Who will Indiana Fever leave behind?

WNBA Expansion Draft, 6:30 p.m., Friday; TV: ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS – The WNBA expansion draft is Friday and the Indiana Fever may have to say goodbye to one of their players.

Or maybe not.

The Golden State Valkyries expansion draft airs at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN, where the league’s newest franchise will have the chance to select a player from each team for its 2025 roster. But just because the Valkyries have the opportunity to select a player from each team doesn’t mean they will.

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There are several ways the expansion draft can make the Fever’s case: Golden State can select one of Indiana’s players, or the Fever and Valkyries can negotiate a trade before the expansion draft that could give Indiana more autonomy over which player leaves the franchise. or Golden State won’t select a player from Indiana’s roster at all.

We’ll find out the details on Friday. Until then, here’s what you can expect about how the draft expansion works:

How does the WNBA expansion draft affect the Indiana Fever?

Golden State will begin building its team with the expansion draft and will receive up to 13 players from the draft before free agency even begins. In its simplest form, Golden State will be able to select an unprotected player from each team, as well as an unrestricted free agent who hasn’t used up all of their core years.

The Valkyries must then use their core designation (a maximum one-year salary in exchange for exclusive negotiating rights) on the unrestricted free agent they select. Players who have already used up their core seasons – including players like Brittney Griner, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones – are ineligible and therefore do not need to be protected by their teams.

Each existing team can protect up to six players on their roster, including outgoing unrestricted free agents who are eligible for vesting and players they have the rights to but who are currently out of the league. Then Golden State can choose from the unprotected list.

Golden State can also choose to negotiate a trade with different teams – they could select a player from one team and trade him to another team, whether for cap space or an additional player, or the Valkyries can with a team negotiate to select a specific player from his squad.

The Valkyries can also choose not to select a player from a team at all. There are only 12 roster spots for each WNBA team, and Golden State would emerge with 13 players if they selected one player from each team and one UFA. With free agency also starting in January, the Valkyries may not want to replenish their roster so quickly.

Fever’s WNBA expansion draft protected list prediction

Emphasis on predictedas the league has not released any team’s protected lists.

Caitlin Clark
Kelsey Mitchell
Aliyah Boston
Lexie Hull
Na Lyssa Smith
Temi Fagbenle

The top three are all but guaranteed: Clark and Boston, the last two No. 1 picks with four and three more years of control under the Fever, respectively, are a no-brainer. Indiana also plans to kill Kelsey Mitchell, which means they have to protect her too.

Lexie Hull worked her way into the starting lineup and was a key player in the second half of the season, making it likely the Fever won’t want to give up on her. Temi Fagbenle, a restricted free agent, was also an integral part of the squad as a healthy player. Fagbenle missed 22 games due to various injuries, but was a crucial veteran both on and off the field.

NaLyssa Smith is the sticking point – she was a starter for most of the season, but her minutes declined at times in Fagbenle’s favor, particularly in the postseason. Smith has been vocal about her dissatisfaction with her playing time last season, but that may have been directed at the previous coaching staff. Smith re-released the announcement that Stephanie White would become the Fever’s new coach in November following the firing of Christie Sides.

Indiana could protect Smith in hopes of trading her later in the offseason and getting another player in exchange for the former No. 2 overall pick. Or they plan to keep it for 2025 and hope a new system gets the best out of it.

Golden State’s potential options from the Fever

Katie Lou Samuelson, Grace Berger, Damiris Dantas, Victaria Saxton and Kristy Wallace will all likely be unprotected on the Fever roster. Erica Wheeler, the final player on Indiana’s roster, will be an unrestricted free agent this season.

Of these, I think Berger or Samuelson would be most likely to be selected by Golden State.

Berger, an IU graduate, just finished her second season on “The Fever.” She saw a lot of action in her rookie year in 2023, playing 36 games and averaging 14.2 minutes and 4.6 points. However, her place in the rotation declined in 2024 as she only appeared in 11 games with an average of 9.3 minutes per game.

Berger is a versatile and fast player who made the 2023 WNBA All-Rookie Team. She has a deadly mid-range shot that could open up some options for a new team. What’s more, she’s relatively cheap – her unprotected salary would be $80,000 in 2025.

Samuelson, on the other hand, is a veteran player who could bring some experience to an entirely new franchise. She was drafted No. 4 overall by UConn in 2019 and has bounced back a bit, playing for Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and now Indiana. Going to the Golden State could be a homecoming of sorts since she is from Huntington Beach, California.

The five-year WNBA veteran actually had a difficult season in 2024, her first after giving birth to her daughter in the summer of 2023. She played in 37 games, most coming off the bench, after starting the year as a starter, and averaged 4.3 points per game in 18.2. minutes. This year, with a complete break from training, Samuelson could be primed for a year of recovery.

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