WNBA training camp tipped off this weekend, after a WNBA free agency period saw big names go unsigned as the 15-team league begins to hone rosters.
High-profile vets Natasha Cloud and Tina Charles are available unrestricted free agents. However, signings are expected to continue through the next two weeks.
”I’ve given my heart to every team and community I’ve been a part of, never fully knowing if the impact I hoped for was truly felt,” Cloud posted to Threads. ”In this moment, though, receiving so much love, support, an advocacy means everything.”
“I’m okay. Just taking things in,” she added. ”Even if they weren’t what I expected, and trusting I’ll be alright.”
Cloud is coming off a productive 2025 with the New York Liberty. She averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 assists before entering free agency. Charles had a historic run with the Connecticut Sun last year. She averaged16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in her 14th year in the WNBA.
Fever Ups Aliyah Boston Deal Amid WNBA Free Agency Moves
Cap space under the new CBA could play a factor, as some teams look to double down on already-rostered talent.
Indiana made waves over the weekend by re-upping center Aliyah Boston on a four-year $6.3 million extension. The Fever tapped into the EPIC Provision, a rule that allows teams to fast-track All-WNBA rookie contracts to max deals.
“Aliyah has just scratched the surface in terms of the player she can become,” said Fever COO and GM Amber Cox. “
There is not a better person to go down in history as the first recipient of this type of groundbreaking agreement.”
WNBA free agency officially opened Monday, with the Washington Mystics making a major front-office change just one day before teams begin contract negotiations.
The Mystics parted ways with general manager Jamila Wideman after one season on the job. ESPN reported the split stemmed from strategic differences with Monumental president of basketball Michael Winger, who made the decision on the opening day of free agency.
Coach Sydney Johnson will assume control of basketball operations as the team moves forward without a GM. Johnson is entering his second season with Washington, after earning praise for his player development work during last season's 16-28 WNBA run.
Wideman joined the DC franchise in December 2024 after spending six years with the NBA.
The Mystics are continuing to build around their young core — namely All-Star rookie duo Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen. The team is also anticipating three first-round 2026 WNBA Draft picks.
Rumors Swirl as WNBA Free Agency Heats Up
Teams have already extended qualifying offers and designated core players. Contract negotiations begin Wednesday with signings due by Saturday, creating a compressed three-day window for deal-making.
While franchise players Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and A'ja Wilson announced they plan to stay with their current teams, many other prominent names could change jerseys this week.
WNBA vets Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins reportedly plan to leave Seattle, after the Storm fired coach Noelle Quinn following last season's first-round playoff exit.
Sabrina Ionescu is staying with the New York Liberty despite entering WNBA free agency, reinforcing the team's core as it looks to contend again in 2026.
Ionescu confirmed her decision shortly after Breanna Stewart made her own announcement, signaling early stability for the 2024 WNBA champions. Both players entered the offseason as unrestricted free agents, making their choices a major storyline across the league.
Stewart first addressed her plans on her podcast Game Recognize Game with Stewie & Myles.
"I’m gonna just set the record straight here — I will be staying in New York,” she said. “I’m not planning on taking any free agency meetings… My family is set up here. We’re solid here. I’m going to be back in New York and that’s all there is to it.”
Hours later, Ionescu echoed that message to reporters via ESPN's Alexa Philippou.
“I’m where I’m supposed to be… so excited to be able to sign… and be able to start our season and get going in New York,” she said.
The move keeps the Liberty's foundation intact. Ionescu averaged 18.2 points and 5.7 assists last season. She'll continue to operate as the team's primary backcourt playmaker while contributing on both ends. Alongside Stewart and forward Jonquel Jones, she helped establish the Liberty as a WNBA powerhouse in recent years.
Free agency arrives at a pivotal moment, with both expansion and existing roster movement creating new pressure across the league. New York, however, is removing uncertainty early by retaining some of its top talent.
Now, the focus shifts to the rest of the roster. With Ionescu set to return, the Liberty move forward in free agency with a backcourt leader in place and expectations unchanged.
The Indiana Fever are entering WNBA free agency with significant cap space and a short lineup, setting up a pivotal offseason around its rostered free agents.
Indiana has just three players under contract — Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Makayla Timpson — leaving most of the roster to be built through free agency.
That flexibility comes with financial room. The Fever is projected to have roughly $5.6 million in cap space under the league's new $7 million salary cap. It marks one of the highest sums in the WNBA.
But the spending power comes with immediate priorities.
At the top of the list is Kelsey Mitchell. The All-WNBA guard and leading team scorer is entering free agency as a potential supermax candidate. Re-signing Mitchell would keep Indiana's core intact alongside Clark and Boston, but it would take up a significant portion of the cap.
