Portland Fire Add Three to Training Camp Roster
Teja Oblak, Kamiah Smalls and Peyton Williams are headed to Portland. Learn more in this piece.
During her press conference Monday night, Portland Fire general manager Vanja Černivec offered this blunt interlude between draft takes.
“Okay, sorry I’m tired, my brain is fried after this [past] two weeks!”
After a day of rest, the top personnel mind in the Rose City’s WNBA expansion franchise went back to work. Earlier today, the Fire reached contract terms with three free agents - Teja Oblak, Kamiah Smalls, and Peyton Williams - ahead of training camp.
Oblak, from Černivec’s native land Slovenia, is a reigning EuroLeague champion point guard for Turkish side Galatasaray, one of Europe’s top teams. The 35 year old also boasts something lacking on Portland’s roster: experience. The 5’8” floor leader has played since 2011. Notably, all of her playing experience has accrued in Europe.
Smalls most recently played for the Atlanta Dream in 2025. The 27 year old shooting guard has also seen short spells with the Minnesota Lynx, Connecticut Sun, and Indiana Fever. Cast to the back of the bench for the bulk of her WNBA career, Smalls has only seen action in ten games, but averages 43.8% three point shooting.
Williams is a world’s traveler. After starring at Kansas State, her basketball career has included stops in Russia, France, Hungary, China, and now Oregon. During her college days in the Little Apple of Manhattan Kansas, the 6’4” forward set a school record as the first Wildcat ever to accumulate 1,500 or more points, 900 or more rebounds, 200 or more assists, 150 or more steals, and 100 or more blocks over the course of a career. Perhaps more impressively, she did it all while also playing on Kansas State’s volleyball team.
Per new CBA rules, WNBA teams must trim their rosters to twelve players, with room for two additional developmental players, before the regular season tips-off on May 8th.
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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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