As 2023 WNBA free agency continues to roll, teams around the league are looking to bolster their rosters ahead of the WNBA draft in April and start of the season in May.

The market is stacked with talent this year. And bombshell moves rocked the league early in the free agency period, with Candace Parker joining the Las Vegas Aces and Breanna Stewart headed to the New York Liberty.

Just Women’s Sports is keeping track of the most notable signings and acquisitions as free agency continues.

Feb. 18: Diana Taurasi signs on for two more years with Mercury

Diana Taurasi is returning for season 19, signing a two-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury.

A three-time WNBA champion, Taurasi reportedly signed at the supermax of $234,936. She currently is the WNBA’s all-time leader in scoring (9,693) and three-point field goals (1,297). She remains the only player to have more than 9,000 career points in the WNBA.

Feb. 17: Liberty re-sign Han Xu

The fan favorite and restricted free agent accepted the qualifying offer from the Liberty, which will keep her in New York for a third season.

The 23-year-old center had a breakout year in 2022, averaging 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds across 32 games. She is also a member of the Chinese national team.

Feb. 15: Shey Peddy stays with Mercury

The fifth-year guard will re-sign with Phoenix, reported Rachel Galligan of Just Women’s Sports.

Peddy joined the Mercury during the 2020 season. In her first two full seasons in Phoenix, she averaged 7.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. She scored the 15th-most points in the WNBA in August before rupturing her Achilles tendon in the first game of the playoffs.

Still, she provided an update on her recovery via Twitter on Jan. 19, writing: “For those inquiring, YES I should be ready in time for the start of the season!! One day at a time.”

Feb. 13: Mercury sign Moriah Jefferson

The Phoenix Mercury signed guard Moriah Jefferson to a reported three-year deal.

Jefferson helped jumpstart the Minnesota Lynx’s offense in 2022 after the team picked her up as a free agent in May. Starting 30 games for the Lynx last season, she averaged 10.8 points, a career-high 4.9 assists and 2.5 rebounds. On June 28, she recorded her first career triple-double against her former team, the Dallas Wings. Prior to the WNBA, Jefferson won four NCAA championships at UConn.

Feb. 13: Sky give Rebekah Gardner a raise

The Sky re-signed guard Rebekah Gardner to a one-year deal worth $100,000, according to Richard Cohen. Instead of accepting her qualifying offer, which was at a $62,285 minimum, Gardner reportedly negotiated the higher salary.

The 32-year-old shined for the Sky in 2022 after going undrafted out of UCLA in 2012 and spending most of her professional basketball career overseas. Gardner was named to the 2022 WNBA All-Rookie Team after finishing second among rookies in steals (1.4 per game) and fifth in scoring (8.4 per game).

Feb. 13: Sun re-sign Brionna Jones to one-yer deal

Connecticut officially announced the re-signing of 2022 Sixth Player of the Year Brionna Jones. After she was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player in 2021, Jones followed it up with another stellar season. She averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals for the Sun in 2022, earning her second All-Star appearance.

The 6-foot-3 center has spent her entire career with the Sun after she was drafted eighth overall in 2017.

Feb. 11: Diamond DeShields, Marina Mabrey dealt in four-team trade

The Dallas Wings acquired All-Star guard Diamond DeShields and the Chicago Sky picked up breakout guard Marina Mabrey in a four-team WNBA trade. As part of the deal, the Phoenix Mercury acquired 2021 Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere from the New York Liberty and the Liberty received the rights to forward Leonie Fiebich.

The Sky gave up six draft picks in the trade, including three first-round picks to Dallas. That includes Chicago’s 2023 and 2024 first-round selections and 2025 first-round swap rights. The 2024 draft class is expected to be especially deep with NCAA stars Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Cameron and Angel Reese likely entering the draft.

the 4-team WNBA trade is done, per ... all the teams

it's confusing so here is what happened: pic.twitter.com/PIYC2AHsoW

— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) February 11, 2023

Feb. 9: Sun send No. 6 pick to Dream for Tiffany Hayes

The Connecticut Sun acquired the rights to veteran shooting guard Tiffany Hayes in a trade with the Atlanta Dream. In exchange, Connecticut sent the No. 6 pick in the 2023 draft to Atlanta.

