While most details about the expansion draft for the Tempo and Fire are still up in the air, one thing is pretty obvious: most teams will lose players they would rather like to hold on to—especially teams with tons of young talent that is still under contract. The Dallas Wings are one of those teams. Diamond Miller, Maddy Siegrist, Paige Bueckers, Aziaha James, and JJ Quinerly are still on their rookie contracts, and Luisa Geiselsöder, Li Yueru, and Haley Jones will become reserved free agents this offseason.
With all that young talent, the Wings will have to make a tough choice once the expansion draft takes place. They will have to decide which players to leave unprotected and available for the Tempo and Fire. If Li Yueru is left unprotected, she could quickly become the steal of the expansion draft.
Either expansion team would benefit from selecting Li Yueru
At 6’7”, Li Yueru is one of the tallest active WNBA players. Only Brittney Griner is taller, and Kalani Brown, Kamilla Cardoso, and Teaira McCowan are all listed at the same height. Yueru may very well be the most versatile player in that group.
Yueru may look like a traditional big and she scores very efficiently around the basket, but she also has a solid mid-range game and can shoot threes. She shot 36.4% from three on 1.8 attempts per game in the 2025 season. There are not many players as tall as Yueru who can also space the floor.
Her ability to operate in different areas of the court and do more than just dominate the paint with her size, makes Yueru a perfect expansion draft pick. No matter who else teams can get later in the expansion draft, free agency, or the college draft, Yueru can play next to them. Her size makes her a good fit next to an undersized center or forward, but, due to her ability to space the floor, she can also work well next to a traditional big. That versatility would make her a solid building block for a team working with a blank canvas.
Plus, Yueru still has some untapped potential. Yueru will still only be 27 by the time the new season rolls around, and her stint with the Wings marked a career season. In just over 20 minutes per game, she averaged 7.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and one assist. A full season with a big role may lead to an even better outing.