Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell recently expressed his desire to see Cleveland considered for one of the expansion teams in the WNBA. Mitchell believes that Cleveland, being a perfect sports city, deserves a WNBA team. He mentioned that while cities like Portland and San Francisco have already added teams, it’s time for Cleveland to be recognized as well. Mitchell also highlighted the increasing popularity of the WNBA and how people are finally starting to pay attention to the competition.
The WNBA is planning to expand from 12 teams to 16 by 2028, with three new teams set to join in the next two years. The Golden State Valkyries will join next season, followed by franchises in Portland and Toronto in 2026.
Although Cleveland has not been publicly discussed as a potential landing spot for an expansion team, it does have some history with the league. The city had the Rockers from 1997 until 2003, which was one of the original eight WNBA teams.
Currently, Philadelphia, Nashville, South Florida, and Denver are among the most mentioned places for a potential 16th squad. However, interested parties would need to pay a significant amount as bids to join the WNBA range from $200 million to $250 million.
Mitchell expressed his interest in being part of a franchise in Cleveland if it ever happens and emphasized that players have been supporting women’s basketball since its inception. He believes it’s great that more people are now recognizing what they’ve known all along about the quality of play in the league.
