Tune in to ESPN tonight at 5:30 pm CT for the 2025 WNBA Expansion Draft presented by State Farm! Wendell Epps breaks down everything Lynx fans need to know.
The WNBA Expansion Draft is happening on Friday, December sixth. Here’s what you should know about how it will impact the Lynx. A new team, the Golden State Valkyries, will be entering the league in 2025. To build their roster, the Valkyries will select players from each of the current teams in the league, including the Lynx. Each team had to submit a Roster List by November twenty-fifth, containing every player the team has rights to from the 2024 season.
From this list, each team can designate up to six “Protected Players” who cannot be selected in the Expansion Draft. The remaining players will be eligible for selection by the Valkyries. Golden State can also make trades with existing teams before the draft to secure certain players.
On December sixth, the Valkyries will choose one player from each team’s available list. If they select a player without a contract for the next season, they will have the opportunity to sign that player. There are restrictions on selecting players who are eligible to become unrestricted free agents or who have received a Core Designation Contract for multiple seasons.
The last expansion draft took place in 2008, and with more teams expected to join the league in the future, this process may occur again in upcoming off-seasons. Make sure to mark December sixth on your calendar to see how this year’s Expansion Draft unfolds!