Hayes has spent her entire 10-year WNBA career with Atlanta. She finishes her tenure as the Dream’s franchise leader in made 3-pointers (325) and is one of only five active WNBA players with over 3,800 points, 900 rebounds, 650 assists and 300 steals in her career.

Feb. 8: Sparks re-sign Jordin Canada

The Los Angeles Sparks re-signed guard Jordin Canada to a training camp contract. The Los Angeles native signed with her hometown team on a one-year deal last February. In 2022, she averaged 9.2 points, 5.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals across 32 games and 25 starts.

Drafted fifth overall by the Seattle Storm in 2018, Canada won two WNBA championships and was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team as the league’s steals leader in 2019.

Feb. 5: Aces send Amanda Zahui B. to Mystics

The Las Vegas Aces acquired the negotiating rights to Zahui B. in their trade of Dearica Hamby, then flipped those rights to the Washington Mystics. In return, the Aces receive the Mystics’ second-round draft picks in 2024 and 2025.

Zahui B. did not play in the WNBA last season after she was placed on the suspended list due to her overseas obligations. Through seven WNBA seasons, the center has averaged 6.2 points per game.

Feb. 3: Sky continue to replenish roster

Courtney Williams and Elizabeth Williams are joining the Sky as the team looks to reload after a free agency exodus. Harrison also has joined the Sky, who have just one starter in Kahleah Copper left under contract for 2023.

Courtney Williams averaged 11.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for the Connecticut Sun in 2022. Elizabeth Williams averaged 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Washington Mystics in 2022, and she is joining the Sky on a two-year deal worth $135,000 annually, Her Hoops Stats’ Richard Cohen reported.

Feb. 3: Kia Nurse to join Seattle Storm

The Storm lost Breanna Stewart to free agency and Sue Bird to retirement, but they are set to add Kia Nurse. Nurse tore her ACL during the 2021 playoffs and missed the entire 2022 season, but she did play for the Canada women’s national team at the FIBA World Cup in September.

The Storm also are expected to sign Arella Guirantes, reported Rachel Galligan of Just Women’s Sports and Winsidr.

Feb. 3: Lynx to re-sign Lindsay Allen and Bridget Carleton

The Minnesota Lynx will re-sign both Allen and Carleton. Allen averaged 6.7 points per game in 2022, while Carleton averaged 4.3 points per game.

The Lynx also signed guard Tiffany Mitchell, who spent the first seven years of her career with the Indiana Fever. She averaged 6.5 points and 1.2 assists per game for the Fever last season.

Feb. 2: Sky lose Azurá Stevens but add Isabelle Harrison

Stevens will sign with the Los Angeles Sparks, reported Rachel Galligan of Just Women’s Sports and Winsidr.

While the 27-year-old forward has played for the Chicago Sky since 2020, she joins the exodus from the team, along with Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley.

But not all hope was lost for Chicago, as free-agent forward Isabelle Harrison announced on social media that she is signing with the Sky.

In 18 games last season, Harrison averaged 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. She averaged less than 15 minutes per game in the latter half of the season, and she was vocal about her frustrations with former Wings head coach Vickie Johnson.

The Wings signed Crystal Dangerfield to a multi-year deal after acquiring her negotiating rights from the New York Liberty via trade in January. In addition to the 2020 Rookie of the Year, Dallas also added 2019 first-round pick Kalani Brown.

Feb. 1: Sophie Cunningham re-signs with Mercury

The 26-year-old restricted free agent agreed to a two-year deal to remain with the Phoenix Mercury, reported Rachel Galligan of Just Women’s Sports and Winsidr.

