![\"Bridget](\"https:\/\/platform.swishappeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/154\/2026\/09\/gettyimages-2292317517.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,10.697728326379,100,89.302271673621\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBridget Carleton. (Photo by Evan Yu) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
This was a solid No. 1 pick. Carleton flashed star potential when she averaged 9.6 points per game in 2024 on 44.4 percent shooting from 3 with 91 makes with the Minnesota Lynx, finishing third in Most Improved Player voting. She was expected to ascend to star status for the Fire, and has averaged a very good 14.3 points per game. She\u2019s done it on 36.8 percent efficiency from beyond the arc with 106 makes, good for fifth in the W. She\u2019s also 10th in the league with 1.6 steals per game.<\/p>\n
No. 3 pick \u2014 Carla Leite<\/p>\n
Carla Leite. (Photo by Noah Graham) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n Here, the Fire found their best player. They put their faith in a player who had played 17.2 minutes per game in her one WNBA season with the Golden State Valkyries, averaging seven points. They were rewarded with Leite\u2019s phenomenal season in which she has produced 15.8 points per game and 6.3 assists per game. She\u2019s shown a ton of improvement from deep, shooting 39.8 percent. If she can up her volume in that department and maintain the high percentage, watch out.<\/p>\n No. 5 pick \u2014 Luisa Geisels\u00f6der<\/p>\n Geisels\u00f6der averaged 6.9 points per game across 28 games (24 starts) for the Dallas Wings as a 25-year-old rookie last year. Over Portland\u2019s first nine games this year, she averaged 22.4 minutes per contest, with six points per game on 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from distance. She was then taken out of the starting lineup and played just 12.2 minutes per game over her next 12 outings before having her contract temporarily suspended ahead of the FIBA World Cup. It remains unclear if she will be back in Portland next year.<\/p>\n No. 7 pick \u2014 Emily Engstler<\/p>\n Emily Engstler. (Photo by Jack Compton) Getty Images<\/p>\n The No. 4 pick in the 2022 college draft, Engstler had bounced around a bit, from the Indiana Fever to the Minnesota Lynx to the Washington Mystics, never contributing in a major way. This year, she\u2019s upped her career-best scoring average by 4.1 to 10.3 points per game. She\u2019s shot 37.1 percent from 3 on a career-high 1.3 makes per game, and don\u2019t forget about her stocks! She\u2019s 14th in the W in steals per game and eighth in blocks per game with 1.5 of each.<\/p>\n No. 9 pick \u2014 Maya Caldwell<\/p>\n Caldwell never suited up for the Fire, instead traded to the Lynx for a 2028 third-round pick. She\u2019s averaging 13.9 minutes per game and four points per game for the best team in the league.<\/p>\n No. 11 pick \u2014 Chloe Bibby<\/p>\n Bibby was also traded away before the start of the season. She\u2019s since played in four games for the Chicago Sky and three for the Lynx, her current team.<\/p>\n No. 14 pick \u2014 Haley Jones<\/p>\n Jones was waived after five games with the Fire in which she averaged 5.2 points per game in 11.4 minutes per game. She\u2019s now back with the Wings, though in a much smaller role than she played for them last year.<\/p>\n No. 16 pick \u2014 Nyadiew Puoch<\/p>\n Tiffany Hayes and Nyadiew Puoch. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson) Getty Images<\/p>\n Puoch has played in 41 of Portland\u2019s 42 games, averaging 18.3 minutes per contest, good for fifth on the team if you don\u2019t count Sug Sutton, who is no longer with the team, and Sarah Ashlee Barker, who is out for the remainder of the season and last played on July 22. Puoch is shooting just 36.5 percent from the field and 24.7 percent from downtown with four points per game, but if she can become more of an offensive threat, it will justify keeping her and her impressive wingspan on the court. A 6-foot-3 forward out of Australia, she was the No. 12 pick in the 2024 college draft, taken by the Atlanta Dream.<\/p>\n No. 18 pick \u2014 Sarah Ashlee Barker<\/p>\n Sarah Ashlee Barker. (Photo by Ali Gradischer) Getty Images<\/p>\n Barker was the No. 9 pick in the 2025 college draft, taken by the Los Angeles Sparks. She didn\u2019t do much as a rookie, but had a great 26-game run with the Fire this year, becoming one of their most important players. Of those with legitimate volume, she has the highest 3-point percentage on the team: 40 percent with 36 makes. With 10.7 points per game, she\u2019s also fourth in scoring if you take out Sutton, who only played in three games for the Fire. Barker\u2019s 57.6 percent clip on 2-pointers brings her overall field goal percentage just above 50 percent. She tore her ACL on July 22, but will hopefully be a key piece for Portland again next year.<\/p>\n No. 20 pick \u2014 Sug Sutton<\/p>\n Sutton could have been one of the Fire\u2019s best players, seeing as she had two seasons as a key WNBA contributor under her belt: 2023 with the Phoenix Mercury and 2025 with the Washington Mystics. But the Fire didn\u2019t envision her as part of their plans, as she was waived on May 21. She then played 22 games with the Wings before being waived by them on Wednesday.<\/p>\n No. 24 pick \u2014 Nika M\u00fchl<\/p>\n M\u00fchl has been out this season with a torn ACL. It appears the Fire are still interested in her eventually joining the action for them. She is UConn\u2019s all-time leader in assists and assists per game. Yes, ahead of Sue Bird.<\/p>\n Five of the players Portland took in the expansion draft remain key contributors, and we\u2019re still waiting to see if M\u00fchl becomes another. The Fire were right to think that Carleton and Leite could be players to build around, while Barker proved to be a steal at No. 18.<\/p>\n No. 2 pick \u2014 Julie Allemand<\/p>\n Julie Allemand. (Photo by Tara Walton) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n I\u2019ve talked a lot about Allemand\u2019s 2020 Wubble season, when she shot 44-for-92 (47.8 percent) from 3. That was the real her, not the player who shot 37-for-132 (28 percent) over her next two WNBA seasons (2022 and 2025). She\u2019s begun to prove me right by going 36-for-85 (42.4 percent) in 2026. She\u2019s also averaging 5.6 assists per game, which is great and just 0.2 off her career-best, set in 2020. Her 6.3 points per game isn\u2019t great on the surface for a team\u2019s first selection in an expansion draft, but she\u2019s taking so few shots that it\u2019s no wonder her scoring average is low. She\u2019s shooting 78.6 percent on 2s with just 1.4 attempts per game, placing her overall field goal percentage at 54.3 and her effective field goal percentage at 68.5.<\/p>\n No. 4 pick \u2014 Nyara Sabally<\/p>\n Nyara Sabally. (Photo by Cooper Neill) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n Sabally has a history of injury issues, and the bug bit again in 2026, with her playing in 24 of 41 games thus far. But she\u2019s been good when she\u2019s played, averaging 12.3 points per game (fifth on the Tempo), and shooting 39.2 percent from 3 (with 20 makes) and 57.1 percent on 2-pointers. She\u2019s also third on the team with 5.3 boards per contest. If she can stay healthy, she can continue to prove that she was a good pick at No. 4 in the seasons to come.<\/p>\n No. 6 pick \u2014 Marina Mabrey<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n