For the Toronto Tempo, building an inaugural roster has been all about strategy and forward thinking. There is a vocal desire for this team to win now, but also to set the team up to be sustainable through the next few seasons.
When general manager Monica Wright Rogers and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz sat at the podium after Friday’s WNBA expansion draft, their message was clear: The Tempo are coming out swinging.
This year’s expansion draft came with odd circumstances, including the large number of free agents, the condensed timeline and the lack of contracted players available to pick up. All of this is because the Tempo happen to be entering the league in the same year as a new CBA.
That didn’t stop them from loading up on players, though. The Tempo chose Julie Allemand, Nyara Sabally, Marina Mabrey, Aaliyah Nye, Lexi Held, Maria Conde, Maria Kliundikova, Adja Kane, Nikolina Milic, Kitija Laksa and Kristy Wallace to start building their team.
The Tempo are in a unique position, where there aren’t too many expectations on them in their first time out of the gate. Inaugural seasons come with growing pains, but with the depth of talent in the WNBA, a wide range of free agents available and a very different WNBA landscape ahead than even last season, why not try to assemble the best team possible? It’s that freedom that will make Toronto’s big swings appealing to both players coming in and fans watching along.
Using the core designation wisely
This year’s expansion draft had a new rule allowing each team to select one unrestricted free agent (UFA), core eligible or not. Portland used their first pick to take Bridget Carleton as their UFA, leading the Tempo to choose Marina Mabrey from the Connecticut Sun.
“I do think that it was important to us to land a UFA that was core worthy,” Wright Rogers said in the press conference. “In our deliberations, I do think that we did land at a spot that gave us the opportunity again to be competitive with someone that will help us attract other free agents.”
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Per the WNBA via press release, the Tempo can now give Mabrey the core designation, “giving the team exclusive negotiating rights to her in exchange for an offer of a one-year, fully guaranteed contract at the maximum salary and/or may be the only team that can negotiate a supermax contract.”
It seems likely now, given the comments from Wright Rogers, that Toronto will move to designate Mabrey with the core tag.
Deploying strategy throughout the offseason
Horowitz outlined four significant advantages for the Tempo as an expansion team, which led to the decision made at the coin toss last week.
“Having the sixth pick in the WNBA draft on April 13, going first in the Expansion Draft, going first in the second round of the Expansion Draft, and then being first on the waiver wire,” he explained. “Our decision to pick sixth in the college draft also came with going first in the second round and being first on the waiver wire.”
Essentially, the Tempo believed that having those three advantages outweighed picking first in the expansion draft. The consequence was, of course, letting Fire take Bridget Carleton first, but the Tempo still have a lot of team building to do. That risk is worth the reward to Horowitz and Wright Rogers.
Another example of the Tempo’s strategy is the trade they made with the Chicago Sky, which earned them another pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft in exchange for not picking from the Sky during the expansion draft. As Horowitz put it in the press conference today, they didn’t have to send anything away in that trade, essentially picking up another draft pick for free.
It’s a game of chess, not checkers.
Balancing stashable players with ready-now prospects
Being able to obtain the draft rights to players is something the Tempo are using to their advantage as we officially enter the WNBA offseason. The 11 players chosen during the expansion draft will be joined by Toronto’s four draft picks and other free agency signings, and it doesn’t take too much math to realize that not every player chosen on Friday will be on the final roster.
The Tempo are allowed 12 fully rostered players and two development players. In both the expansion draft and the college draft, picking players whose rights can be retained even if they don’t play this season ensures the Tempo have options in later seasons as well. These rights can also be used in future trades, even if the player has not played in the WNBA yet. More than getting players that could eventually be waived, the Tempo are stashing assets.
“This is a very, very strong draft, to the point that I think there’s a lot of uncertainty at the very top, but we really felt in that top six that we could get a cornerstone player for the Toronto Tempo,” Horowitz said about the April 13 WNBA draft. “To have four more players, whether it be for this season or rights players for the future. We want to ensure that there are a lot of quality players, people and talent for this organization.”
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“Having those two second-round picks is really important to us,” Wright Rogers added, “especially with the future expansion teams coming, being able to say yes or no to a player that we know may be a stash.”
From the 11 players currently on the roster, both Adja Kane and Maria Conde have yet to come over to the WNBA. If they don’t this season, the Tempo will retain their rights going forward. There is also a chance the Tempo could use the No. 22, 26 and 36 picks in the WNBA draft to pick a player or two who will not come over this season. They could also package those picks or the existing rights to players in trades before the season even starts.
Picking draft rights over existing players just gives the Tempo more to work with going forward. They will continue building their 2026 team via the WNBA draft and in free agency.
“We’re still evolving. We’re still adding players,” Wright Rogers noted, “I think we’re in a great position.”