The Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, behind closed doors, selected 12 players to join their roster for each of their inaugural 2026 WNBA seasons. During a short segment on ESPN, both rosters were posted for the first time. We finally have players, y’all.

Let’s dig in.

First, the fanfare: I was delighted to take a lunch break and head over to Jerry’s Tavern in Portland, OR, a lovely midwesterner’s sports bar. It makes me feel like I’m back in DeKalb, IL. It was packed with baseball fans, as that sport is on every waking minute of every day in the spring and summer, and my friend and my partner sat down for the show on ESPN. They showed the first pick for each expansion team, and to my delight, the Portland Fire had selected the Minnesota Lynx’s Bridget Carleton, a winning role-player and a second runner-up for Most Improved Player in 2024 when the Lynx barely lost to the New York Liberty in overtime of Game 5.

Turns out, the rest of the show’s production was just this legacy tweet:

The teams were simply pasted onto the screen, all 12 picks, with little fanfare, though some analysis in the moment from the ESPN team. It was a little deflating, but it was simultaneously thrilling. The roster was here, and we’d better catch-up with it, because no one has time to mosey in this accelerated off-season.

Their roster page on the WNBA website is live: https://fire.wnba.com/roster

Guards: Carla Leite, Maya Caldwell, Sarah Ashlee Barker, Sug Sutton, Nike Mühl

Forwards: Bridget Carleton, Emily Engstler, Chloe Bibby, Haley Jones, Nyadiew Puoch

Bigs: Luisa Geiselsöder

*There are many ways to describe basketball players and their positions, and we will definitely be addressing this topic this season.

I had a feeling that there would be a strong international presence in the Fire’s draft selections; let’s see how accurate that turned out to be:

Five of eleven players selected were born in the U.S. (45%). I love the representation here, not just from around the world, but around our country.

As expected with the players available, this is a young group. Carleton leads the group at 28 years old (29 in May). On the other side, Carla Leite turns 22 on April 16th. Nyadiew Puoch is two months younger still, but has yet to play in the W, and I cannot find confirmation that they will be playing for the Fire this season. We’ll talk more about that situation in another post, but it is normal to draft young non-Americans and not have them join the league in that first year(s).

So, the Fire are young, and they’re diverse. Do they have a veteran or an All-Star on the roster?

Bridget Carleton is the only player that has been a big-time player in the league for more than three or four seasons. Her Lynx team has been very good in that timeframe, and her role has been limited. She has shined in it (she’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the league), and she has the most to gain from their new unlimited role on this new team. She was the front-office’s first pick for a reason.

Since many of these players are new, here’s a short blurb on each one: where they’re coming from, where they’ve been.

There’s plenty more analysis to be had. I am currently planning and laying out:

By the time I finish some of those, we’ll be in free-agency, and even more players will be on the team (and this team looks like a great place for a big star-power player to sign with 👀). It’s a dizzying time to be a fan, but in the best possible way.

I’ll see you in the next one.