The 2019 draft pick averaged a career-high 12.6 points per game in the 2022 season. She also has shot 40% or better from 3-point range in each of the last two seasons.

Feb. 1: Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike to stick with Sparks

The sisters are both expected to re-sign with the Los Angeles Sparks, ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported Wednesday, confirming what many already expected.

Nneka Ogwumike was drafted by the Sparks with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, and she has spent her entire WNBA career with the team. Chiney Ogwumike started her career with the Connecticut Sun in 2014 but joined her older sister in Los Angeles in 2019.

The Sparks also re-signed Lexie Brown. The 28-year-old wing is entering her sixth WNBA season and her second with Los Angeles. The team also signed forward Stephanie Talbot to a two-year deal.

Feb. 1: Erica Wheeler signs with Fever

The 31-year-old guard spent the 2022 season with the Atlanta Dream, but she signed a two-year deal to return to the Indiana Fever. She played in Indiana from 2016-19, and in her last season with the team she was named the MVP of the WNBA All-Star Game.

Feb. 1: Teaira McCowan stays with Wings

The 26-year-old center was traded to the Dallas Wings from the Indiana Fever ahead of the 2022 season, and now she has agreed to a multi-year deal to stay in Dallas.

The Texas native excelled in the final stretch of the 2022 season, posting four double-doubles and averaging 17.4 points and 11.6 rebounds in August.

Feb. 1: Kristi Toliver returns to Mystics

The 36-year-old guard spent the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks but won a WNBA title with the Washington Mystics in 2019.

The Mystics also re-signed guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who played for the team from 2017-19 and then returned during the 2021 season. But the team relinquished the rights to Japanese guard Rui Machida, who joined Washington for the 2022 season.

Feb. 1: Aces add Candace Parker, Alysha Clark and Cayla George

The defending WNBA champions officially inked Parker, reportedly to a one-year, $100,000 deal. The 36-year-old forward had announced her intent to sign with the Las Vegas Aces over the weekend.

The Aces also signed Alysha Clark, in line with a report from earlier in the week, as well as Cayla George, a four-time champion in Australia’s WNBL.

Feb. 1: AD Durr re-signs with Dream

Durr is re-signing with the Atlanta Dream, sources confirmed to Rachel Galligan for Just Women’s Sports.

The 25-year-old guard joined the Dream in June via trade with the New York Liberty, averaging 10.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15 appearances before missing the end of the season with a hip injury.

Atlanta also re-signed Nia Coffey. The 27-year-old forward joined the team in 2022.

Feb. 1: Breanna Stewart signs with Liberty

The 2018 WNBA MVP had narrowed her free agency options to the New York Liberty or the Seattle Storm. On the opening day of the signing period, Stewart revealed her destination.

“I decided to go to New York because I want to continue to be great,” Stewart said.

Jan. 31: Teams and players prepare for signing period

Wednesday will usher in the start of the free agency signing period, so players officially will be able to sign contracts ahead of the 2023 season.

Dozens of players are on the market, and Just Women’s Sports has the full list.

Jan. 29: Mystics to sign Brittney Sykes; Alysha Clark to Aces

Brittney Sykes reached a three-year deal with the Washington Mystics, as first reported by The Next Hoops and confirmed by the Washington Post. The 28-year-old guard joins Washington after three seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks.

That move left Alysha Clark without an obvious spot in the Mystics’ lineup, but the 35-year-old wing is headed to the Las Vegas Aces, per a report from The Next Hoops. Clark had met with six different teams in free agency.

Jan. 28: Candace Parker to join Las Vegas

Parker plans to sign with the Las Vegas Aces, she announced via Instagram. The two-time WNBA MVP cited her family as the reason behind her decision.

“After evaluating the landscape together with my family, we’ve decided the Las Vegas Aces are the right organization for us at this point in our lives,” she wrote, adding that her “family’s home is on the West Coast.”

