The Portland Fire hit the road this week after the team’s nail-biter of a win (83-82) over the Connecticut Sun at the Fire Pit on Monday, May 18
The Fire’s first road test on Wednesday, May 20, was in Indianapolis against the Indiana Fever, and it was one the team will probably want to forget. The Fire went down 90-73 to the Fever in a game that saw Indiana’s Aliyah Boston net 24 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and a block, and Kelsey Mitchell rack up 21 points and four assists for their opponents. The Fever’s guard Caitlin Clark was ruled out for the match just before it began.
Despite the loss, the Fire still had their moments. Bridget Carleton put in 16 points for the team, and the recently-waived Sug Sutton (we’ll get to that) added 14 points of her own. Coming up, the Fire will take on the Toronto Tempo in Toronto on Saturday, May 23, and meet the New York Liberty on their home turf on Monday, May 25, before returning home to once again host the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, May 27.
As an expansion team that’s also using head coach Alex Sarama’s unique Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) system, the Fire’s lineup has a roster full of players with diverse skillsets and tools in their bag. Here’s a look at a few of the team’s top producers, as well as the players the Fire said goodbye to this week.
Bridget Carleton
Carleton was the Fire’s first overall pick during the team’s expansion draft and also the first player the team officially signed at the beginning of WNBA free agency in April. She came onboard with a max deal, which is now $1.2 million for the 2026 season.
The eight-year veteran has embraced the opportunity to be a leader on an expansion team, and her effort on the court is crystal clear. Carleton is leading the Fire in terms of minutes played (29.4), points per game (16.8), and steals per game (2.4). That’s a big jump from her seven seasons with the Minnesota Lynx, where she averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds last season.
Sarama has been open about the team’s trust in Carleton, who is stepping into a leadership role with fluidity and ease. Carleton also plays the kind of point of attack defense the Fire are prioritizing this season, and she’s got a high basketball IQ—a trait that’s necessary for the team to enjoy success this season. If there’s one area where she can improve, it’s simply as a leader—and that’s something that will just take time. The Fire have made it clear they’re all-in for Carleton this season.
Carla Leite
Leite came to the Fire by way of the Golden State Valkyries, and has now been picked up via expansion draft twice so far in her short WNBA career (she was drafted by the Dallas Wings as the No. 9 overall pick in 2024). She’s hit the ground running for the team, and plays with a signature energy that’s hard to replicate.
Leite is averaging 15 points per game in 22.7 minutes for the Fire (that includes two games she missed due to injury). There is little reason to believe her stats will decrease throughout the season—like Carleton, playing for the Fire is giving her the opportunity to showcase exactly what she brings to the WNBA. She’s also vying for a spot on the French National Team during the FIBA Tournament in Berlin later this year.
It’s tough to pick an area in which Leite needs to advance her game, because she’s so dominant and ferocious every minute she’s playing. As she gains more experience, she may focus on playing with less emotion (but it could also become her calling card).
Sarah Ashlee Barker
Barker’s story with the Fire is a good one: so far this season, she’s averaging 10.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 21.4 minutes on the floor, and she’s also been responsible for some big moments for the team. That included the offensive rebound that sealed the Fire’s first-ever win over the New York Liberty, as well as a monster steal against the Connecticut Sun’s Brittney Griner, a game the Fire won by one point.
Barker has also been open about how the Fire—and by extension, Portland—feels more like home than anywhere she’s played so far. She was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks last season and picked up by the Fire in the expansion draft and hit the ground running. Of all the players on the team, Barker appears to have bought in the most to Sarama’s vision of a team of disrupters, and it’s paying off for her.
The Portland Fire waived fan favorites this week
Fans were caught by surprise when the Fire waived a few favorites this week, an unfortunate part of the beginning of any WNBA season. The list included Sug Sutton, Haley Jones, and Kamiah Smalls.
Both Sutton and Smalls were seen as strong contributors to the team during their short stint. Sutton was averaging 11.3 points and 5.7 assists for the team so far this season, and Smalls contributed 7.5 points in two games. Sutton and Jones were also picked up by the team during its expansion draft.
Recently activated contracts
The team followed up news of those dismissals with a slew of contract conversions and signings. Both Frieda Bühner and Holly Winterburn had their contracts as developmental players upgraded to full roster designations, Teja Oblak’s contract was activated and she’s returned from injury, and the team re-signed Jordan Harrison to a developmental spot.
Bühner’s upgrade was hardly surprising. She was the team’s second pick in the WNBA draft this year and is a young player with an enormous upside—adding her to the active roster is a logical conclusion and an indication the team plans to put their money where their draft plans are/were.
Winterburn was signed to the Fire soon after being waived by the Atlanta Dream. She also played for the London Lions, the British team that both Sarama and Černivec worked for (Sarama was the team’s director of methodology, and Černivec was the team’s GM for two seasons).
News that the team brought back Harrison has been greeted warmly. Harrison, a graduate of West Virginia, went undrafted this season and was picked up by the Fire for training camp. She was part of the team’s opening day roster, and as a developmental player, will be available for up to 12 games this season as the team sees fit.