TORONTO — The Toronto Tempo drafted Maria Conde 13th overall in the expansion draft, but when her name was called, most of the WNBA world knew very little about her.
The 29-year-old Spaniard had been dominating in European leagues for more than a decade, but despite having some experience playing college ball in the United States and having been drafted to the league, she’s never suited up for a WNBA season.
However, in the press conference that immediately followed the expansion draft, Tempo general manager Eli Horowitz did his best to clear up the uncertainty around her.
“She’s one of the best players in all of Europe who’s never been in the WNBA,” he said.
It was a bold statement that followed speculative analysis around the guard until she finally took the court in Toronto for her first WNBA game.
But it stood up. When Conde played her first game with Toronto, her versatility and speed were obvious. Her many years overseas had turned her into a unique player with a large menu of skills to pick from. Her shooting set her apart as did her ability to jump in at any position.
On Friday, when asked about how Conde has fared so far in her rookie season, the Tempo GM’s comments didn’t waver from that initial sentiment.
“We’ve been watching her for years now, obviously my team prior to working for the Tempo, and just watching her both with the Spanish national team and EuroLeague. We’re always looking for who are those players that shine on those stages,” Horowitz said. “She’s just someone that stood out that way. She’s a 6’3 wing, she can guard multiple positions.”
For about the first 10 games of the season, Conde didn’t have the luxury of playing a position she knew well. As a tall guard, and because a large part of the tempo’s frontcourt was out with injury, she was called in to play forward — a responsibility she took in stride.
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In a recent interview, Conde reacted to the high praise she’s received from Horowitz since joining the Tempo organization.
“It’s always great to hear these kinds of things. I feel like that speaks also to my career overseas, like I’ve been playing for a really long time. I think a lot of players here know me because we played with or against each other, so I know that I feel that for me as well back home. But obviously, once you come here, you got to kind of build your name again, even if you’ve been playing,” she said.
“I still am a rookie, so I’m trying to adjust as fast as possible.”
Part of that adjustment came on the Tempo’s first road trip to Los Angeles.
It was May 17, Toronto had five players on the injury reserve including all three of their post players. Conde was about to log big WNBA minutes while in a lineup completely constructed of guards.
While the Sparks threw out big players like Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby, the Tempo had Conde and Laura Juskaite in at those same positions.
“Those two games that we had there that we didn’t have post players, so it was me and Laura playing the four and the five, at some point I was guarding Nneka on the block, and I was like, ‘What am I doing here?'” she said with a laugh.
However, in the 15 games that have followed since that ‘what am I doing here’ moment, Conde has shown time and time again that she is right where she belongs.
When the Tempo drafted Conde, there was some risk involved. The Chicago Sky had drafted her in 2019 but Conde didn’t come over to play. Then again in 2025 she was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the expansion draft, but something else got in the way.
“I was thinking about making the move, but then I got injured, so that just shut it down. And then this year I wasn’t thinking that I was going to get elected again. I knew that there was the possibility, but I didn’t really know what was going on with the CBA and the new teams, and what was going to happen.”
“I feel like I was at a point of my career that it made sense for me. I was feeling healthy, I was excited. It was, yeah, I think just the right moment.”
As a staple of the Spanish national program and a key part of countless other teams in Europe, Conde had been sensitive about the timing and situation around when she would leap across the pond. The newly-negotiated CBA factored into her decision considerably.
Conde didn’t assume that the adjustment would come easily, but she did recognize the elements of her game that wouldn’t change, no matter where she moved.
“I’ve been playing for a really long time, so I just had the trust that at some point that was going to come together. And until that moment, I just wanted to be able to do things that still would help the team, and I know those are things that I can do. I know I can rely on my defense, I know I can rely on rebounding, on running on setting good screens, if that’s what I needed to do.”
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Through 19 games this season Conde is averaging 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. But for a Tempo team that has been breaking league scoring records, it’s her shooting efficiency that also stands out.
“I think she’s up to like 43% from three, shooting almost four attempts a game. That’s kind of not blown us away, because we knew she was capable, but overseas she’s been more of like low 30s from three. So, I think we didn’t necessarily know that that would actually be like her biggest strength in some ways in the WNBA,” Horowitz said.
“We valued her versatility, her ability to play make. I think in the WNBA game, there’s so much open space compared sometimes to Europe and other leagues. She’s getting a lot of really good looks, and she’s knocking them down.”