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony this afternoon. 

The Team USA standout is the most decorated women’s swimmer in the sport’s history. In addition to her seven Olympic golds, she’s also won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Championships, the most of any swimmer regardless of gender. 

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The esteemed award recognizes those who have "made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors," according to a White House press briefing. 

Ledecky is one of 19 medal recipients chosen by the Biden administration this year. She joins a class that spans the worlds of politics, sports, film, human rights, religion, and science. Her fellow 2024 awardees include Everything Everywhere All at Once actress Michelle Yeoh, pioneering Hispanic astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, plus posthumous winners Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US, and assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe were among 2022’s class of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Biles and Rapinoe were the fifth and sixth women athletes to be given the honor, making Ledecky the seventh.

After an illustrious career for both club and country, Gotham FC and U.S. Women’s National Team defender Kelley O’Hara announced today via Kelley on the Street that she will be retiring from professional soccer at the end of this year, making the 2024 NWSL season her last.

"I have always said I would play under two conditions: that I still love playing soccer, and if my body would let me do it the way I wanted to," O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in the lead-up to her retirement announcement. "I realized a while back that I was always going to love it, so it was the physical piece that was going to be the deciding factor."

The 35-year-old will retire as a two-time World Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and at least a two-time NWSL champion, depending on where Gotham finishes this season. Her legacy as a player is hard to fully encapsulate, and will forever run through some of the biggest snapshots in USWNT and NWSL history. 

In 2012, O’Hara played every minute of the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run, after having recently converted into a defender. Her soaring goal off the bench in the 2015 World Cup semifinal is the stuff of legend. And her return from lingering injury to play in every knockout match of the national team’s 2019 World Cup win cemented a storybook international career. 

It was O’Hara who scored the overtime goal in 2021 to earn the Washington Spirit their first-ever NWSL championship, and O’Hara who returned to help see Gotham earn a title in 2023 after years spent in the trenches with the club’s previous iteration, Sky Blue. Her 15-year career spanned two professional women’s soccer leagues in the U.S. (she earned her first professional title in 2010 with WPS’s FC Gold Pride), as well as sweeping changes to the sport both on and off the pitch.

On the field, O’Hara has always been known for a motor that never quits, making the right flank her domain in attacking possession and defensive transition. In recent years, she’s also been celebrated for a competitive fire that raises the level of her teammates, whether she’s in the starting XI or supporting from the bench.

But injuries take a toll, a reality not always seen by the fans watching from home. "I've never taken anything for granted, and I feel like I've never coasted either," O’Hara said of her late-career success in the NWSL despite battling injuries. "I've always been like, 'I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field' — which is honestly probably half the reason why I'm having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I've just grinded hard."

Recently, O’Hara has been sidelined at Gotham with ankle and knee injuries, and the situation motivated her to really prioritize listening to her body. "To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you.

"People don't see the doubt that's associated with injury,” she continued. "As athletes we feel a certain way, we perform a certain way, our body feels a certain way, we're very in tune with our bodies. And there's always so much doubt surrounding injury. It’s like, 'Can I feel the way I felt before?' The reality is sometimes you don't."

O’Hara didn’t arrive at the decision to move on from her playing career lightly. But once she began seriously considering making 2024 her final year during the last NWSL offseason, it felt right. "Once I was like, 'Alright, you know what, this will be my last year,' I have had a lot of peace with it," she said. "Truly the only thing I felt was gratitude for everything that my career has been, all the things I've been able to do and the people I've been able to do it with."

She said she’ll miss daily interactions with her teammates and all the amazing memories they’ve created, though she feels lucky to have formed relationships that go beyond sharing a locker room. "You're basically getting to hang out and just shoot the shit with your best friends every day," she reflected. "Which is so unheard of, and I just feel very lucky to do it for so long."

