Today is the day that player protections are due, so who will the Wings choose to protect for the expansion draft?
Sunday is the day that the WNBA needs the list of which players each team will be protecting for the upcoming expansion draft on Friday, April 3rd. The list of unprotected players will then be passed to the new expansion teams, the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire, giving them enough time to order their draft boards.
are expected to have a player come off the board early. They may have been a bad team last year, but they have a lot of young, intriguing talent, as well as a star who could be available in the expansion draft. Each team can protect up to 5 players, whether they're under contract, set to be a free agent, or have their rights held by the team but are currently playing elsewhere . That last note could be important for the Wings.Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Breeze BC guard Paige Bueckers and Mist BC wing Arike Ogunbowale at Barclay's Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesDuh. This one shouldn't need much explanation. Paige Bueckers was an All-WNBA Second Team selection in his rookie year, producing one of the best rookie seasons of all time. She's a franchise cornerstone and should be one of the best players in the WNBA for a long time, assuming she can stay healthy.The former third overall pick out of Villanova struggled to start her career but really came into her own last year, averaging 12.7 PPG. She has just a year remaining on her rookie contract, but she should be a building block for the franchise.Paige Bueckers may have been the first overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft, but Aziaha James was also a first-round pick and had a solid first season, averaging 7.5 PPG. She should be an obvious candidate to keep.Let's get weird. Kuier has been out of the WNBA for the last two seasons after being the second overall pick in 2021. Her first three seasons in the league were middling, but she has played very well overseas. Dallas needs to improve its center play, which they could do at the top of the WNBA Draft by selecting Awa Fam. If they choose to protect Kuier, it might signal them leaning toward Azzi Fudd.The final spot in this instance comes down to Arike Ogunbowale, Li Yueru, JJ Quinerly, and Diamond Miller. Even with Ogunbowale set to enter free agency, it's hard to let a four-time All-Star walk out of the building for free unless they're totally sure that she and Paige Bueckers can't play together. They could've traded her at the trade deadline and didn't. They still think she can be a part of the core. If they choose to go a different direction, JJ Quinerly seems to be the next most likely option. Quinerly was a third-round pick last year and showed some potential as a defender.Austin Veazey joined NoleGameday as the Lead Basketball Writer in 2019, while contributing as a football writer, and started as editor for MavericksGameday in 2024. Veazey was a Florida State Men’s Basketball Manager from 2016-2019. Follow Austin on Twitter at @EasyVeazeyNG
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