The concept of the “expansion franchise” appears to be going the way of the basketball court without a 3-point arc.
Expansion franchises are supposed to struggle considering that they are given a pool of players to select from that are not exactly superstars. No way an A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Alyssa Thomas, Allisha Gray, Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese are being selected in any expansion draft.
So, expansion teams can still select very good players but not the caliber of those aforementioned names. That is a reason as to why we all expected the Golden State Valkyries to struggle last season because it was not like the Valks could bring a franchise-changing superstar into its ranks.
Instead, the Valkyries proved that assembling a good team is every bit as important as having a few marquee players. Golden State as a team belonged on that marquee. Ballhalla belonged on the marquee.
It qualified for the playoffs as an expansion franchise, Natalie Nakase won Coach of the Year, Veronica Burton was named Most Improved Player and the Valks nearly won a playoff contest against a Minnesota Lynx team that was in the WNBA Finals the previous year.
Fast forward to this season and Golden State would qualify for the postseason again if they were to begin today. But this year’s two expansion franchises would also do the same.
Those two expansion franchises are, of course, the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire. As of this writing which is around the start of Commissioner’s Cup play, the Fire are 6-4 and would be the sixth seed if postseason play began today. Also, as of this writing, the Tempo would be right behind the Fire as the seventh seed.
Portland had one of the more impressive victories recently on the still relatively young season. The Fire defended its home court to the tune of a 100-84 victory over an Indiana Fever team that would be on the outside looking in of the playoffs if they were to begin today. The Alex Sarama-coached Fire benefitted from strong performances from Megan Gustafson (22 points), Carla Leite (a double-double of 18 points and 12 assists), Emily Engstler (a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds plus four assists, four steals and two blocks), Bridget Carleton (14 points, three steals, three assists and two blocks), Sarah Ashlee Barker (15 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench) and Frieda Bühner (10 points and a steal off the bench).
The statistic that got the lion’s share of attention was how the Fire completely held Indiana’s Clark in check. Clark did dish out six assists but was held to only six points, only attempted two 3-point attempts. Portland was also able to notably score plenty of points against Clark as a defender.
Then there is the Tempo. We knew that this team would be better than one’s typical expansion franchise solely because of who Toronto decided to hire as head coach. Sandy Brondello has won with the Phoenix Mercury and she has won with the New York Liberty.
The Tempo’s most recent contest took place against the Seattle Storm at Coca-Cola Coliseum. A second half surge where the Tempo outscored the Storm 56-36 enabled Toronto to earn a 93-72 blowout win over Seattle.
Marina Mabrey was selected by the Tempo in its expansion draft, allowing her to depart from a Connecticut Sun franchise that may or may not be tanking in preparation for its upcoming move to Houston. She tallied 18 points, dished out four assists and hauled in three rebounds and collected a steal.
Kiki Rice is firmly in the Rookie of the Year conversation. She finished that matchup with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Brondello is known for coaching veteran players and the veteran presence of Brittney Sykes has been a massive lift for the Tempo in 2026. She scored 15 points and grabbed three boards. Toronto also benefitted greatly from the 14 points, five rebounds and two steals that were courtesy of Laura Juškaitė. María Conde also gave Toronto solid minutes off the bench with 13 points and six rebounds.
The idea of the expansion franchise no longer carries the same connotation that it used to for such a long time. The talent pool in professional women’s basketball is so deep that teams like the Valkyries, Fire and Tempo can assemble teams sans players one would ideally sign to supermax contracts and still contend for playoff berths.
What it also proves is coaching still matters in the WNBA. The concept of coaching mattering has been somewhat diminished because of a school of thought that all one has to do is assemble a team of star players and said team will contend automatically.
Tell that to the Las Vegas Aces. Not everyone can coach a team full of alphas such as A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd, NaLyssa Smith and Chennedy Carter. Becky Hammon can – which is why she has a winning track record as a coach both in the W as well as the NBA’s G-League. There is a reason as to why Hammon’s name has been floated around in the past for vacant NBA coaching gigs.
The pressure that has been applied by the Fire and Tempo (as well as last season’s Valkyries) also will place added pressure on the upcoming expansion franchises in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia – especially considering all three are entering the W via NBA ownership groups. Fanbases in those cities are also less likely to accept the conventional wisdom surrounding expansion franchises and will now be expected to adopt the blueprint established by the Valkyries, Tempo and Fire to put immediate winners on their respective courts.
It speaks also speaks to the success that these expansion franchises have experienced when one considers teams such as the Valkyries, Tempo and Fire are contending for postseason spots – and two of those teams (Toronto and Portland) are independent of NBA ownership.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Mercury (which has an NBA owner in Mat Ishbia) have gone from being in last year’s Finals to being only a Connecticut Sun/Houston Comets shy of having the most ping pong balls in the 2027 draft lottery.
The landscape of women’s basketball is rapidly changing. And one element of that evolution is how expansion franchises are no longer looked at as laughingstocks out the gate as these Valkyries are pushing the Tempo adding fuel to the Fire of the WNBA’s exponential growth.
