Three significant ways that WNBA expansion is helping players—just like it was intended to do

The WNBA is considered one of the toughest professional sports leagues—women’s or men’s—to play in because there are just so few roster spots available.

However, over the past two seasons, with three expansion teams entering the league, an additional 36 player spots were gained. That’s not even including the developmental contract positions, which can give up to 30 players an opportunity to practice and compete in WNBA contests. Plus, the new CBA requires teams to roster 12 players, whereas teams could have 11-player rosters under the previous CBA.

Here are the three most significant ways in which this influx of opportunities is helping women’s basketball players, as well as the sport overall.

1. Expansion teams allow diamonds in the rough to shine as stars

Veronica Burton is a prime example of a player who fulfilled her untapped potential in a new environment.

During her first three years in the league, she averaged 2.7 points while playing just 13.9 minutes per game with the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun.

With the Golden State Valkyries last season, she had a breakout year. Burton started in all 44 games and averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.0 assists. Those were career-high marks for Burton , propelling her to the Most Improved Player of the Year Award.

Thanks to her production, Golden State did the improbable: finishing with a winning record and making the playoffs as an expansion team.

Now, Burton is a player earning $925,000 a year and is a focal point of everything Golden State does.

Marina Mabrey is looking like the Burton of this year. After bouncing around the league playing on four teams in seven seasons, she added a fifth, selected in the expansion draft by the Toronto Tempo

With the Tempo. she’s seeing an uptick in offensive usage and is taking advantage of it.

Mabrey is averaging a career-high 18.8 points per game. She’s also taking 8.4 threes per game and converting on 35 percent of them. Mabrey was always a sniper, but in this expanded role with Toronto, she is truly flourishing, and if she can sustain this offensive output, it’ll be the best year of her career.

2. Expansion teams give young players an opportunity to earn bigger roles

For existing teams, the downside of expansion drafts is that they lose players that they hope to eventually develop. That team downside can be an upside for the players selected in the expansion draft, as they are usually underutilized by their now-former team.

That’s exactly the situation Sarah Ashlee Barker was in.

After a rookie season with the Los Angeles Sparks, where she was primarily glued to the bench, LA didn’t protect her during the expansion draft. She ended up getting selected by the Portland Fire and it’s been the best thing for her career.

Barker went from playing 14.1 minutes per game to 20.8. She has also tripled her scoring average, scoring 9.1 points per game this season, compared to last season when she scored just 3.1. Her best highlight so far this season was her game-winner against the Liberty. Barker has also set a new career-high, scoring 18 points in a win over the Sun.

Barker’s teammate Carla Leite is also excelling on her new team. Last year, funnily enough, she was with the Valkyries and averaged 7.2 points per game. Now with Portland, she is averaging 16.3 per night and has started in five of the first six games she’s played.

Thanks to Leite and Barker, the Fire are exceeding all individual and team expectations. The two are having career years, and Portland is off to a 5-3 start.

3. Expansion teams encourage the globalization of the sport

It’s not just veterans and young players that have been taking advantage of the increase in roster spots; international players are as well.

With the new CBA and three new teams, franchises are looking beyond the United States for players.

The Fire have seven players who were born outside of the US, and the Tempo have eight, making both teams franchises that don’t have a majority of Americans.

That’s rare for a league that has only one non-US team, but it’s also a sign that the WNBA is growing and that globalization is not only a goal but a positive. After all, if the WNBA wants to be the definitive place for women’s basketball, then it needs to be accessible to all.

More opportunities for players, regardless of where they are from, will only raise the level of play in the WNBA and shine a spotlight on how much women’s basketball talent there is, which ultimately benefits the players, the league and all fans.

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