The Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo selected 22 players between them on Thursday, completing the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft and giving shape to two franchises that, as this paper noted when the draft results first landed, represent the league's most expensive bets on its own future. [1]

Portland, which paid a reported $125 million for its franchise, took Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton with the first overall pick. [1] Toronto, acquired for $115 million, answered with Los Angeles Sparks guard Julie Allemand. [2] Each team selected 11 players in alternating rounds, building rosters that blended veteran leadership with long-term developmental picks.

The economics are the louder story. When the WNBA announced its next round of expansion last year -- Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030) -- each franchise carried a $250 million price tag. [3] That means the league's entry fee has more than doubled in less than two years. Portland's $125 million, itself a record when announced in September 2024, now looks like a bargain.

Both general managers pursued a common strategy: acquire veterans who can set a culture, then swing on younger players with upside. Portland invested in Nika Muhl from the Seattle Storm, a point guard recovering from knee surgery whose ceiling justifies the gamble. [1] Toronto took Marina Mabrey from the Connecticut Sun and Nyara Sabally from the New York Liberty, building perimeter versatility around Allemand's court vision. [2]

The international dimension is notable. Carleton is Canadian. Allemand is Belgian. Muhl is Croatian. Across both rosters, roughly 63 percent of the selections were international players -- a proportion that would have been unthinkable a decade ago and reflects both the globalization of the talent pipeline and the expansion teams' willingness to look beyond the American college system for value. [1]

What Portland and Toronto bought for a combined $240 million is not just basketball operations. It is access to a league whose television rights, attendance figures, and cultural relevance have climbed in near-lockstep since Caitlin Clark's arrival in 2024. The question hanging over Thursday's draft was never really about which guard fits which system. It was about whether the WNBA's growth curve can sustain franchise values that are rising faster than any other professional sports league in North America.

The next buyers will pay $250 million and consider themselves fortunate.

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos