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With the start of the WNBA season now underway, we are nearing a mere 6 months away from the next WNBA expansion draft featuring the Toronto Tempo and the to-be-named Portland team. While that seems like a long ways away, I remember the days when I read about a bid to bring a WNBA team to Toronto back in 2019 and, back then, even the idea of having a team in Canada felt longer than a long shot.  

Currently, women’s basketball (and women’s sports at large) is experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity and in the coming weeks and months, we are going to see more and more women’s basketball fans, Raptors fans, NBA fans, general sports fans, and Canadians in general start to pay attention to this team. 

Before we get there, one of the most important steps coming up for the franchise is the expansion draft.  

And I am here to speculate how that draft might unfold and who might end up being on the inaugural Tempo squad. 

Is it way too early to be talking about this when the first games of the season just took place? Perhaps. But, I also think that there are already some clues out there that can help us to make sense of what this might look like for Toronto.

To begin, here’s what we know about the Tempo. 

We are still waiting on the hiring of the team’s first head coach but General Manager, Monica Wright Rogers, has stated that she wants the team to play “up tempo”. 

We also have the Golden State Valkyries as a very recent and comparable reference for what be to come for the Tempo. 

Leading up to the expansion draft, many podcasts speculated that the Valkyries could make a big splash in the expansion draft and free agency, taking a swing at big name veterans, trading for future picks, and drafting highly coveted rookies. Surprisingly, they did none of that, opting to draft mostly international talent anchored by only a few household name-recognizable veterans. 

For the Tempo, I think the precedent set by the Valkryies means that: 

1. We probably shouldn’t expect the Tempo to make big swings; rather, we should expect to be patient with a team with mostly young and names unknown to the public (yet); and
2. A lot of WNBA analysts are now saying that the league is moving towards recruiting international talent because we are seeing more pro-ready players that play all year round overseas and these players can be drafted at a younger age than in the United States. Like Golden State, Toronto might also go that route, which makes it even harder for newer women’s basketball fans to follow along even if they have been captivated by the NCAA March Madness tournament over recent years

However, I have reasons to believe that Toronto won’t exactly follow the Valkyries blueprint. This is because:

• Toronto still has to sell this new team to a country that is still newer to women’s basketball, in spite of the fact that recent WNBA games played in Canada have been smashing successes. However, to sustain that for 44 games each season might still take some work. For that reason, I do believe that finding more domestic household names might give the team the best bet to market itself for the first few years; and
• Similarly, to jumpstart the marketing of the team in Canada, there might be more incentive to add one or two Canadian players. We have also recently seen the Toronto Raptors do this, where after decades of not prioritizing adding Canadians, they have made a bigger deal of having Canadian players like RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, and Delano Banton don a Raptors uniform. All of this to say I am thinking slightly less international, more recognizable names – and likely a Canadian players or two, and more exciting basketball off the jump.

With that said, here is my mock expansion draft 1.0 for the Tempo. 

Pick 1 – Alissa Pili from the Minnesota Lynx

• Alissa Pili is a young Power Forward with excellent scoring chops and lots of upside. She continues to play sparingly for the stacked Minnesota Lynx. The Tempo are positioned to steal Pili in the expansion draft and feature this exciting young – albeit unproven – talent. Moreover, how cool would it be to have an Indigenous player serve as the face of your inaugural team??

Pick 2 – Kia Nurse from the Chicago Sky

• This seems almost too easy and unimaginative, and it would require Kia Nurse to actually be interested in letting go of prioritizing playing for a contender to serving as the best ambassador to usher this new era of Canadian women’s basketball. But, if she’s interested, Kia’s resume speaks for itself. She’s a legend in Canadian basketball and her name alone would grab the general public’s attention. From the Tempo’s perspective, if there is one Canadian player to get for your inaugural team. It’s Kia Nurse. She would be gettable as a veteran but expendable guard on the Chicago Sky and her value would extend far beyond the court for the Tempo. 

