{"id":332653,"date":"2025-12-05T20:20:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T20:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/332653\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T20:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T20:20:05","slug":"uncertainty-reigns-for-toronto-tempo-1-year-after-valkyries-wnba-expansion-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/332653\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncertainty reigns for Toronto Tempo 1 year after Valkyries WNBA expansion draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Tempo\u2019s hiring of Sandy Brondello turned some heads.<\/p>\n

Here was one of the most accomplished coaches in recent WNBA history hitting the open market and choosing to lead an expansion team without any players or even much of a front-office staff.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the money either \u2014\u00a0Brondello reportedly<\/a> also received offers from Dallas and Seattle, with at least one promising a richer deal than she ultimately landed in Toronto. (Financial terms of her Tempo contract were not disclosed).<\/p>\n

So why did Brondello choose Toronto? That was the first thing she was asked upon her introduction in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is just a little different situation, obviously. A lot of the players now are free agents. Yes, we’ll be an expansion team, but hopefully summer in Toronto is pretty special. So hopefully we can get some pretty special players to represent the Tempo,\u201d Brondello said.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Tempo introduce Brondello as franchise’s 1st head coach:\"\"<\/p>\n

2-time WNBA champion Sandy Brondello introduced as Toronto Tempo’s inaugural coach<\/p>\n

Toronto Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers met the media on Tuesday, to introduce two-time WNBA champion coach Sandy Brondello as the expansion team’s coach.<\/p>\n

It was one year ago \u2014 Dec. 6, 2024 \u2014 that the Golden State Valkyries held their expansion draft, nabbing eventual Most Improved Player Veronica Burton from the Connecticut Sun, filling out their troops with an international flavour and ultimately laying the foundation for a surprise playoff appearance.<\/p>\n

But this WNBA off-season is unlike any other. With a collective bargaining agreement that had been set to expire, players across the league timed their free agencies for the expected financial windfall.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, two expansion teams \u2014 the Tempo and the Portland Fire \u2014 will enter the league in 2026, complicating matters even further.<\/p>\n

The rules for the Valkyries were simple \u2014 each of the 12 existing teams were able to protect six players, and Golden State could take one from each squad.<\/p>\n

Awaiting details of expansion draft<\/p>\n

As of November, Tempo president Teresa Resch said she had received no indication of what her expansion draft might look like. Instead, the team is focused on everything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that we know will happen and we can plan for and have discussions. The ball is still gonna bounce in the same direction and the strategy on the basketball court doesn\u2019t change,\u201d Resch said.<\/p>\n

Maybe Resch was just posturing, and there is more certainty than she let on. Then again, the expansion draft rules must be agreed upon by the league and players in the new CBA, and that remains in limbo.<\/p>\n

Three more teams \u2014 Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia \u2014 will also enter the league one-by-one from 2028 through 2030.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we do know: the league and players are currently negotiating under an extension reached at the end of November that stretches to Jan. 9. The league\u2019s latest proposal sees the salary cap triple from about $1.5 million to $5 million US, ESPN reported<\/a>, while max contracts would go from a base of less than $250,000 to $1 million and minimum contracts would rise to $225,000 from $66,079.<\/p>\n

Building a roster<\/p>\n

As Brondello alluded to, the Tempo can build through free agency as well as the expansion draft. Plus, Toronto will receive either the sixth or seventh pick in the 2026 collegiate draft (the order was determined by lottery in November, with the Tempo and Fire guaranteed one of those two picks, though who gets which has not been set).<\/p>\n

All of which is to say: there are plenty of paths the Tempo can take in building out their roster. But projecting what the final dozen might look like, at this point, is a near-impossible exercise.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s try anyway.<\/p>\n

The Tempo might like to have some Canadian flavour.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, that does happen,\u201d Brondello said. \u201cThey still have to choose us, not just us choosing them, if some are free agents. I\u2019d think it\u2019d be great to entice some Canadian players back here to play for the Tempo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadian options include the ever-marketable Kia Nurse, the reliable Bridget Carleton and the high-flying Laeticia Amihere, who found a steady role with the Valkyries last season.<\/p>\n

Aaliyah Edwards, who may have the highest ceiling of the four, is under contract on her rookie deal with Connecticut through 2027.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Tempo GM Rogers discusses goals ahead of inaugural season:\"\"<\/p>\n

Meet Monica Wright Rogers, the GM of the WNBA’s newest team, the Toronto Tempo<\/p>\n

The newly hired Tempo general manager talks goals for the 2026 WNBA season and how she plans to build a championship-winning team. <\/p>\n

The collegiate draft is somewhat projectable for the Tempo \u2014 a dream could be for Spanish star Awa Fam to fall to the Tempo at No. 6 or 7, helping build an international base in the league\u2019s lone non-American market.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, South Carolina\u2019s Ta\u2019Niya Latson is a popular pick among mock drafts, while recognizable NCAA stars Lauren Betts, Azzi Fudd and Flau\u2019Jae Johnson are likely to be off the board by the time the Tempo are on the clock.<\/p>\n

There are no Canadians projected to be first-round picks, with Ole Miss forward Latasha Lattimore likely the top prospect from north of the border set to enter the professional ranks next season.<\/p>\n

In free agency, options are endless.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Tempo are betting that being the lone WNBA team with former players as both general manager (Monica Wright Rogers) and coach will help them recruit players, in addition to Brondello\u2019s reputation as a player\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a former player, I think that’s kind of helped me,\u201d Brondello said. \u201cPeople talk about \u2014 I\u2019m a players\u2019 coach, I suppose, if you want to say it in that regard. I understand what the players are going through so I think that gives me an insight, but I also know how to get the best out of them and how to build chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toronto will also surely tout its city as a desirable location for players \u2014 Brondello herself said the diversity, vibrance and \u201cgreat restaurants\u201d were all draws.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the expansion draft.<\/p>\n

With so few players under contract and two teams coming at once, pickings will be slim. Counter to the Valkyries, the expansion draft may not even make much of an impact at all given the current landscape.<\/p>\n

We can take some guesses at the types of players the Tempo might target \u2014 Wright Rogers said she prioritizes defence and Brondello said she wants to play a \u201cfun\u201d style. But we can\u2019t even begin to suggest names.<\/p>\n

Because for now, the only certainty when it comes to team-building is that there is none.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Tempo\u2019s hiring of Sandy Brondello turned some heads. Here was one of the most accomplished coaches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-332653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}