Overview
- Teams submitted five-player protection lists Sunday, opening a five-day window for Portland and Toronto to negotiate trades before Friday’s expansion draft.
- The two-round, snake-format draft lets Portland pick first and Toronto second, with up to 12 selections per team and only one player taken from any club’s unprotected list per round.
- Each expansion team may select only one unprotected veteran without a 2026 deal, a group the league classifies as Potential Unrestricted Free Agents.
- A special rule this year lets expansion teams pick players no longer core-eligible while gaining the lone right to offer those players a 2026 supermax contract.
- Media projections highlight strategy choices, with reports expecting Las Vegas to protect A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and NaLyssa Smith, and analysis debating the fifth slot, while Sparks coverage weighs Azurá Stevens over Rae Burrell for Los Angeles’ final spot.