Key Dates Ahead of the 2026 WNBA Season: Expansion, Free Agency & Draft!

After a tense winter of negotiations, the countdown to the landmark 30th season of WNBA basketball is officially on.

The WNBA is turning the shot clock back on.

With the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement formed, the WNBA is set to tip off its landmark 30th season on time. The two sides are currently drafting the CBA’s final form, but anticipation has reached a new high after finally reaching common ground.

(Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The aftershocks of the tense negotiations, however, are still being felt as the league and its players are now squeezed into a packed free agency session, one where what normally stands as months of work is compacted into weeks.

With two new franchises making their respective debuts and momentum stemming from the ongoing NCAA Tournament (not to mention the returns of league faces like Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier), these next few weeks will be among the most eventful on the league’s three-decade ledger. It’ll be a fast and furious trek, but thanks to what has been settled in the boardroom, lucrative opportunities await all involved.

Ballislife has you covered for the road ahead, with this mini-calendar documenting the major showings of a speedy offseason…

(Dates accurate as of 3/27/26)

April 3: Expansion Draft (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The rosters of the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will finally be formed as the two arriving squads prepare to join the WNBA sisterhood. With the CBA framework settled, the newcomers can get down to business…

Through a coin flip, it has been determined that Portland will choose first in the 24-pick draft, which will operate in a two-round snake format (meaning Toronto gets the first pick in round two).
Each of the incumbent 13 teams will be allowed to protect up to five players (submitted by Sunday, March 29). Players on a respective team’s active roster, suspended, draft, reserved, core, or retired lists as of the final day of the last regular season will be eligible for protection or selection. Players on expired contracts with at least five years of service will be labeled “potential unrestricted free agents.” Portland and Toronto can select such a player each.
Next week, Portland and Toronto will be permitted to negotiate deals that could feature either an agreement to take an unprotected player and trade her to another team or an agreement to select or not select a woman on the unprotected list.

2026 WNBA Expansion Draft Order

Round 1
Round 2

1. Portland
1. Toronto

2. Toronto
2. Portland

3. Portland
3. Toronto

4. Toronto
4. Portland

5. Portland
5. Toronto

6. Toronto
6. Portland

7. Portland
7. Toronto

8. Toronto
8. Portland

9. Portland
9. Toronto

10. Toronto
10. Portland

11. Portland
11. Toronto

12. Toronto
12. Portland

April 7-12: Free Agency Begins

Even Walt “Clyde” Frazier himself would probably swoon at the sheer amount of wheeling and dealing that will transpire over the middle of April: while some are kept safe through rookie contracts, almost every one of the league’s tenured veterans will be up for grabs, as will the benefits of a new $7 million salary cap. The winter’s fight for a new deal was done in the name of larger salaries, so the eyes of the basketball world will no doubt take in the proceedings with great interest.

While official dates are approximate, teams are expected to be able to send qualifying offers between April 7 and 8 before de facto legal tampering begins the day after. Free agency deals can officially be signed starting on April 12, and there should be plenty of familiar faces in new places when the financial dust settles.

The WNBA & WNBPA reach a HISTORIC CBA deal

After 100 hours of negotiations this week, a new agreement is in place.

Here’s what’s changed and what we know so far

https://t.co/IwlEGaC2db pic.twitter.com/tBSrILGSHn

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 18, 2026

April 13: WNBA Draft (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The next generation gets its moment to shine just over a week after March Madness’ victor walks away with the ultimate prize.

UConn’s Azzi Fudd is expected to both hoist that trophy and hear her name called very early at The Shed in New York, but Lauren Betts, Flau’jae Johnson, Olivia Miles, and more are hot on her tail in both chases. International flair resides in Spanish center Awa Fam, who will seek to become the first internationally born No. 1 pick since the Seattle Storm found Lauren Jackson with the opening choice in 2001.

The Dallas Wings, fresh off the arrival of reigning Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, occupy the top spot, which plays off participants Minnesota and Seattle, moving to the top three through trades. The Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky round out the top five, while Toronto and Portland, respectively, pick sixth and seventh through the aforementioned coin flip.

2026 WNBA Draft Order

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3

1. Dallas
16. Seattle (from DAL)
31. Dallas

2. Minnesota (from CHI)
17. Chicago
32. Chicago

3. Seattle (from LA)
18. Connecticut
33. Connecticut

4. Washington
19. Washington
34. Washington

5. Chicago (from CT)
20. Los Angeles
35. Los Angeles

6. Toronto
21. Portland
36. Toronto

7. Portland
22. Toronto
37. Portland

8. Golden State
23. Golden State
38. Golden State

9. Washington (from SEA)
24. Los Angeles (from SEA)
39. Seattle

10. Indiana
25. Indiana
40. Indiana

11. Washington (from NYL)
26. Chicago (from NYL)
41. New York

12. Connecticut (from PHX)
27. Phoenix
42. Phoenix

13. Atlanta
28. Atlanta
43. Atlanta

14. Seattle (from LVA)
29. Las Vegas
44. Las Vegas

15. Connecticut (from MIN)
30. Washington (from MIN)
45. Minnesota

April 25: Preseason Games Tip Off

With so much drama over the notion of whether games would actually be played this season, the spring exhibition schedule will no doubt be better appreciated this time around.

Among the highlights are the Sky and Phoenix Mercury squaring off at the Sanford Pentagon (situated in Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts’ hometown of Sioux Falls, SD) during unofficial opening night action, while one of Caitlin Clark’s first returns to WNBA action will be staged against the most recent Olympic Cinderella story from Nigeria on May 2.

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers are set to square off in the WNBA’s 30th season opener

Wings vs. Fever—Sat, May 9 @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse

They defined an era of women’s college basketball. Who’s taking the opener?

https://t.co/SfACrBPeYn pic.twitter.com/zkbVR2Jqqd

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 22, 2026

May 8-10: Opening Weekend

A day some assumed would never come, the landmark 30th WNBA season will tip off with a tripleheader on May 8.

Time will tell how each team will look, but there’s plenty to be excited about: the Tempo will strum its first chords against a Mystics group energized by young magicians Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, while the New York Liberty’s quest for redemption begins against the Connecticut Sun in Brooklyn. A late nightcap situations the Seattle Storm against the Golden State Valkyries.

Three more games pepper the Saturday slate, beginning with a Dallas-Indiana get-together of fabulous former freshman Bueckers and Clark (as well as the next potential top newcomer from North Texas). The league also wastes no time getting a Finals rematch out of the way quickly, as the Las Vegas Aces host Phoenix. Major professional women’s basketball returns to the Pacific Northwest at night when the Fire hosts Chicago.

Ten teams take the floor to close the debut weekend: the Sun will stage what could be its final Connecticut-based home opener against Seattle, while Los Angeles and Atlanta make their respective season debuts against Las Vegas and Minnesota.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags