Ashley Battle Joins Portland Fire's Front Office as VP of Basketball Operations
Battle, a former WNBA player, most recently worked as a TV commentator for the Connecticut Sun and as a scout for the Boston Celtics.
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A month into her tenure as general manager of the Portland Fire, Vanja Černivec has made her first major basketball hire for the incoming WNBA expansion team.
Ashley Battle, a former UConn star and six-year WNBA veteran who has worked as a scout and television commentator during her post-playing career, is joining the Fire as Vice President of Basketball Operations, Strategy and Innovation, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.
Battle most recently held dual roles in the Boston Celtics organization as an NBA scout and as the general manager of their G League team, the Maine Celtics. She has also spent the last three seasons as a color analyst in the WNBA, working on the Connecticut Sun's local TV broadcasts. Before that, she worked for Nike and in the NBA league office.
Battle will work closely with Černivec to prepare for the upcoming expansion draft, whenever that may be. The Golden State Valkyries' draft took place last December and in a normal year, the expansion draft for the Fire and fellow incoming 2026 expansion team Toronto Tempo would take place in the same time frame.
But the uncertain status of the CBA negotiations between the WNBA and WNBPA could delay the draft. The deadline for the sides to reach a new agreement without triggering a work stoppage is Oct. 31; given how far apart they are, and how publicly contentious the process has been between the players union and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, it appears extremely unlikely they'll have a deal by that date. They could potentially agree to push the deadline back to buy more time to get a deal done and avoid a strike or lockout. As the WNBA continues to grow, players are (rightfully) fighting for a significantly larger share of the money the league is making.
Until all of that gets resolved, Portland and Toronto will remain in the dark.
"We're all in the same boat," Černivec said at her introductory press conference with the Fire in August. "We don't know what's going to happen. For us, I think it's best to plan as though the negotiations are going to be done on time. So we're planning for the expansion draft to go forward similar to last year, in December, and then free agency probably in February. If that doesn't happen, we're going to have to pivot and be ready for the unknown."
During an Oct. 3 press conference before Game 1 of the Finals, Engelbert confirmed that the date and rules for the upcoming expansion draft for Toronto and Portland won't be announced until after the CBA talks are resolved, but she said the rules will likely be "something similar" to the way it worked for Golden State. In that draft, every team was allowed to protect six players from their roster, including upcoming free agents and international players whose draft rights they had. The roster Černivec and Valkyries GM Ohemaa Nyanin selected from the pool turned out to be one of the most successful expansion teams ever in any sport. They finished with a 23-21 record and made the playoffs in their inaugural season despite losing All-Star forward Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury in July.
Now, Černivec and Battle will attempt to replicate that success with the Fire. The new franchise is also expected to hire its first head coach in the near future.
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