The Chicago Sky traded Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream on Monday, showing how the WNBA's new CBA is already shaping player salaries — especially for young stars on rookie contracts.
Two-time WNBA All-Star Reese remains on rookie deal after averaging 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds through her first two seasons. This includes back-to-back years leading the league in rebounding.
Entering her third season, Reese would have earned just over $75,000 under the previous CBA. That number reflects the current structure, where top draft picks are locked into scale deals early into their careers.
However, her situation will change in Atlanta. With the new CBA adjustments, Reese's salary is expected jump to roughly $350,692, according to Spotrac.
Even before the deal became official, Reese called attention to the league's salary disparities, explaining how it influenced player negotiations.
"Everybody wants to play but all of us want to play at what we should be compensated for," Reese said from USA Basketball training camp. "So we're just going to continue to negotiate. Negotiation is not easy."
The new CBA raises salaries across the league, especially for players outperforming rookie contracts. And Reese's recent trade shows just how quickly those changes can make an impact.
What's Next for Angel Reese Under the New CBA
The Dream now holds a team option for 2027 worth $396,282. If Reese earns All-WNBA honors this season, she subsequently becomes eligible for a maximum contract with potential to reach $1.4 million.
And that leap could become a reality. Reese is a two-time All-Star, having led the league in rebounding in each of her first two seasons while earning All-Rookie honors in 2024.
Atlanta benefits from that structure. Reese's salary sits at roughly 5% of the $7 million cap — well below the league's projected $583,000 average salary. That cost control gives the Dream flexibility as it continues roster-building via free agency.
The new WNBA CBA is almost over the finish line after both the players and the league's Board of Governors voted nearly unanimously to ratify the contract this week.
As details continue to emerge, ESPN reported that players will receive about 20% of the previous year's gross revenue via salaries and other benefits, resolving the deal's biggest wedge issue.
Minimum salaries will start at $270,000 based on years of service, with a max contract coming in at $1.19 million, and average rookie salaries reaching $386,000 for first-round draft picks — up from the roughly $75,000 that players like Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers banked in their rookie seasons.
The seven-year agreement also open up the possibility of a longer WNBA season, with the option to wrap play as late as November 21st in 2027 and — in order to allot for the LA Olympics — November 30th in 2028.
With the league's expansion plan targeting 18 teams by 2028, the 2027 season will likely span 50 games — up from 44 this year — with the potential to grow to 52 by 2029.
The CBA also includes upgrades to staffing and training facility standards, parental leave and protections, and merchandise licensing.
The WNBA CBA now moves to its final stage, with lawyers from the league and the players union set to officially sign off on the terms.
The once-cloudy WNBA future is clearing up, as details surrounding Wednesday's CBA deal continue to emerge after days of marathon negotiations.
According to ESPN, this season's salary cap will balloon to $7 million. Even more, with a league minimum salary of $300,000 and supermax contracts starting at $1.4 million, 2026 WNBA paydays will average around $600,000 — up from $120,000 in 2025.
As for revenue sharing — a wedge issue throughout the talks — the players will receive nearly 20% of gross revenue across the CBA's seven-year span.
Current rookie contracts will also scale to the new rookie rates, with the lowest salaries upgraded to at least $300,000.
Now the real work begins, as the league scrambles to execute a two-team expansion draft, college draft, and free agency period before preseason tips off on April 25th.
One big name is already off the free agency market, however, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on Wednesday that the defending champion Aces will offer 2025 MVP A'ja Wilson a supermax deal as soon as possible.
"What we just accomplished is going to change the lives of so many players," Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark said this week. "That's what we set out [to do] from the beginning, was making sure every player felt the change in the CBA, and that's exactly what has happened."
After more than 100 hours of marathon talks, the WNBA and WNBPA's battle to lock in a new CBA is reportedly nearing its end.
"We have aligned on key elements of a new collective bargaining agreement together," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters early Wednesday morning. "We still need to finalize a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward."
"We're proud of ourselves," said WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike. "We always told you all we were going to stand on business, and that's what this looks like."
