Get to Know Portland Fire G Haley Jones
Haley Jones, a 6'1" guard from the Dallas Wings, was picked by the Portland Fire in yesterday's WNBA expansion draft.
Santa Cruz native and Stanford grad Haley Jones is headed back to the west coast.
Yesterday, the Portland Fire selected Jones in the second round of the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft.
This piece is one of eleven profile pieces spotlighting the career journeys of Portland’s expansion draft selections - the first professional women’s basketball players to represent the Rose City since 2002 - and the first members of Portland’s new WNBA team.
Jones, born in Santa Cruz, starred at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose. Following her senior season at Mitty, she was named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year, a McDonalds All-American, and the number one recruit in the 2019 class by ESPN.
From there, Jones attended the Ivy of the West. Playing for legendary coach Tara VanDerveer in Palo Alto, the nation’s top recruiting prospect lived up to the hype. Starting 13 games early in her 2019-20 freshman year, she averaged 11.4 points, 2.4 assists, and 4.2 rebounds. A season-ending knee injury sidelined her efforts, but she returned in 2020-21 with a vengeance: an average of 13.2 points, 2.8 assists, and 7.4 rebounds with 32 of 32 starts. Her breakout season finished with flair, as Stanford defeated Arizona in the national championship game.
Before her college career ended, Jones earned significant recognition: three-time All-Pac 12 status, the Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year (2022), the Pac-12 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player (2022), and a two-time All-American across multiple outlets.
Finally, fate forced the standout guard out of the Bay Area. With the sixth pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, the Atlanta Dream selected her. In 2023, her rookie year featured 40 game appearances, with Jones contributing modestly: averaging 3.7 points, 2.3 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. Despite starting a career-high 24 starts in 2024, the Dream waived her on the eve of the 2025 regular season opener.
2025 was an even more difficult year for Jones. On June 1st, the Phoenix Mercury signed her to a short-term hardship contract. A week later, they waived her. One week later, she benefitted from another hardship exception, this time with the Dallas Wings. At the end of June, she was waived for a third time in one season. Two weeks later, the Wings brought her back on a contract through the season’s end. Jones averaged over 22 minutes across 24 games with Dallas this season, averaging career-highs in points (8.1), assists (2.5), rebounds (3.8), steals (0.8), and blocks (0.9).
Jones and her new Portland Fire teammates will return to the court later this Spring. The Fire’s regular season opener is at home May 9th against the Chicago Sky.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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