WNBA teams allowed to protect up to six players for upcoming expansion
draft for Golden State
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[October 01, 2024]
By DOUG FEINBERG
NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA will have its first expansion
draft in 16 years in December as the Golden State Valkyries start to
fill out their roster.
The draft will be on Dec. 6 and the Valkyries will begin play next
season.
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WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks to the media before the WNBA
basketball draft on Monday, April 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam
Hunger, File) |
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Teams will be able to protect a maximum of six
players who will not be available for selection by Golden State.
All other players on a team's roster will be eligible for
selection by the Valkyries. Players that are unrestricted free
agents must be designated on a team's list as such and must be
either on the protected players list or the unprotected list.
The Valkyries will only be able to choose one player from each
team and can select players in the draft without regard to the
league's salary cap. Golden State, though, must be below the cap
at the start of the player contract signing period in February.
While this expansion draft is relatively straight forward, next
year's one when Toronto and Portland come into the league could
be a lot more difficult. Most of the league's players have
contracts that expire next season with an expected new
collective bargaining agreement set to take place that will most
likely balloon salaries.
A high percentage of the league, who are not on their rookie
contracts, will be unrestricted free agents. That will make it
more difficult for teams to figure out which players to protect.
The last time the league had an expansion draft was in 2008 when
the Atlanta Dream began play.
The WNBA hasn't announced where Golden State will pick in the
upcoming college draft next April. The Dream had the fourth pick
in the 2008 draft before trading it.
The Valkyries have hired Ohemaa Nyanin as their general manager
and already have more than 17,500 season ticket deposits.
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