The WNBA will hold its seventh expansion draft on Friday, April 3, and for the first time in the modern era, two teams are drafting simultaneously. The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo — the league's 14th and 15th franchises — will select from unprotected players across all 13 existing teams [1].

The draft follows a snake format: Portland picks first, the teams alternate through round one, then Toronto opens round two. Each existing team can protect only five players, leaving the rest exposed. The result is a controlled demolition of rosters across the league, with front offices making difficult choices about who to shield [2].

The pre-draft maneuvering has been intense. The Chicago Sky announced agreements with both expansion teams ahead of Friday's draft, suggesting side deals were struck to protect specific players from selection [3]. The Golden State Valkyries, last year's expansion team, now face the other side of the process — they can potentially lose two players to the new franchises while still building their own identity [4].

Toronto won the expansion coin toss and chose to pick sixth in the first round of the subsequent WNBA draft on April 13, a strategic move that suggests the franchise is prioritizing a specific prospect [5].

The expansion draft airs on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET. By Friday night, two new WNBA rosters will exist — built from the players their former teams chose to leave behind.

-- Amara Okonkwo, Lagos