In the Portland Fire’s inaugural offseason, the priority of building the roster moved beyond borders as they began their plan for the future. The Fire built a roster consisting of nine players who are from other countries outside of the U.S., while more have experience playing overseas.
Though we haven’t seen the Fire’s full group on the court as of yet, they are relying on the potential of the additions to the roster to see who to build around moving forward.
Portland began by going after talent around the league in the expansion draft, and many of their selections have stepped on a WNBA court as well as overseas. Bridget Carleton was selected first from the Minnesota Lynx, followed by Carla Leite from the Golden State Valkyries. Although Carleton is a six-year vet from Iowa State, she originally hails from Chatam-Kent, Canada while Leite is from France.
The Fire continued their international theme by selecting Luisa Geiselsöder fifth from the Dallas Wings. Originally from Ansbach, Germany, Geiselsöder has gained a wealth of overseas experience playing for different leagues in France and Turkey, while representing Germany in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Portland also explored the Land Down Under by selecting forwards Chloe Bibby and Nyadiew Puoch from Australia. Bibby comes to the Fire from the Indiana Fever, while Puoch from the Atlanta Dream. The Fire also took a guard from Croatia—Nika Mühl—from the Seattle Storm.
Portland’s international search continued during the 2026 WNBA Draft on April 13th, as they selected 5-9 guard Iyana Martín from Spain with the seventh overall pick. A FIBA U19 World Cup MVP in 2023, the 20-year-old is a “draft and stash” according to General Manager Vanja Černivec and will continue to develop her game overseas.
“We had our rankings, and top players and who we would pick if they’re still available at [number]seven,” Černivec said about their confidence Martín would be available at their selection. “We were actually surprised that she was available, so we were very happy that we got our hands on her.
“We were all nervous, weirdly, versus the expansion draft that we had days ago, because I think there’s less control in this NCAA draft…Once Toronto picked, we were very happy that Iyana [was]going to come to us.”
The Fire also selected another German forward Frieda Bühner with their second round pick. While she only played four games of college basketball at the University of Florida in 2022-23, her wealth of international experience includes playing in Spain for Movistar Estudiantes. Bühner also represented Germany in the 2024 Summer Olympics, and most recently in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament in 2026. The search for international talent didn’t stop there, as the Fire signed 35-year-old rookie guard Teja Oblak. Originally from Kranj, Slovenia, she has represented her country on the Slovenian National Team, along with helping her Czech team USK Praha win the Euroleague Women’s Championship in 2025.
Key American Additions In The Rose City
Despite all of the untapped potential of the international talent, the Fire didn’t ignore the skills players in the U.S. also possess. From the Washington Mystics, Portland selected 6-1 forward Emily Engstler seventh. Originally from Queens, New York, she spent her college career at Syracuse and Louisville before arriving to the league.
Now on her fourth team, Engstler is ready to prove why her versatility and “dawg” mentality will be valuable to a young Fire team. Portland rounded out the expansion draft with guard Maya Caldwell from the Dream, forward Haley Jones from the Wings, Sug Sutton from the Mystics, and Sarah Ashlee Barker from the Sparks. All young players in their own right, they will be important building blocks for a process that Portland has decided to trust.
In free agency, the Fire signed guard Karlie Samuelson and forward Megan Gustafson to fill out their roster. Each player also has a wealth of international play to their name that will become significant when making their Portland debut. Gustafson has a lot of experience playing for the Spanish National team with Martín. They played together multiple times, most recently during the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifiers in Puerto Rico and the Eurobasket Qualifiers in 2025.
“She’s very unconventional, she has a lot of energy, [and]she’s gonna fit right in here [in Portland]with the system,” Gustafson said about playing with Martín. “She’s a very finesse-type of player. Her passes are very unconventional, so you always have to have your head on a swivel, but I love that [and]I think it’s really exciting. She’s a heck of a scorer, too…What Vanja said about her being a generational talent, I believe that to be true. I [have]played with her multiple times, and I see it.”
Samuelson comes from the Lynx and most notably has overseas experience with the Townsville Fire in Australia, the London Lions in the United Kingdom—which Černivec and Portland head coach Alex Sarama were a part of in 2023-24—and CBK Mersin in Turkey.
Like Samuelson, many of the players Portland added this offseason have experience learning from Sarama, which will pay dividends in year one. The additions of Americans with international experience didn’t stop there either, as the Fire added 27-year-old Peyton Williams. Although the 6-4 forward played college basketball at Kansas State, she has played professionally in China, Russia, and Belgium. She last played in the WNBA in 2021, signing a training camp contract with the Storm.
Portland also signed guard Kamaih Smalls from James Madison. Although she is from Philadelphia, Smalls has a lot of overseas experience playing in multiple leagues, including in France where she helped ESB Villeneuve d’Ascq reach the Euroleague Women’s Final during the 2023-24 season. Another training camp addition is guard Jordan Harrison, who played at Stephen F. Austin before finishing her collegiate career at West Virginia.
As the Fire start a new journey, they have demonstrated their priority of constructing a young roster full of players with international experience. Playing overseas has translated well for many star players in the W, and Portland views that experience as an advantage.
“We’ve gotten more and more international players each and every year, and I think slowly, the international play has integrated into the WNBA, and especially here in Portland,” Gustafson said. “I think that would be a super fun style [and]it’s something that I thrive in personally, especially when I’m playing in Spain. I’m excited to take that to the W stage.”
With the Fire’s selections in the WNBA Draft, they also believe the game is going global and wanted to take advantage of that early on. Although Portland’s expectations to succeed are relatively low, the Fire’s vision for how they want to build a championship team will become clearer as the season goes on.
