The WNBA will host its first Expansion Draft since 2008 on Dec. 6 and the Minnesota Lynx can protect up to six players to keep Golden State from selecting. That begs the question: Who will Minnesota protect?
Though the WNBA offseason is still young, the action and events of the offseason won’t stop leading up to the start of the new year.
With the WNBA Draft Lottery now in the books and the 2025 WNBA draft order now known, a unique offseason in the league continues in December with something that hasn’t happened since 2008. On December 6th, the WNBA will host its first Expansion Draft in 16 years with the insertion of the Golden State Valkyries as the league’s 13th franchise. There will be more expansion drafts in offseasons to follow as the league expands even further, so this will be the norm for the next few years.
In the Expansion Draft, Golden State will have the ability to draft from a pool of active players in the league who are made available by their current teams. The 12 existing teams can protect up to six players on their current rosters. The players who are protected will not be eligible for Golden State to select in that draft. The others who are left unprotected will be among the talent the Valkyries will be able to choose from.
Before the Expansion Draft begins, we take a look at which six players the Minnesota Lynx could protect, and which players could be made available for Golden State to consider selecting.
Guarantees
Napheesa Collier
Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
This is an absolute no-brainer and you’d be very wrong to even think Minnesota would consider not protecting Napheesa Collier.
Collier cemented herself as one of the top players in the WNBA in 2024, putting together an MVP-type of season and would have likely been the league MVP if it wasn’t for a historic season by A’ja Wilson. At just 28 years old, Collier will be an MVP candidate again in 2025, which is the final year of her contract with the Lynx. But Collier isn’t going anywhere.
Kayla McBride
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Since joining the Lynx in 2021, McBride has found a home in Minnesota and has become an important player on and off the court for the franchise. McBride, like Collier, is a lock to be protected in the Expansion Draft.
McBride is coming off her best season in a Lynx uniform in 2024 and still has plenty left in the tank at 32 years old and in the final year of her contract in 2025. McBuckets will be key to the Lynx success once again next season, both with her ability on the floor and her leadership in the locker room.
Courtney Williams
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
One of Minnesota’s key offseason additions before the 2024 season, Williams has become a vital piece to the Lynx roster, perhaps more than many thought she would.
Williams provided the Lynx with a consistent point guard in the starting lineup for the first time since Lindsay Whalen retired, and she quickly won over the Lynx fan base with her energy and personality to go along with her play on the court. Minnesota will do whatever it can to keep Williams — who will turn 31 before the season starts — on the roster, which will result in her getting protected and remaining in a Lynx uniform.
Alanna Smith
Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
Smith has seen steady progression over her last three seasons in the WNBA, and she turned her game up a notch in her first season in Minnesota in 2024 after signing with the Lynx in free agency.
Smith provided a boost to Minnesota offensively, but her biggest impact came on the defensive end while earning All-Defensive Second Team honors as a result. Smith does all the little things, things that are valuable from a player in the paint. Given her talent on both ends of the floor, her continued improvement and her age — just 28 years old — Smith will be back in a Lynx uniform in 2025 and will be one of the six players protected in the Expansion Draft.
Bridget Carleton
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Throughout her career, Carleton has made the most of every opportunity she has been given, though sometimes those opportunities were short-lived. In 2024, she got a big opportunity in the starting lineup and never looked back in a career year.
Carleton solidified herself as a starter in 2024, and she is a key player that has the ability to light things up from deep and step up big late like she did on numerous occasions in Minnesota’s successful season.
Like the other four players on this list, Carleton is also entering a contract year in 2025 at the age of 27. But also like the other four Lynx, she isn’t going anywhere and should return to the starting lineup again next summer.
Candidates for Final Protection
Dorka Juhász
Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images
The most likely candidate to get the sixth protection by the Lynx is the soon-to-be third-year forward who has shown the ability to float between a starting spot and a bench role.
Juhász, who is just 24 years old, moved from a starting job to a spot on the second unit in 2024 due to the Lynx adding Alanna Smith, who assumed the starting center role. However, Juhász was a valuable piece off the bench and even stepped up in the starting lineup when called upon. She currently has the highest upside of the young talent on Minnesota’s roster, so it’s likely she could claim that sixth and final protection.
Diamond Miller
Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
After a relatively solid rookie campaign, Miller struggled in her sophomore season with injuries derailing her year after three games. Her various ailments gave Carleton an opportunity to step up and ended up pushing Miller down the depth chart.
With that said, Miller is still just 23 years old and could develop into a solid player in the WNBA, persuading the Lynx to protect their former No. 2 overall pick. If Miller had the type of season we saw her have in her rookie year, she is likely a shoo-in to receive a protection tag for the Expansion Draft. However, Minnesota could take a chance on leaving her unprotected in the hopes of Golden State passing on the young wing.
Alissa Pili
Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images
Pili was a player we didn’t get a huge sample size of in 2024, mostly due to her just sitting too far down the depth chart and not being able to carve out a role off the bench.
Pili is a raw talent, but she has the ability to become a unique post player that is strong offensively and can provide a spark to her team from anywhere on the floor. Defensively, that’s where Pili has the most to work on the most and something she’s likely has worked on, and will continue to do so. The possibility of what could be with Pili paired with her uniqueness could be a reason Minnesota considers protecting the soon-to-be second-year player.
Natisha Hiedeman
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Hiedeman is a bit of a different situation than the players above, mainly because she isn’t technically under contract with any team — even the Lynx.
Hiedeman, who was traded to Minnesota last offseason and concluded her current contract in 2024, enters this offseason as an unrestricted free agent and technically not on the Lynx roster. However, WNBA teams are able to protect any player from the 2024 roster in this year’s Expansion Draft, so Hiedeman could be the sixth player protected. It will be interesting to see if Minnesota elects for youth with its sixth protection, or if a depth piece like Hiedeman is the player chosen.
The Lynx and other WNBA teams have some tough decisions to make early on in the offseason while starting to think about what the roster might look like in 2025 and which players Golden State might try and pull away to join its roster.
We could very well see some talented players on Minnesota’s roster head to the Bay Area, but that’s a testament to the talent the Lynx have been able to acquire and how skilled this roster currently is.