Pick 3 – Jade Melbourne from Washington Mystics

• If Monica Wright Rogers wants to play up tempo, there is no better point guard that fits this style than Jade Melbourne. She is speedy (real speedy) and never stops running. She’s great at getting downhill and attacking the defence for either a drive-and-kick or simply blowing past the defence for layups. Her 3-point shot is coming along. She’s only 22 and will have had 3 years of experience in the W already. She would be an excellent fit to be promotes to the Tempo’s starting Point Guard. 

Pick 4 – Betnijah Laney-Hamilton from the New York Liberty

• It’s hard to go wrong with any picks from the Liberty. The roster is stacked from top to bottom and since they can only protect six players, the Tempo can really get a gem with this pick. As Natasha Cloud is balling right now with the Liberty and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton has had injury concerns as of late, they may decide that the time is ripe for Laney-Hamilton to be less prioritized. This could be a gift to the Tempo. While injuries are a concern, when healthy, Laney-Hamilton is a high-level two-way player who can guard the best 1 – 4’s this league has. On offence, she is a three-level scorer, albeit consistency can be an issue. Overall, she would be worth the gamble and would be the favourite to be the leading scorer for this team in Year 1. 

Pick 5 – Sarah Ashlee Barker from the Los Angeles Sparks

• In her first WNBA games, Sarah Ashlee Barker has shown that she is energetic on defence, hustles hard for 50/50 balls, grabs rebounds, exhibits toughness, and can score the ball. She is a rookie with so much potential and would fit well with an up tempo style of basketball.  

Pick 6 – Li Yueru from the Seattle Storm

• Li Yueru is a Centre with size and strength, good footwork, and has gotten better year after year. She has gotten more confident and better in every aspect of her game. The Seattle Storm already have too many bigs and probably won’t be too upset with losing Li. For the Tempo, she can end up being a really solid C who you can depend on night after night to play her role.

Pick 7 – Naz Hilmon from the Atlanta Dream

• While undersized as a big, Naz Hilmon can defend, grab rebounds, play in the post, and shoot 3’s, while still being only 25 years old. Naz would bring a lot of versatility to the frontcourt and she seems to have a knack for fitting in with whomever she is playing with and able to find ways to impact the floor.  

Pick 8 – Aziaha James from the Dallas Wings

• James is a rookie who is a crafty scorer who has great passing skills too. She’s wiggly and shifty with the ball, and she also has lots of moves in her arsenal to be able to shoot the 3, drive the ball, hit the midrange, etc. She hasn’t been getting a lot of minutes from the Wings, but has lots of potential to be an impactful player in the league. 

Pick 9 – Cecilia Zandalasini from the Golden State Valkyries

• Ceci Zandalasini is a bucket. She is incredibly smart and crafty with finding gaps in the defence to spot up and shoot. And, her shot is deadly. For example, she shot 44% from 3 for the Lynx last season. 

Pick 10 – Rayah Marshall from the Connecticut Sun 

• Even in the first couple of WNBA games, Rayah Marshall has shown that her length and athleticism are valuable in the league even if her offensive touch is a work in progress. She is already known for being a rebounder and shot blocker, and I would bank on her continuing to develop her game. Even if she plateaus, the skills she already possess would make her a solid rotation player. 

Pick 11 – Makayla Timpson from the Indiana Fever

• The Indiana Fever is very top heavy and filled with veterans – none of which appear to be good fits for an expansion team. For that reason, the Tempo might as well take a flyer on Mikayla Timpson, one of the only rookies on the team who likely won’t get very many minutes this season. Selected 19th in this year’s draft, Timpson comes into the league as a double-double machine and would now have a chance to contribute with more minutes. 

At the moment, any picks from Las Vegas and Phoenix Mercury are to be determined, as both teams are so top heavy, I don’t know if any of the picks will be that enticing. 

Lastly, if there is ANY chance of the Tempo getting Canadian, Laeticia Amihere, they have to do it. I have no idea why the Valkryies cut her (especially since it looked like she had gotten to a whole new level to pair her existing athleticism with an improved bag). She would fit the Tempo perfectly!

Lots will likely change during the season and this mock draft 1.0 will probably get so many things wrong. Look for a mock draft 2.0 by mid-season.