A WNBA team is headed back to the ‘City of Roses’. Oregon is getting another basketball team.
Less than 11 months after WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert wrote in a memo that consideration of a Portland expansion team would be “deferred for now,” the league announced Wednesday a return to the city as its 15th franchise, to begin play in the 2026 campaign.
Portland first came into the WNBA as the expansion Fire back in 2000 before closing shop after the 2002 season, when the league shifted from central ownership to individual ownership of teams.
The Portland team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They also are the majority owners of the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.
“This is huge for Portland. We are so honored and humbled to be the vessel that delivers this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Lisa Bhathal said. “And that’s really how we consider ourselves. Portland is this incredibly diverse, enthusiastic community. We saw the passion first-hand when we started looking into the Portland Thorns and this is Basketball City. So, we’re very excited about the future.”
The Bhathal’s paid $125 million for the Portland franchise.
The WNBA is on the move to Portland, Oregon and will have another team in the Pacific northwest. As stated previously, the city is getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026. It is the WNBA’s 15th franchise.
It is a very exciting and welcomed addition to the state, which has become a huge advocate for women’s hoops, thanks in large part to the success of former Oregon Ducks star Sabrina Ionescu.
A plus for Portland receiving a WNBA team is that Ionescu and the New York Liberty will make the trip to play in Oregon, which is a huge draw for Oregon fans who have rooted her on from afar throughout her outstanding WNBA career.
As one of the marques faces of the WNBA, along with her teammate Breanna Stewart, Ionescu is one of the most beloved Ducks of all time. Ionescu visited Eugene and was in the stands for the Oregon football season opener and she was celebrated with a standing ovation. The two-time All-WNBA guard, showed up to Autzen Stadium with her recently acquired Olympic Gold Medal. Oregon football players showed love to Ionescu by wearing the Oregon colorway of Sabrina Ionescu’s signature shoe, the Nike Sabrina 1.
Embed from Getty ImagesIonescu’s Liberty contract is set to expire after 2025 and she is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the 2026 offseason, which just happens to be the same season the Portland franchise begins play.
Historically, Portland has wrapped their arms around women’s college basketball, hosting a regional in this year’s NCAA tournament and will bring the Final Four to the Moda Center for the first time in 2030.
You can expect a lot of Oregon jerseys in the crowd when the Portland WNBA team hosts the Liberty and Ionescu. The Liberty have another talented player from the University of Oregon, Nyara Sabally. Sabally was selected with the fifth pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft. However, her debut was delayed due to injury. She officially joined Ionescu on the hardwood in February 2023 after signing her rookie contract.
In Ionescu’s senior season as a Duck she was a jack of all trades, filling up the stat sheet averaging 17.5 points, 9.1 assists, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on her way to securing a back-to-back Wooden award. Ionescu remains the collegiate career triple-double leader, achieving the feat 26 times; the only other player to reach a double-digit total is Caitlin Clark with 11.
