WNBA Expansion Draft Drama: Picks Will Be Revealed, Not Player Pool

The WNBA expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries is on Friday, but there will be a missing component come draft night. 

The Valkyries may choose one player at most from each of the other 12 franchises, all of which had a Nov. 25 deadline to submit a list of six protected players to the WNBA. However, when the draft airs on ESPN on Friday night, the list of unprotected players—which is the pool the Valkyries can choose from—will not be revealed. Instead, only the players the Valkyries select will be shown to the public, a source confirmed to Front Office Sports.

It’s unclear why the WNBA has decided not to publicly declare the draft pool. Other professional sports leagues that have held expansion drafts this decade have revealed the list of each team’s unprotected players, including the NHL (2021), MLS (2022), and NWSL (2023).

However, the simple answer may be for the WNBA to safeguard the relationship between teams and players—particularly those unprotected but not selected by Golden State, who will then return to their original franchises knowing they were exposed in the draft.

There are already several teams dealing with player issues across the league. Last month, the Seattle Storm launched an investigation into their coaching staff due to allegations of player mistreatment. On Wednesday, the team announced the investigation had not discovered any violations. The Las Vegas Aces are also embroiled in a discrimination lawsuit filed by former player Dearica Hamby, who is now on the Los Angeles Sparks.

A Successful Yet Tense Year

While the 2024 season drove record viewership for the league, there was also a ton of tension among players, fans, and the media. The newfound attention brought by Caitlin Clark sparked accusations of mistreatment against her by peers, including when she received a body check from the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter in June. The Sky players claimed they were harassed near their hotel in D.C. following the incident. 

There were also underlying racial elements that were brought into the discussion of the rivalry between Clark and Sky rookie Angel Reese. In September, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert compared the rivalry to the one Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had in the NBA during the 1980s.

“But the one thing I know about sports, you need rivalry. That’s what makes people watch. They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another,” Engelbert said on CNBC’s Power Lunch. 

Engelbert received backlash from WNBA stars and the WNBPA for her statements due to a perception that she failed to defend those who have received hateful comments.

“There is absolutely no place in sport—or in life—for the vile hate, racist language, homophobic comments, and the misogynistic attacks our players are facing on social media,” WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson responded on X. 

Weeks later, players from the Connecticut Sun, who eliminated Clark and the Indiana Fever in the playoffs, claimed they faced “racist” comments throughout the two-game playoff run. The Fever’s NaLyssa Smith even claimed that her girlfriend, Sun guard DiJonai Carrington, received death threats after she inadvertently poked Clark in the eye in Game 1.