The Portland Fire, the Toronto Tempo, and Golden State’s expansion team playbook

The GIST: The FIBA World Cup tips off on Friday, ushering in a three-week WNBA break before the regular season resumes on September 17th. While we patiently wait for more hoops, we’re honing in on the debut seasons of the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo.

• The Golden State Valkyries found expansion success in 2025, making the postseason in their inaugural campaign and creating a stellar blueprint for the new teams to come. Did the Fire and Tempo pull from the Valks’ expansion playbook? In short, yes.

• Acquiring superstars isn’t easy under the W’s current expansion draft process, so something has to make up for that lack of starpower. And while both 2026 expansion teams will miss the playoffs, their league debuts were packed with promise.

🔥 Portland Fire: What Portland lacks in top-tier talent, it makes up for with a unique style of play. Head coach (HC) Alex Sarama’s been lauded for his Constraints-Led Approach (CLA). The details differ, but the creativity mirrors Golden State HC Natalie Nakase’s defense-first, high-intensity model. No one’s playing quite like the Valkyries, just like no one’s playing like the Fire.

• So what is CLA? It’s a coaching philosophy that prioritizes player-led decision-making under pressure. “Constraints” are used in practice (like a 3-on-3 drill with no dribbling) forcing players to problem solve on the fly, improving in-game adaptability. And it’s working: The Fire have outperformed expectations.

👟 Toronto Tempo: Injuries notably decimated the Tempo this season, leaving them with an 11-29 record that isn’t reflective of their potential. That said, it feels like Toronto’s on track to mimic the Valks heading into year two. Much like Golden State’s commitment to Veronica Burton, the Tempo seem to have found their long-term point guard in rookie Kiki Rice. Step one, complete.

• Enter: the 2026 offseason, which could be crucial for the Six. Toronto will be shooting to pick up a superstar in the draft (hi, USC’s JuJu Watkins) or in free agency like the Valkyries did — and they have the cap space to do both. Slide on those shades.