The Toronto Tempo 12 team now, officially includes a general manager.
Monica Wright Rogers was presented as leader of basketball operations of the WNBA expansion team at a press conference on Thursday in Toronto.
As the expansion team moves through its long verification list before its debut in 2026, Wright Rogers joins President Teresa Resch, Marketing Director Whitney Bell and some other executives to build the team.
Missing: a chief coach, players, explorers, ticket sales, additional associations and much more.
However, what the tempo has is the luxury of time.
“I want to listen a lot and learn.” Wright Rogers said. “I think this is such an unique sports city and I want This city.
Resch said that the GM hiring process began around September and issued a wide network, both to ensure that he was making the right decision and to learn about WNBA after many years as an executive of the Raptors.
His list of candidates finally reduced to about 20 to 25 people and reduced six before three finalists were brought to Toronto for “more intense” meetings.
In the end, it was Wright Rogers who emerged from what Resch called the interview “Wringer.”
“She came here and was really good.
“So returning and then talking to everyone and listening to the impressions, it was evident that she was adequate.”
Resch added that “absolutely” would be involved in basketball operations along with Wright Rogers.
Look | Fans prepared to welcome Toronto’s professional basketball:
Fans are prepared for Toronto to welcome professional female basketball to the city. Larry Tanenbaum, Maple Leaf Sports billionaire president, received a new WNBA expansion team, which is expected to begin playing in 2026.
Much to do
There is still an entrance draft and a full season that will occur without the pace before players can officially upload.
“From my own experience, building a team takes time. You want to make sure you make good decisions and get the right talent, so I wanted to give our GM a good track and I think we have done it and we have done it and we have done it and what We have done.
Wright Rogers, 36, joins the tempo after two seasons as a general manager of Phoenix Mercury. The seven -year veteran of the WNBA was recruited second in general in 2010 by the Minnesota Lynx after a successful university career in Virginia and won two WNBA titles.
After he finished his career as a player, Wright Rogers joined the university training ranks, a concert that took her to exploration trips through Toronto, before moving on to the WNBA League Office and Finally, to Mercury.
Now, you will have the task of building a basketball team from scratch, starting with a chief coach rental that expects to have completed for autumn and before the expansion draft.
“What we see on the court will be a combination of myself and in what our chief coach believes. But you will see a rhythm game of everything,” said Wright Rogers with a smile.
“You will see high quality basketball played by high quality players. And definitely seeing the [2025 WNBA expansion team Golden State Valkyries] He has given us a great idea what to expect. “
But Valkyries can only offer so much guidance as the tempo immerses itself in the deep unknown.
The expansion draft could be different
Since Toronto will enter the league with another team in Portland, its expansion draft could be very different from that of Golden State.
Resch said the league has not yet indicated how the process would look.
“I think I would say that the expansion draft of the Valkyries that we cannot really use as an example for us … Of course we pay very attention and hope we can obtain some things, but we must also be really prepared for what is going to be I know Very, very different, “he said.
Meanwhile, the collective bargaining agreement between the players and the league will expire at the end of the year.
With a new US media agreement of $ 2.4 billion to begin by 2026, the players, such as the nurse Kia de Canada, who signed a one -year agreement with the Chicago Sky, have timed their contracts to reach the free agency the Next winter. Wright Rogers said 21 All Stars will reach the open market.
“We have no rules on which we were going to operate, right?” Said Resch. “Then we can plan. Identifying talent is not different. It is just a matter of how we build the lists and the rules in which we will play are unknown and that is difficult.”
An element that will not change for the tempo is the requirement of launching their team and city to the players.
Wright Rogers recalled to have seen complete gyms during his exploration trips to the secondary schools of Toronto, a potential signal of the city’s commitment to female basketball.
“Free agency is a big problem in our league because we are a league very driven by the stars. And to have a practical experience to tell a team story and give free agents the opportunity to choose it, I think that is absolutely applicable To this current role, “said Wright Rogers.
Now that he moved to Toronto herself, Wright Rogers can offer a first -hand experience.
“Players want to be in a situation where they feel support, they can be competitive and win. You can obtain all of them here. They will have the main fan base, they will have support. The commercial side is so robust. They will feel support in all the Sides, “he said.
“And I think it was obvious to me. It will be obvious for a player to want to play in a market like this.”
With more than a year until the opening day, but much remains to be done, it is a release that Wright Rogers must get used to doing.
