LOS ANGELES -- The first domino has fallen in terms of the offseason before the 2026 WNBA campaign. The expansion draft just took place as the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo were given a chance to choose players from the other 13 teams and form their rosters.
Here are their selections from the draft. First, the Portland Fire.
And Canada's team, the Toronto Tempo.
As seen in their images, the Sparks have lost Sarah Ashlee Barker to the Fire and Julie Allemand to the Tempo. In fact, Toronto's first draft choice was Allemand.
And it's hard to blame the Tempo for that. Allemand was the engine that made the Sparks go in the second half of the season. She returned from Eurobasket on July 3rd when Los Angeles was 5-12. From there, she was a huge part on helping the Sparks win eight of nine games to put them in position for a playoff spot. While the Sparks ultimately fell short, it showed how valuable a playmaker Allemand was. "True point guards" are becoming more of a rarity in basketball these days and the Tempo got a good one in Allemand.
Guard Rae Burrell #12 of the Los Angeles Sparks, forward Cameron Brink #22 of the Los Angeles Sparks, guard Julie Allemand #20 of the Los Angeles Sparks and guard Sarah Ashlee Barker #13 of the Los Angeles Sparks celebrate a basket during a WNBA game against the Dallas Wings at Crypto.com Arena on September 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Jordan Teller - The Sporting Tribune
Guard Rae Burrell #12 of the Los Angeles Sparks , forward Cameron Brink #22 of the Los Angeles Sparks, guard Julie Allemand #20 of the Los Angeles Sparks and guard Sarah Ashlee Barker #13 of the Los Angeles Sparks celebrate a basket during a WNBA game against the Dallas Wings at Crypto.com Arena on September 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Sarah Ashlee Barker had a rollercoaster rookie season. She was selected 9th overall by the Sparks in last year's draft. Barker was put into the starting line-up as injuries once again mounted in Los Angeles. The returns of Allemand and Rae Burrell put her back at the end of the bench but towards the end of the season, Barker's minutes increased. She has the potential to be a nice 3-and-D player for the Fire.
Both expansion teams are definitely going to be interesting. Portland got a key member from the Minnesota Lynx in Bridget Carleton (who was expected to be chosen by the team in her home country, Toronto). Carla Leite got chosen in an expansion draft for the second straight season. Luisa Geiselsoder was a nice surprise last year for Dallas while Haley Jones continues to move around the league; she's already played for three teams in three seasons.
Toronto got Nyara Sabally , who was huge in that championship-clinching Game 5 in the 2024 Finals for New York. Marina Mabrey moves on once again; she catches fire quick as she showed in Unrivaled a few weeks ago. Barker's college teammate, Aaliyah Nye (who won a ring in Vegas), has a chance to shoot more shots and that could potentially be lethal. And Lexi Held was a key member of that Mercury team that went to the Finals last season.
This would be Julie Allemand's fourth team as she played for the Fever in 2020 and then the Sky in 2022. She was part of a trade that brought her and Li Yueru from the Sky in 2024 for a 2024 first round pick (which the Sky traded to the Lynx; the pick became Alissa Pili , who ended up going to the Sparks last season). Allemand didn't play in 2024 due to injury. She averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game last year.
Barker was known for putting down 45 points in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year. As mentioned, her role fluctuated throughout her rookie year. She started 8 games out of the 34 she played and averaged 3.1 points and 1.9 rebounds. She did struggle a bit from behind the arc (.295) but with a bigger role and more confidence she got from playing in Athletes Unlimited, that could be better this coming season.
Next on the docket is free agency. The Sparks can probably use some guard help.
