Portland Fire Select Bridget Carleton First Overall in WNBA Expansion Draft

The Portland Fire opened the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft by selecting Bridget Carleton from the Minnesota Lynx with the first overall pick on Friday, bringing professional women's basketball back to Portland for the first time since 2002.

Carleton started 44 games for the league-best Minnesota Lynx last season. The Canadian veteran averaged 6.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and two assists while shooting 37.3% from behind the arc to help Minnesota finish with a league-best 34 regular-season wins and an appearance in the WNBA semifinals. She shot better than 40 percent from the floor and played outstanding defense.

Carleton, born May 22, 1997, played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones before entering the professional ranks. She was drafted in the second round of the 2019 WNBA draft, 21st overall, by the Connecticut Sun. Her selection by Portland represents a sharp ascent: from a second-round pick who was cut after four games to the top choice of a franchise making its WNBA debut.

Portland Fire head coach Alex Sarama, a former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant, had the first pick in the expansion draft after the Tempo won a coin toss in March and opted for the higher pick in the WNBA's rookie draft, choosing the sixth selection over the seventh in the April 13 collegiate draft rather than the top expansion pick. That decision handed Sarama Carleton as his cornerstone acquisition.

The Toronto Tempo, coached by former New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello, used the second overall pick to select former Los Angeles Sparks guard Julie Allemand.

The first round of Portland's picks ran Bridget Carleton, Cala Leite, Luisa Geiselsoder, Emily Engstler, Maya Caldwell, and Chloe Bibby. In the second round, the Fire added Haley Jones, Nyadiew Puoch, Sarah Ashlee Barker, Sug Sutton, and Nika Mühl. Marina Mabrey was among the other marquee names selected as both franchises built out their inaugural rosters.

Portland and Toronto also completed pre-draft trades with the Chicago Sky. Neither selected players from Chicago's unprotected list; the Sky swapped pick No. 17 in the April 13 draft with Portland's No. 21 pick, and Chicago sent pick No. 26 to Toronto.

The two-round draft, presented by State Street Investment Management and aired on ESPN, formally established the rosters that will take the court when both franchises debut later this year. With Carleton now anchoring the Fire's wing, Portland turns to free agency and the April 13 collegiate draft to fill out a full-season roster for its long-awaited return to the Pacific Northwest.