After blowing past multiple league deadlines, Engelbert confirmed that this week's deal will keep the schedule intact for the 2026 WNBA season.
CBA reportedly secures 20% revenue share, 500% salary bumps
While all formal terms are still in the finalization process, early details of the new CBA emerged late Wednesday morning.
According to ESPN, the league's 2026 salary cap will be $7 million — a nearly 500% increase over 2025's $1.5 million cap.
The average player salary also saw a 500% increase to $600,000, with the WNBA minimum exceeding $300,000 after some athletes banked a mere $66,000 in 2025.
The league's top stars, on the other hand, will be able to earn upwards of $1.4 million under the new WNBA supermax — almost six times the $249,244 salary last season's elite players could garner.
Even more, the incoming CBA will reportedly enshrine an average revenue share of nearly 20% — a massive win for the players union on what became the primary wedge issue throughout the negotiating process.
As for next steps, the players and the WNBA board of governors now need to ratify the agreement before operational moratoriums can lift.
Once the CBA is signed, the WNBA will have less than two months to hold a free agency period and the league's April 13th college draft — as well as a two-team expansion draft to stock the incoming Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo — all before preseason training begins.
Assuming all goes according to plan, the 2026 WNBA regular season will tip off on Friday, May 8th.
The WNBA and WNBPA are still at odds, as three consecutive days of marathon negotiations this week have yet to yield a new CBA.
Beginning with a 12 hour meeting on Tuesday, the two parties exceeded 30 hours of negotiations this week as of late Thursday.
"Being able to be in the room, being able to exchange proposals, we're feeling movement," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters. "We're sticking to the process."
The league's latest proposal reportedly includes a $6.2 million year-one salary cap, with a $1.3 million 2026 maximum contract — movement on both metrics since the previous WNBA offer.
"We're proud of the deal we have on the table," said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. "I think it's huge gains for the players, while balancing that with the health of the league."
Even though numbers appear to be on the rise, the revenue sharing gap remains unclear, after differing models emerged as a wedge issue between the two parties.
While negotiations have blown past the league's March 10th deadline, the WNBA has not yet implemented any 2026 season schedule changes as of Friday morning, with the upcoming campaign set to tip off on Friday, May 8th.
"We haven't ever really considered [the deadline] as a timeline that has been something to prioritize on our side, because we have always been negotiating in good faith," said Ogwumike.
"At the end of the day, we want a season," she added. "We want to play."
The WNBA and WNBPA came together at the CBA negotiating table on Tuesday, meeting for what became a 12-hour bargaining session stretching into Wednesday's early hours — and failing to reach a deal.
Union president Nneka Ogwumike led the player contingent at the midtown Manhattan marathon meeting, joined by WNBPA VPs Breanna Stewart and Alysha Clark, and treasurer Brianna Turner.
New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai also reportedly joined the CBA talks alongside WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and head of league operations Bethany Donaphin.
The in-person sit-down came on the heels of the league's March 10th deadline, set to preserve the scheduled May 8th tipoff of the 2026 WNBA season while also allotting for an expansion draft, free agency, and college draft — all before team training camps begin on April 19th.
"Conversations are continuing, as they need to be," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told media Wednesday morning, declining to give a concrete timeline but noting that things were "going in the right direction."
"We're working hard... and still have work to do," Engelbert noted, calling the talks "really important to the future not just of the league, but of women's sports."
While the parties have yet to agree on terms, the overnight marathon indicates a willingness on both sides to continue communicating — rather than hop on the picket line.
Tuesday's CBA deadline has arrived, as both the league and WNBPA remain divided with unsettled negotiations threatening to delay the 2026 WNBA season.
The league reportedly issued its most recent proposal on Saturday, with no new clarity around issues like revenue sharing and housing stipends.
"We want the deal done, we want to have the season," WNBPA VP Breanna Stewart said over the weekend. "We just need to find the right numbers that reflect it."
Should the parties not reach a deal by Tuesday night, the union could call for a work stoppage, with the WNBPA voting to authorize a strike last December.
