Last season, the WNBA held an expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries and the Sparks lost forward Stephanie Talbot. This year, they held another expansion draft, but this time for their two new teams, the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire.
There was just one draft for both teams, with each franchise selecting in turn.
Given the opportunity to draft one player per team, the Sparks lost two players, with Sarah Ashlee Barker heading to Portland and Julie Allemand joining Toronto.
Allemand was clearly a top choice for the Tempo as they selected her with the second pick in the draft.
Last season with the Sparks, Allemand played in 34 games and started in 27. She is a great guard who excels at distributing the ball. Last year, she averaged five assists per game, with only Kelsey Plum averaging more assists with 5.7 per contest.
Allemand’s best game for the Sparks last season came in a win over the Wings. She scored a career-high 21 points and was a perfect 8-8 from the field.
Allemand made the WNBA All-Rookie Team back in 2020 and has had international success playing for the Belgium national team, winning EuroCup Women in 2023 and FIBA EuroBasket in 2023 and 2025.
The Sparks could only protect five players from being selected in the expansion draft, and with top talent like Plum, Dearica Hamby, and Cameron Brink, they couldn’t keep every quality player they have from being selected.
The Sparks also lost rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker, who was selected by the Portland Fire.
LA drafted Barker last year with the No. 9 pick, but she didn’t play much as a rookie for the Sparks. She played just 14.1 minutes per game and averaged 3.1 points.
Still, she has potential and is a young player the Sparks were hoping to develop. Now, she will join Portland and see if she can grow into a role for the Fire.
Why were they selected? Link to five players protected.
The full rundown of players selected by the Temp is as follows:
- Julie Allemand
- Nyara Sabally — New York Liberty
- Marina Mabrey — Connecticut Sun
- Aaliyah Nye — Las Vegas Aces
- Lexi Held — Phoenix Mercury
- Maria Conde — Golden State Valkyries
- Maria Kliundikova — Minnesota Lynx
- Adja Kane — New York Liberty
- Nikolina Milic — Minnesota Lynx
- Kitija Laksa — Phoenix Mercury
- Kristy Wallace — Indiana Fever
The full rundown of players selected by the Fire is as follows:
- Bridget Carleton — Minnesota Lynx
- Carla Leite — Golden State Valkyries
- Luisa Geiselsoder —Dallas Wings
- Emily Engstler — Indiana Fever
- Maya Caldwell — Atlanta Dream
- Chloe Bibby — Indiana Fever
- Haley Jones — Dallas Wings
- Nyadiew Puoch — Atlanta Dream
- Sarah Ashlee Barker — Los Angeles Sparks
- Sug Sutton — Washington Mystics
- Nika Muhl — Seattle Storm
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