Uncertainty reigns for Toronto Tempo 1 year after Valkyries WNBA expansion draft

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The Toronto Tempo’s hiring of Sandy Brondello turned some heads.

Here was one of the most accomplished coaches in recent WNBA history hitting the open market and choosing to lead an expansion team without any players or even much of a front-office staff.

It wasn’t the money either — Brondello reportedly also received offers from Dallas and Seattle, with at least one promising a richer deal than she ultimately landed in Toronto. (Financial terms of her Tempo contract were not disclosed).

So why did Brondello choose Toronto? That was the first thing she was asked upon her introduction in November.

“I think this is just a little different situation, obviously. A lot of the players now are free agents. Yes, we’ll be an expansion team, but hopefully summer in Toronto is pretty special. So hopefully we can get some pretty special players to represent the Tempo,” Brondello said.

It was one year ago — Dec. 6, 2024 — that the Golden State Valkyries held their expansion draft, nabbing eventual Most Improved Player Veronica Burton from the Connecticut Sun, filling out their troops with an international flavour and ultimately laying the foundation for a surprise playoff appearance.

But this WNBA off-season is unlike any other. With a collective bargaining agreement that had been set to expire, players across the league timed their free agencies for the expected financial windfall.

Meanwhile, two expansion teams — the Tempo and the Portland Fire — will enter the league in 2026, complicating matters even further.

The rules for the Valkyries were simple — each of the 12 existing teams were able to protect six players, and Golden State could take one from each squad.

Awaiting details of expansion draft

As of November, Tempo president Teresa Resch said she had received no indication of what her expansion draft might look like. Instead, the team is focused on everything else.

“There’s a lot of things that we know will happen and we can plan for and have discussions. The ball is still gonna bounce in the same direction and the strategy on the basketball court doesn’t change,” Resch said.

Maybe Resch was just posturing, and there is more certainty than she let on. Then again, the expansion draft rules must be agreed upon by the league and players in the new CBA, and that remains in limbo.

Three more teams — Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia — will also enter the league one-by-one from 2028 through 2030.

Here’s what we do know: the league and players are currently negotiating under an extension reached at the end of November that stretches to Jan. 9. The league’s latest proposal sees the salary cap triple from about $1.5 million to $5 million US, ESPN reported, while max contracts would go from a base of less than $250,000 to $1 million and minimum contracts would rise to $225,000 from $66,079.

Building a roster

As Brondello alluded to, the Tempo can build through free agency as well as the expansion draft. Plus, Toronto will receive either the sixth or seventh pick in the 2026 collegiate draft (the order was determined by lottery in November, with the Tempo and Fire guaranteed one of those two picks, though who gets which has not been set).

All of which is to say: there are plenty of paths the Tempo can take in building out their roster. But projecting what the final dozen might look like, at this point, is a near-impossible exercise.

Let’s try anyway.

The Tempo might like to have some Canadian flavour.

“Hopefully, that does happen,” Brondello said. “They still have to choose us, not just us choosing them, if some are free agents. I’d think it’d be great to entice some Canadian players back here to play for the Tempo.”

Canadian options include the ever-marketable Kia Nurse, the reliable Bridget Carleton and the high-flying Laeticia Amihere, who found a steady role with the Valkyries last season.

Aaliyah Edwards, who may have the highest ceiling of the four, is under contract on her rookie deal with Connecticut through 2027.

The collegiate draft is somewhat projectable for the Tempo — a dream could be for Spanish star Awa Fam to fall to the Tempo at No. 6 or 7, helping build an international base in the league’s lone non-American market.

Otherwise, South Carolina’s Ta’Niya Latson is a popular pick among mock drafts, while recognizable NCAA stars Lauren Betts, Azzi Fudd and Flau’Jae Johnson are likely to be off the board by the time the Tempo are on the clock.

There are no Canadians projected to be first-round picks, with Ole Miss forward Latasha Lattimore likely the top prospect from north of the border set to enter the professional ranks next season.

In free agency, options are endless.

The Tempo are betting that being the lone WNBA team with former players as both general manager (Monica Wright Rogers) and coach will help them recruit players, in addition to Brondello’s reputation as a player’s coach.

“Being a former player, I think that’s kind of helped me,” Brondello said. “People talk about — I’m a players’ coach, I suppose, if you want to say it in that regard. I understand what the players are going through so I think that gives me an insight, but I also know how to get the best out of them and how to build chemistry.”

Toronto will also surely tout its city as a desirable location for players — Brondello herself said the diversity, vibrance and “great restaurants” were all draws.

Then there’s the expansion draft.

With so few players under contract and two teams coming at once, pickings will be slim. Counter to the Valkyries, the expansion draft may not even make much of an impact at all given the current landscape.

We can take some guesses at the types of players the Tempo might target — Wright Rogers said she prioritizes defence and Brondello said she wants to play a “fun” style. But we can’t even begin to suggest names.

Because for now, the only certainty when it comes to team-building is that there is none.

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