The upcoming expansion draft for the Tempo and Fire won’t destroy the Sparks’ foundation, but it will hurt. If teams are really only allowed to protect five players, four spots are easily spoken for. The Sparks will protect Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, Cameron Brink, and Rickea Jackson. That leaves one spot for Azurá Stevens, Julie Allemand, Sarah Ashlee Barker, and Rae Burrell. Stevens and Allemand were starters in the 2025 season, so, just a few weeks ago, it seemed save to predict that the organization would protect one of them.
Since then, Rae Burrell has played the best basketball of her pro career. If the Sparks think that her success in Unrivaled can translate to the W, Burrell may have just played her way into one of the five protected spots and changed her future with the franchise. If she isn’t protected, there’s a pretty good chance that one of the expansion teams will want to take a swing on an athletic young wing like Burrell.
Rae Burrell looks much improved in her second Unrivaled season
Injuries slowed down Burrell early in her WNBA career. 2025 was her best season yet. She averaged 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in just over 18 minutes per game as a reserve for the Sparks. Those numbers were really similar to her output in Unrivaled’s first season. She averaged 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 9.6 minutes per game for the Vinyl.
Burrell looks like a completely different player in her second Unrivaled season, mostly because she is getting more opportunities. She started the season coming off the bench for head coach Theresa Weatherspoon, but played her way into the starting lineup. Burrell is now Vinyl’s third-leading scorer behind Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard with 12.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1 steal per game.
Weatherspoon is giving Burrell minutes, touches, and on-ball reps she hasn’t had before at the pro level. Burrell is thriving in her new role. She finished the season with three consecutive 20-point games, including a 30-point performance against the Lunar Owls. She was also instrumental in the Vinyl’s first playoff win over the Laces, recording 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Unrivaled has been the perfect setting for Burrell to show off her athleticism and scoring prowess—in regular games and the 1-on-1 tournament. Burrell took down All-Stars Rhyne Howard and Sonia Citron in the 1-on-1 tournament before losing to Allisha Gray.
Unrivaled basketball is very different than WNBA basketball, though. Three-on-three basketball creates a lot of space that allows players to exploit mismatches and defenders’ weaknesses in ways that they can’t in the WNBA. The fact that Unrivaled plays three-on-three basketball on a full court (although smaller than a WNBA court) also rewards fast and athletic players like Burrell.
So, while Burrell has been playing very well, one question remains: Can she play like this in the WNBA? Whatever the Sparks think the answer to that question is will decide at least one outcome of the expansion draft.