1998 WNBA expansion draft

1998 WNBA expansion draft
General information
Sport	Basketball
Date(s)	February 18, 1998
Overview
League	WNBA
Expansion teams	Detroit Shock Washington Mystics
1999  →

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) held their first expansion draft on February 18, 1998 for the Detroit Shock and the Washington Mystics. ^[1] This draft allowed the two new expansion teams to select players from the existing eight WNBA teams to fill their debut rosters prior to the start of the 1998 WNBA season.

Key

Pos.	G	F	C
Position	Guard	Forward	Center

!	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
^	Denotes player who has been inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
+	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
x	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-WNBA Team

Initial player allocation

Prior to the expansion draft, the WNBA allocated four players to the Detroit Shock and the Washington Mystics on January 27, 1998 in no particular order.

Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	School / club team	WNBA years [a]	Career with the franchise [b]	Ref.
1	Cindy Brown x	F	United States	Detroit Shock	Seattle Reign (ABL)	0	1998–1999	[2] [3]
2	Razija Mujanović	C	Bosnia and Herzegovina		Microcamp Campinas (Brazil)		1998
3	Nikki McCray + ^	G	United States	Washington Mystics	Columbus Quest (ABL)		1998–2001
4	Alessandra Santos de Oliveira	C	Brazil		Comense (Italy)		1998–1999

Expansion draft

The following players were drafted for the rosters of the Shock and Mystics from the league's existing teams:

Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	New team	Former team	WNBA years [a]	Career with the franchise [b]	Ref.
1	Rhonda Blades	G	United States	Detroit Shock	New York Liberty	1	1998	[4]
2	Heidi Burge	F		Washington Mystics	Los Angeles Sparks		1998
3	Tajama Abraham	C		Detroit Shock	Sacramento Monarchs		1998
4	Penny Moore	F		Washington Mystics	Charlotte Sting		1998–1999
5	Tara Williams	G		Detroit Shock	Phoenix Mercury		—
6	Deborah Carter	F		Washington Mystics	Utah Starzz		1998
7	Lynette Woodard ^ !	G		Detroit Shock	Cleveland Rockers		1998
8	Tammy Jackson	F/C		Washington Mystics	Houston Comets		1998

Notes

1. Number of years played in the WNBA prior to the draft
2. Number of years played for expansion franchise that drafted player

References

1. "W.N.B.A.: EXPANSION DRAFT; Liberty Loses Blades To New Detroit Team". The New York Times . February 19, 1998. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
2. "1998 Detroit Shock Year In Review". WNBA. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
3. "Expansion Mystics Have Choice to Make". The Washington Post . April 28, 1998. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
4. "1998 WNBA Expansion Draft". Basketball Reference. Retrieved June 17, 2025.