The WNBA is currently operating under a status quo from the previous CBA, with a moratorium on offseason transactions preventing player movement.
With expansion drafts, free agency, and a college draft left in the lurch, any delay beyond the deadline will impact the upcoming season, even without an official work stoppage.
That said, it's unclear whether the WNBA plans to push the season's previously announced May 8th tipoff, or attempt to instead truncate the 2026 preseason.
"Negotiation is not easy.... When I negotiate deals, you go back and forth until you come to a common ground," Chicago Sky star Angel Reese said from this week's USA Basketball camp. "We do all want to play basketball. But at the same time, we do want to be compensated for what we deserve."
The WNBA and WNBPA are still sparring, trading CBA proposals back and forth as both parties approach the final hours of the league's March 10th deadline.
The WNBA reportedly submitted its most recent offer on Saturday, one day after receiving the union's Friday counterproposal, though the details on any changes on the table remain unclear.
According to the WNBA, if the two parties fail to reach a deal by Tuesday — a verbal agreement on the terms at a minimum, if not a signed CBA — the 2026 season could face delays.
Union leadership expressed a willingness to meet with the league in-person, with WNBPA VP Breanna Stewart recently stating she'd make herself available for talks.
"I think that would be great for us all to sit in a room until we really get it done," the New York Liberty forward said from USA Basketball camp over the weekend. "If that means sitting in there for hours and hours at a time, let's do it."
"I don't understand why we don't just get in a room and iron it out and shake hands," echoed Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. "That's how business is. You look each other in the eye, you shake hands. You respect both sides."
The WNBA and WNBPA continue to spar over CBA details, with the league office reportedly issuing a quick response to the union's most recent offer on Friday.
Sources say Friday's draft fails to budge on the highly contested revenue sharing model, with the league holding strong in their previously offered 70% net revenue to players in contrast to the union's preferred gross revenue share.
The pair also remain far apart on salary cap, with the union proposing a $9.5 million cap in the first year in contrast to the WNBA's $5.65 million limit.
The latest WNBA offer has, however, addressed other concerns, guaranteeing new and minimum contract players housing for the first three years of the CBA while giving developmental players housing throughout the entirety of the agreement.
Other notable concessions include new developmental roster spots, increased 401(k) support, and guaranteed charter flights.
After six weeks of stalled talks opened the new year, both parties have sped up their response times as the 2026 WNBA season looms.
Without a deal, both free agency transactions and planned expansion drafts remain on ice — with less than 10 weeks until the season's scheduled tip-off.
"It is unfathomable that anyone would question our commitment to negotiations and desire to get a deal done after nearly a year and a half of pushing and pulling, meetings upon meetings, proposal after counter proposal," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson wrote last week in a message obtained by The Athletic.
Saying that the league and teams have "played games," Jackson doubled down on the union's offer.
"What we have proposed is very realistic."
The ball is back in the league's court, as the WNBPA reportedly countered the latest WNBA CBA proposal this week — with sources confirming that the players union made concessions on revenue sharing and housing in their Tuesday offer.
The WNBPA is now stipulating an average gross revenue share of 27.5% — down from 31% — starting at 25% in the first year with a less-than-$9.5 million salary cap.
The proposal also counters the WNBA's most recent housing offer, which only covered minimum salary, rookie players, and developmental athletes for the first three years of the CBA, by extending team-provided housing to all players — a provision that has existed in some form since the first-ever WNBA CBA in 1999.
However, the WNBPA also conceded a sunset clause, allowing teams to cease housing players earning a near-maximum salary after the first few years of the new CBA.
While the union appears open to shifting numbers, the proposal still demands a gross revenue sharing model, contrasting to the league's net model — a continued sticking point between the two parties.
"The Players Association's latest proposal remains unrealistic and would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for our teams," the WNBA told ESPN in a statement.
"We still need to complete two Drafts, and free agency before the start of training camp and are running out of time. We believe the WNBA's proposal would result in a huge win for current players and generations to come."