The Stanford graduate also mentioned that the NWSL’s suspension of regular season play in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic made her realize how much playing allowed her the space to simply be creative every day. The tactical elements of soccer provided O’Hara an outlet for problem solving and made use of her naturally competitive edge.

She’s now gearing up to channel her on-field intensity into her post-playing career full time, which is a new chapter she’s excited to begin. "I don't know if the world's ready for it, like the fact that I'm not going to be putting all of my energy into football all the time," she said with a laugh. 

O’Hara said she would like to stay connected to the game in some fashion, whether it be as an owner, coach, or member of a front office. She’s also interested in the growing media space surrounding women’s sports, having provided on-camera analysis for broadcasters like CBS Sports in addition to starting a production company with her fiancée.

"I just feel like I have a lot of passions, and things that excite me," she says. "And I do want to stay as close as I can to the game, because I feel a responsibility — and I'm not sure in what capacity — to continue to grow it."

A sense of responsibility to grow the game has been a consistent refrain for the USWNT and NWSL players of O’Hara’s era, who ushered in a new age of equal pay for the national team and collectively bargained protections for those in the league. The landscape for new players looks different than it did 14 years ago, in large part due to this pivotal generation.

"I feel an immense sense of pride around that, because I don't know if any of us knew that was gonna happen," she said. "We kind of, as things unfolded, took the next step towards changing what women's football looks like in this country and around the world.

"I'm really grateful to have been part of this era with the players that I was [with], not backing down and pushing and knowing that was the right thing to do."

Whatever the future holds, O’Hara is going ahead full throttle. It’s a piece of advice she’d also give to the next generation of professionals looking to make their own impact.

"Whatever you do in life, do it because you love it, and the chips will fall in place," she said. "If you love something, you're willing to do what it takes. You're willing to make the sacrifices, you're willing to handle the roller coaster.

"To me, it's simple. Don't do it for any other reason but that, and I think you'll be alright."

The Phoenix Mercury center spoke with Robin Roberts about her 10-month incarceration, reflecting on her poor living conditions and shaky mental state ahead of her May 7th memoir.

"The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper," Griner told the ABC News anchor in last night’s 20/20 special. "That was the moment where I just felt less than a human." 

She also detailed some of her lowest moments during that time, saying with tears in her eyes that she went so far as to consider taking her own life on more than one occasion. However, the thought of Russian officials not releasing her body back to her family made her reconsider.

"I just didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through," said Griner.

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In February 2022, Griner was arrested and charged with drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court after Sheremetyevo International Airport police found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. The cartridges were prescribed by Griner’s doctor for chronic pain back in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal. In the interview, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said she had a "mental lapse" while packing, and never intended to bring the cannabis products with her when she returned to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

"It's just so easy to have a mental lapse," Griner said. "Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn't take away from how that can happen." 

She was later sentenced to nine years behind bars after her Russian attorneys advised her to plead guilty the following July. Griner was then sent to a remote penal colony where she was forced to spend her days cutting cloth to make military uniforms. From there, it only got worse.

"Honestly, it just had to happen," she said when asked about her decision to cut off her signature long locks. "We had spiders above my bed making nests.

"My dreads started to freeze," she added. "They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You've gotta do what you've gotta do to survive."

Shortly after Griner’s initial arrest, the U.S. State Department classified her case as wrongfully detained, escalating its urgency within the government and calling even more attention to the situation. On December 8th, she was freed in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Biden administration.

While she told Roberts she was "thrilled" when she got the news, she was also very upset about having to leave fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan behind. She also continues to carry guilt about her arrest, saying "At the end of the day, it's my fault. And I let everybody down."

Griner’s memoir, Coming Home, hits shelves on May 7th.

"Coming Home begins in a land where my roots developed and is the diary of my heartaches and regrets," Griner told ABC News in an exclusive statement. "But, ultimately, the book is also a story of how my family, my faith, and the support of millions who rallied for my rescue helped me endure a nightmare."

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.