In a conversation on KGW’s Straight Talk Segment, the Portland Fire’s interim Team President Claire Hamill answered real questions with real answers, giving otherwise unspoken details about the business and the lead-up to the 2026 inaugural season. It serves as authentic fan service, and it also serves as a break in the Portland Fire fan experience timeline: the Fire organization is internally moving the ball forward, and focusing on their basketball operations in a way that won’t break any news for several weeks, if not months. That means it is the perfect time for us fans to lock in on actual basketball.

If this post seems like an author talking to themselves, it is. I have tried to be locked in on the complicated, quiet process of launching an expansion team, when I always wanted to be more focused on the actual sport. I got a little carried away with the most interesting portion of the Portland Fire expansion news, including the reveal of the name, and I think the amped-up interest was justified.

But now it’s time to balance our diet. The Atlanta Dream just handed the Minnesotta Lynx their 5th loss of the season, Cameron Brink has been cleared to play their first game of the season after an ACL tear and is re-joining a surging LA Sparks team, an exciting French player has finally joined the Valkyries after a season in France, the juggernaut Liberty have also acquired another crazy talented player from overseas – Australia’s Stephanie Talbot – and the league is about to enter trade-deadline frenzy.

Let’s talk about what to look for in our immediate basketball future!

The 2025 regular season ends on Thursday, September 11th. That’s only six-and-a-half weeks away from today! Eight teams make the playoffs this season, and those will be the eight teams with the best records. Suddenly, every single LA Sparks (10th place) and Golden State Valkyries (9th place) game becomes pivotal. They cannot afford a loss to the three teams below them, and they will have to win some games against the teams who have so far been better than them. The same goes for Las Vegas and Washington, who would be in the playoffs today, but have only a single game or half-game lead over the first team out.

Indiana (6th place) is also precariously close to the first teams out, but having had to play most of their season without Caitlin Clark, I imagine they can hold onto their playoff-earning record when Clark eventually returns. But when will Clark return, and will she remain in a playable state the rest of the season? She has already returned to play once, only to go back into injured status shortly after.

Seattle (5th place) sits squarely in the middle of the current playoff earners, and have shown flashes of brilliance this season. Kevin Pelton, one of my favorite basketball writers, predicts that they will make a trade soon to increase their ceiling this season, especially since the Storm are so well set to do well in the future, as well (French rookie Dominique Molonga looks great, SEA has good draft pick assets, etc.). Are they going to land the splashy-scoring, crowd-pleasing, crowd-upsetting Marina Mabrey? We will find out in a few days, if not a few hours.

Phoenix (3rd place) and Atlanta (4th place) have been good all season, and feel decently secure in their upper rankings, which they will want to hold onto to get a better match-up in the first round of the playoffs.

New York (2nd place), the reigning champions, have had some injury woes that will hopefully subside, and with the addition of Talbot, they will likely be championship favorites again, pending that health status.

Minnesota (1st place) has had the best record nearly the entire season: after starting neck-and-neck in undefeated land with NY, they have earned a 3.5 game lead over their 2024 Finals foes. That’s pretty sizable, and speaks to their health, their talent, and their hunger for not letting another chance at a ring pass them by.

The three teams farthest outside the playoff picture have been at the bottom all season. Expect them to look for trades, sending out current talent for future assets or more future potential. All three teams have players that could play big roles on championship contending teams, and with all of the expiring contracts in the league this season, the worst teams should try to cash-in on good draft picks for players that wouldn’t even be on their own teams in two months anyways.

Cameron Brink is making her season debut tomorrow. Brink was one of the best 2/3/4 players in college in her 2023-2024 senior season, and was the 2nd overall pick in the 2024 draft behind Caitlin Clark. Brink played 15 games last season before tearing her ACL. Her stats and impact weren’t amazing, but she had a positive impact on winning, and she was just a rookie. Now, she’s had her first meaningful chunk of time to take a break from basketball, to recover, to get stronger, and to learn how the league operates. She doesn’t have much time left in this regular season, but she will add a defensive presence and some interior scoring to a Sparks team that needs a boost to get into the playoffs. We should be watching every Sparks game from here on out.

A’ja Wilson is going to need to carry her team through the final six weeks of the season. The Aces, currently in 7th place, would be in the playoffs today, but the 9th and 10th place teams have gained an extra talented player. Meanwhile, the Aces just decided to have 6-time all-star Jewell Lloyd start the game on the bench as they try to optimize their roster for the final stretch. The team lost a lot of talent this past off-season, and their record reflects that. But they still have the best player on the planet, and even with a bigger burden, no one can stop her. We should be watching every Aces game from here on out.

France has successfully infiltrated the W, and it is genuinely thrilling to watch it happen. The Golden State Valkyries really opened the door, selecting Atlanta’s Iliana Rupert in the expansion draft, and bringing in her French National Team teammate Janelle Salaün a few months later. The pair have now played in two games together for the Valkyries after Rupert recently joined the team, and while Rupert looks a bit clunky in her new one – in which she has had little to no practice with her team – her talent and upside are undeniable. She is long, tall, moves well, has experience, and a quick release jumpshot that she can extend beyond the arc.

Additionally, Dominique Malonga, who was on France’s silver-medal Olympics team in 2024 at the age of 18, was selected by the Seattle Storm with the #2 overall pick. Seattle has slow-rolled Malonga’s first season, given her time to integrate to the league and to not over-tax the already deeply experienced 19 year old, but watching her play is stunning. I don’t know if I’ve seen another player in the league with her combination of specific size and specific skill and specific fluidity. I am really excited that she can learn from, and play with, Nneka Ogwumike, and I hope that Seattle has another career-long franchise player like that in Malonga. It sure looks like they might.

We should be watching every Valkyries and Storm game from here on out.

I could, and eventually will, go on, but let’s cap it here for the moment. There’s too much basketball to watch already to spend more time writing or reading this. But:

A massive reason to watch entire games with full attention, especially when starters are sitting and bench players get involved, is because 80% or more of the players that will be on the Fire roster in 2026 are in the league right now (pending a GM that goes really deep into international players, which is possible!). There aren’t exact details on the expansion draft yet, but Portland will be able to select players from all of the league’s teams, but those teams can reserve the rights to a small handful of their roster. That means our Fire team will consist of W players that likely don’t lead the league in any stats, or are featured in a bunch of commercials, or were at All-Star weekend. The Fire will choose role players, overlooked players, underappreciated players, and bench players who are poised to have a breakout, players prepared to take a step up.

We can only learn about these players by doing the work, by grinding tape. I think I will be a much smarter, and much stronger fan next season if I already have a fan relationship with the players on the roster, if I have seen what they can do, and if I can project what they could do for the fire.

That, plus my fake Expansion Draft posts will sound much smarter if I know who I’m talking about.

Doing the work will pay-off. I promise.

Cameron Brink’s debut game, and a pivotal playoff-seeding game as LV (7th) wants to hold LA (10th) at a distance in the standings.

The best two teams in the league battle again. Breanna Stewart just suffered a thankfully not-too-serious leg injury, and may not be available, but it seems like most other players for both teams should be available, including potential MVP Napheesa Collier.

The 8th seed versus the 9 seed. Pressure’s on!

I think both of these teams are poised to take a couple steps forward the rest of the season, and this will be a great check-point for them both, though Caitlin Clark is expected to be unavailable for a couple more weeks.

Four trades to watch for ahead of Aug. 7 WNBA trade deadline (by Kevin Pelton)

“Who is Iliana Rupert … ?”

Which team have you watched the most this season? Which team are you looking forward to watching the most for the conclusion of the season?