The last problem the WNBA has right now is a talent problem. If anything, the league is beginning to face the opposite issue: too much talent, and not enough room for it. According to Hailey Van Lith, a growing number of elite players are knocking on the WNBA’s door. But the league’s current structure is struggling to keep pace with the influx.
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“The rate at which players are coming in is far exceeding the rate at which players are retiring,” Van Lith said on Tuesday’s episode of the House of Maher podcast, a clip of which was shared on Instagram.
“Roster spots and money and team availability is so hard to come by. That’s why all the expansion proposals and teams has been so big the last couple of years. The Valkyries kind of started it. They showed that these teams are a good investment. They’re worth these owners investing into.”
“It’s been good so far, but honestly, expansion is so needed because we have so much talent coming in. And even players now that are on the fringe and didn’t make it, but are so talented. It’s just like we have to wait. The girls that play basketball at a high level now is unprecedented. We have to keep growing. There’s no other option.”
This 2026 season welcomed the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo as the 14th and 15th WNBA franchises after the Golden State Valkyries joined the league in 2025 and are in their second season. Despite their remarkable growth and the fact that they became the first expansion franchise to make back-to-back playoffs in their first two seasons, the influx of players has also continued to grow.
Like Van Lith pointed out, WNBA teams are currently limited to 12 players on standard, full-time contracts. Meanwhile, the 2026 WNBA Draft alone added 45 players across three rounds.
Fewer than half securely landed standard opening-day active roster spots. Several highly touted picks were waived during training camp or signed to the league’s newly implemented developmental contracts, a structure designed to keep promising talent in the system without using a full roster spot.
Van Lith herself has experienced this reality firsthand, having been waived twice already this year and operating on a developmental contract with the Connecticut Sun. For Van Lith, the expansion is still not happening anywhere near fast enough.
The WNBA has, however, officially approved a trio of additional expansion teams, which will bring the league to a historic 18-team format. New franchises are confirmed for Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. But it is still uncertain whether that will ultimately solve the league’s roster crunch, especially with the influx of talent coming in every year from college basketball.
The NBA, for context, operates with 30 franchises. Perhaps the WNBA will one day also reach that number, and it is already showing signs of steady growth. Maybe it just needs to pick up the pace a little bit more.