04/03/26 09:38:00
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04/03 21:37 CDT Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo lay their foundations in the
WNBA expansion draft
Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo lay their foundations in the WNBA expansion
draft
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
Portland, which is welcoming a WNBA team back to the city after 24 years,
selected veteran forward Bridget Carleton with the first pick in Friday's
expansion draft.
Guard Julie Allemand, who played last season for the Los Angeles Sparks, was
selected by the Toronto Tempo with its first pick.
The Tempo won a coin flip and opted to take the sixth pick in the college draft
on April 13 over the top pick in the expansion draft. So Portland went first on
Friday and will have the seventh pick in the college draft.
Carleton, who has played for the last seven seasons for the Minnesota Lynx and
averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last season off the bench, was an
unrestricted free agent.
"Once we finalized our process, and zoomed in on Bridget, and knew we had our
first expansion pick, it was obvious we did not want to have Toronto hold our
destiny in their hands," Portland general manger Vanja Cernivec said.
Allemand averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 games last
season.
"This group gives us the ability to compete from day one while continuing to
build, and embraces the opportunity to help shape something new in a new
country as Canada's first WNBA team," Toronto general manager Monica Wright
Rogers said.
The league's teams protected five players apiece ahead of the expansion draft
but those lists were not made public, leading to speculation about which
players were available.
On Wednesday, the Chicago Sky announced trades with the Tempo and the Fire,
which prevented the expansion teams from selecting Sky players. In exchange,
the Fire got the No. 17 pick in the college draft and the No. 26 pick went to
the Tempo.
The expansion draft had two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each
round. The teams alternated picks, with the Tempo picking first in the second
round after the Fire got the first overall selection.
Teams could only lose two players to the expansion draft. If a player was taken
in the first round, a second player from that same franchise couldn't be taken
until the second round.
Following Allemand, the Tempo selected center Nyara Sabally from the Liberty,
guard Marina Mabrey from the Sun, forward Aaliya Nye from the Aces, guard Lexi
Held from the Mercury, and forward Maria Conde from the Valkyries.
In the second round the Tempo selected forward Maria Kliundikova from the Lynx,
center Adja Kane from the Liberty, center Nikolina Milic from the Sun, guard
Kitija Laksa from the Mercury, and guard Kristy Wallace from the Fever.
After Carleton, the Portland Fire selected guard Carla Leite from the
Valkyries, center Luisa Geiselsoder from the Stars, forward Emily Engstler from
the Mystics, guard Maya Caldwell from the Dream and forward Chloe Bibby from
the Fever.
In the second round Portland took guard Haley Jones from the Wings, forward
Nyadiew Puoch from the Dream, guard Sara Ashlee Barker from the Sparks, guard
Sug Sutton from the Mystics and guard Nika Muhl from the Storm.
Mabry was also an unrestricted free agent. Each team was allowed to pick only
one unrestricted free agent.
The teams still do not know when free agency will open. More than 80% of the
players are free agents this year, as many players have expiring contracts or
opted out of the previous collective bargaining agreement.
The college draft is set for April 13 and training camps open on April 19. The
season will start on May 8.
The Tempo and Fire join the WNBA as the league's 14th and 15th teams. Portland
previously had a WNBA team, also called the Fire, that played from 2000 to 2002.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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