a full mock expansion process. While the official protected lists are secret, we've projected which players each existing team is likely to shield. Using those projections, we'll simulate the entire draft, forecasting how the Fire and Tempo might assemble their core players. The detailed rationale for each team's protected list follows below, setting the stage for our mock draft where the Portland Fire hold the coveted first pick. Remember, only one player can be selected from each existing team per round.