The busiest time of the WNBA offseason is upon us as free agents meet with their prospective teams leading up to Feb. 1, when they can sign contracts.
The prospects of a new collective bargaining agreement will influence this season’s free agency, but expect to see stars change uniforms and championship contenders rearrange their rosters. Follow this tracker, where you’ll find news and analysis of moves that could reshape the league.
Grading the moves
In a massive three-team deal, the Seattle Storm are trading Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces in an agreement that will send star guard Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Storm will also receive the Sparks’ No. 2 draft pick in the 2025 draft as well as former Los Angeles center Li Yueru. The Sparks will receive Seattle’s No. 9 draft pick and the Aces will get the Sparks’ No. 13 pick,
Seattle Storm: A
The Storm turned a player who didn’t want to be in Seattle into the No. 2 pick. Considering how badly Loyd had performed over the last two seasons as her jump shot completely betrayed her, to start over with the second pick is a tremendous outcome for this front office. The Storm did have to send the No. 9 pick to Los Angeles, but they got Li Yueru, a promising young center, in return, which is basically the median outcome of a pick in that range of the draft.
Los Angeles Sparks: B-
The Sparks are taking a huge risk on Plum making a long-term commitment to their franchise, as they could have continued to build for the future with a young guard (likely Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles at No. 2 in the 2025 draft) to complement their young frontcourt. However, it’s hard to stomach any more losing than L.A. has over the past four seasons, and with a new head coach and no 2026 first-round pick, it’s understandable the Sparks want to start a new chapter. Plum is arguably the best player or asset in this deal and could realistically get the organization back into the playoffs. However, she is turning 31 this season and likely will be on a one-year deal. The potential downside of this trade is enormous. Nevertheless, it’s a move L.A. arguably had to make, and filling its biggest free-agency need is a win.
Las Vegas Aces: C+
The Aces ended this trade with a worse player than they started. Kelsey Plum is a better shooter and playmaker than Loyd, though neither exactly impressed on defense in 2024. Las Vegas also broke up a quartet that won back-to-back titles, even if the Aces didn’t have a choice in the matter if Plum asked out. Loyd’s shooting decline has been precipitous since Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart left the Storm. There is a chance that she returns to her Seattle peak, and that possibility — combined with getting the No. 13 pick — makes this a slightly above-average grade. But for Las Vegas to win a title in 2025, the version of Loyd from the last two years won’t be good enough, and the Aces are worse now than with Plum.
How will CBA negotiations affect free agency?
Though some of this year’s free agents might sign multiyear deals this offseason, considering the economic windfall expected to hit the league next winter, many top free agents are expected to sign one-year deals and re-enter the market next season when salaries likely increase.
In late October, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association opted out of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement, setting up negotiations for a new contract that will significantly affect the league’s future.
Talks between the two sides come amid a period of economic growth in women’s basketball. As evidenced by the ratings, attendance and merchandise boom this past summer, the WNBA announced a new media rights agreement in 2026 that will pay an average of $200 million over the next 11 years. Its current deal is valued at roughly $50 million annually. The increase in media rights is expected to lead to a jump in player salaries and league salary cap when the new CBA goes into effect.
Only two players — Kalani Brown and Lexie Brown — are not on rookie contracts but signed to a 2026 contract. More than 60 players who ended the 2024 season on a roster are expected to be free agents next year.
An offseason of record change seems increasingly possible as players who appear content on their current teams, including Breanna Stewart, have signed one-year contracts in recent years presumably to wait to ink a long-term contract at higher value in the 2026 offseason.
Players to watch
Alyssa Thomas
The Connecticut Sun applied a core designation to Thomas, meaning she is not free to negotiate a new agreement with other teams. However, Thomas has been outspoken this year about the importance of top amenities, and she could request a trade rather than play under Rachid Meziane, who is a first-year WNBA head coach.
Satou Sabally
In early January, Sabally said she had informed the Dallas Wings about her desire to play for another franchise next season. Nevertheless, Dallas cored Sabally, meaning that any move involving the one-time All-WNBA first-team forward must be via a sign-and-trade.
Brittney Griner
Griner is testing the free-agent market for the first time in her career, her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told The Associated Press. If she heads to another team, the Phoenix Mercury could replace her with other free-agent bigs such as Emma Meesseman, Brionna Jones, Tina Charles or Natasha Howard.
DiJonai Carrington
Carrington is a restricted free agent, meaning Connecticut can match any offer sheet she signs with another team. However, all RFA offer sheets must be for at least two years, and Carrington is unlikely to sign a multiyear deal (because of CBA changes). As a result, Carrington’s situation is akin to that of a cored player: She likely will either return to the Sun on a one-year contract or get flipped to another team in a sign-and-trade.
Top 20 impact players at the start of free agency
*Player is cored
**Player is restricted
Key free-agency dates
WNBA franchises had from Jan. 11 to Jan. 20 to extend qualifying offers to make applicable players restricted or reserved free agents. In that window, players could accept qualifying offers, but these deals could be accepted only before Feb. 1.
Beginning Jan. 21, franchises could begin negotiating with free agents, no matter their classification. Contracts cannot be officially finalized and announced until Feb. 1.
What does it mean to be a cored player?
A core designation in the WNBA is similar to the NFL’s franchise tag. It can be applied to one unrestricted free agent per team to prevent a player from becoming an unrestricted free agent. Applying the core designation to a player gives the team exclusive negotiation rights, and any agreement between the player and team must be at minimum a fully guaranteed one-year deal worth the supermax.
A player can be cored for a maximum of two times in her career.
Cored players might not necessarily suit up for the franchise that applied the designation, but cored players can only then be moved in sign-and-trade agreements. This might become the case with Plum, Thomas and Sabally.
WNBA cored players this offseason
• Breanna Stewart (Liberty)
• Kelsey Mitchell (Fever)
• Satou Sabally (Wings)
• Kelsey Plum (Aces)
• Alyssa Thomas (Sun)
• Gabby Williams (Storm)
How will teams value draft picks?
Keep an eye on how many — and which — draft picks get put into offseason trades. With the ongoing CBA negotiation, franchises might be hesitant to deal their first-round picks because the salary slotting of a first-round pick will almost assuredly be lower this year (around $76,000) than in the next CBA. Assuming next year’s CBA increases rookie minimums, players drafted this year would be locked into lower salaries than next year’s rookies.
Franchises can also trade picks in the 2027 WNBA Draft, but teams might be hesitant to deal such selections because of the incoming star power, including USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Texas’ Madison Booker.
How do Golden State Valkyries affect free agency?
In December, Golden State selected 11 players for its inaugural season. However, it’s likely all of those players won’t be part of Golden State’s roster. Only three players — Stephanie Talbot, Kayla Thornton and Kate Martin — are under contract with the Valkyries, and Golden State has the most cap room in the league. As a result, it could be a willing trade partner for players on supermax contracts or free agents looking to maximize their short-term earnings.
Free-agency predictions
Stewart headlines another deep pool of free agents in the 2025 offseason, which features multiple former MVPs and multi-time All-Stars. Stewart has already announced that she will return to the New York Liberty, but there should be much more movement as other teams gear up to take down the defending champions.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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