Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton became the top selection when the Portland Fire made their choice in Friday’s WNBA expansion draft, while the Toronto Tempo responded by choosing Julie Allemand as their initial pick.
The 6-foot-2 forward from the Lynx enters unrestricted free agency this offseason, which allows Portland to label Carleton as a “core” player and secure exclusive rights to negotiate a one-year, fully guaranteed maximum contract.
According to ESPN, the Tempo also had interest in Carleton, who hails from Ontario, prompting the Fire to use their top selection to secure the forward’s services.
Throughout her seven-season, 219-game professional career — with 215 contests for the Lynx and four for the Connecticut Sun — Carleton has averaged 5.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest. Her 2024 campaign saw her place third in Most Improved Player balloting after recording personal bests of 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists for Minnesota. She began 36 contests that season and started all 44 games for the Lynx in 2025.
Los Angeles Sparks guard Allemand brings career numbers of 5.5 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game to Toronto. During the shortened 2020 campaign, she connected on 47.8% of her three-point attempts across 22 appearances for the Indiana Fever, though she has divided her playing time between European leagues and the WNBA throughout her career.
Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey represented the most prominent player chosen on Friday, going sixth overall to the Tempo. Mabrey has reached double digits in scoring each season since 2020 but expressed dissatisfaction in Connecticut following the Sun’s rebuilding efforts last offseason, submitting a trade request that the organization declined.
Despite the situation, she produced 14.4 points per game along with 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists across 35 appearances (34 starts) for Connecticut.
The league’s 13 established franchises — including the Golden State Valkyries, who joined as an expansion team last year — were limited to protecting five players from the expansion draft.
Here are the complete expansion draft selections by team, listed in order of choice. Both Toronto and Portland declined one selection each, resulting in 22 total picks:
Portland Fire
—F Bridget Carleton, Minnesota
—G Carla Leite, Golden State
—C Luisa Geiselsoder, Dallas
—F Emily Engstler, Washington
—G Maya Caldwell, Atlanta
—F Chloe Bibby, Indiana
—F Haley Jones, Dallas
—F Nyadiew Puoch, Atlanta
—G Sarah Ashlee Barker, Los Angeles
—G Sug Sutton, Washington
—G Nika Muhl, Seattle
Toronto Tempo
—G Julie Allemand, Los Angeles
—C Nyara Sabally, New York
—G Marina Mabrey, Connecticut
—G Aaliyah Nye, Las Vegas
—G Lexi Held, Phoenix
—F Maria Conde, Golden State
—F Maria Kliundikova, Minnesota
—C Adja Kane, New York
—F Nikolina Milic, Connecticut
—G Kitija Laksa, Phoenix
—G Kristy Wallace, Indiana
