The first order of business after the WNBA league office and the league’s players’ association agree on a ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will be to schedule the expansion drafts for the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire, both of whom are slated to enter the WNBA in 2026.
There’s a decent understanding of how these expansion drafts will play out, given that the league did the same thing for the Golden State Valkyries last December. However, the fact that there are two expansion teams this time around instead of one makes matters different.
The most notable difference is that all 13 of the existing WNBA teams will likely only get to protect fie players, as opposed to protecting six for the Valkyries’ expansion draft. For the Indiana Fever, there’s no question that they’ll protect Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell as three of their five, and most would assume that Lexie Hull would be their fourth protected player.
Aug 17, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White talks with her players from the sideline as they take on the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images
Natasha Howard is ineligible for another team to take her in the expansion draft because she has exceeded her core designation (she has been “cored” by a WNBA team twice in her career), so the Fever won’t have to worry about protecting her. This means that the fifth and final protected spot is seemingly up in the air.
Sophie Cunningham Left Off ESPN’s Fever Expansion Draft Protection List
Many feel like veteran wing Sophie Cunningham is the most likely fifth player the Fever will protect. However, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton sees things differently, as he predicted that Indiana would instead protect 2025 rookie Mikayla Timpson over Cunningham in a December 11 article.
Pelton wrote in the article, “Unless an expansion team sees Cunningham as a core candidate, that would leave them choosing between a pair of unprotected Aussies, Bibby and Wallace.”
this is who espn projects the fever to protect in the expansion draft. apparently teams only protect 5 players this time pic.twitter.com/S5EZsxN0mv
— correlation (@nosyone4) December 11, 2025
This raises an interesting question about what teams will value most when deciding who to protect and which unprotected players to take in the draft. There’s no question that Cunningham is one of the WNBA’s biggest stars after her first season with the Fever. Therefore, if one of the expansion teams wants to get extra attention and eyeballs to their franchise, they’d be wise to select Cunningham if Indiana doesn’t protect her.
If they’re less inclined to select Cunningham for that reason, they could go with a younger player who has more upside.
Regardless of whether Cunningham is or isn’t protected in the expansion draft, she could still leave in free agency, which adds more uncertainty to her future with the Fever franchise.
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