The Mitchel decision subsequently impacts other Fever calls. If Indiana commits big money to its core, the front office will need to balance the rest of the roster with role players and shorter-term deals.
Meanwhile, additional Indiana free agents complicate things. Players like Lexie Hull (restricted) and Sophie Cunningham (unrestricted) could draw raises under the new CBA.
And the broader market only adds to the equation. More than 100 players are eligible for free agency, upping both opportunity and competition for teams looking to reshape rosters.
The focus now shifts to execution. Indiana has the cap space to be aggressive. But how it allocates those resources, starting with its own free agents, will determine whether the Fever can take the next step toward contention in 2026.
WNBA expansion draft details have arrived, as incoming franchises Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire prepare to build their debut rosters now that the WNBA CBA is all but official.
Though previously reported to occur on April 6th, the WNBA clarified on Wednesday that the two-team expansion draft will occur on Friday, April 3rd, shortly before the league's star-studded free agency period begins in earnest.
Kicking off the process will be a coin toss between the incoming franchises this Friday, with the winner able to either earn the top expansion draft pick or secure the No. 6 overall pick in the April 13th college draft.
The league's 13 veteran teams can protect up to five players each, with full roster lists — including all potential unrestricted free agents — as well as "Protected Player" designations due to the WNBA office by Sunday.
Similar to last offseason's Golden State Valkyries expansion draft, the protected player lists will likely not be made public.
Both Portland and Toronto can select only one unrestricted free agent from this year's notably deep pool in the expansion draft.
Meanwhile, existing teams can protect any free agent eligible for a "core" designation.
Once the 2025 WNBA teams submit their protection lists, Toronto and Portland can also negotiate and enter pre-expansion draft trade agreements, either to specifically select or not select a particular player, or to select an unprotected player in order to immediately trade her to another team.
The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will begin stocking their rosters in the 2026 WNBA expansion draft on Friday, April 3rd.
The draft will air live at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN.
The WNBA continued its holding pattern this week, with the league and WNBPA reportedly agreeing to a moratorium on free agency transactions while still negotiating a new CBA.
The league office and players union did not reach a deal prior to last Friday's deadline expiration, with both parties choosing to move into a status quo period in which the old CBA terms remain in effect — rather than negotiate a third extension.
While the moratorium puts the 2026 WNBA season's free agency period in question, it also allows teams to avoid making offers to players that are unlikely to sign under the expiring CBA with its likely lower compensation thresholds than the expected incoming deal.
With nearly every WNBA veteran signing short-term deals in anticipation of the new CBA last offseason, all but two league vets are free agents entering 2026 — and while a work stoppage isn't currently imminent, the clock is ticking.
The league originally set the free agency period to begin this week, with 2026 newcomers the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire now sitting in a holding pattern as the incoming franchises await the stalled expansion draft details.
Roster building aside, the moratorium does allow for other aspects of league business to continue, with players still able to access team facilities and openly communicate with team executives.
The WNBA CBA deadline came and went on Friday, leaving the league and the players union in a status quo holding pattern while negotiations drag on.
The WNBA and WNBPA are continuing talks under the conditions of the previous CBA, without a moratorium on offseason activity like qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
The league originally set the opening to begin free agency conversations for January 11th, allowing teams to now start sending offers through January 20th — though those proposed deals must abide by the terms of the expired CBA.
Amidst the deluge of one-year deals inked last offseason in anticipation of a renegotiated CBA — and the significant compensation bump likely to result from a new agreement — nearly all WNBA veterans are now free agents, with reports indicating that players aren't eager to sign contracts under the old CBA.
This year's free agency period also hinges on the league's expected two-team expansion draft, with incoming franchises Portland and Toronto unable to build their rosters due to the ongoing CBA delays.
Though the WNBA is reportedly not yet considering locking out the players, the WNBPA recently reserved the right to formally authorize a work stoppage through a strike measure, saying the "WNBA and its teams have failed to meet us at the table with the same spirit and seriousness."
The WNBA Players Association is making friends, as brother player unions for the NBA, MLB, and NFL all issued statements last week supporting the WNBPA while the league officially extended the ongoing CBA negotiations by an additional 30 days.
Calling WNBA players' impact on the league "undeniable," the NFLPA wrote on Wednesday that "It's time for fair compensation, proper working conditions, and a future that puts players first."
"We're with you for as long as it takes to get what you deserve," the MLBPA told WNBPA players in a Saturday solidarity post on social media.
"We stand with the women of the WNBPA as they work toward a collective bargaining agreement that reflects their value and impact both on and off the court," the NBPA posted on Saturday.
Amid the statements of support from other player unions, the WNBA and WNBPA also officially extended their CBA negotiation deadline on Friday.
The league office and the WNBPA now have until November 30th to reach a deal, though the players can terminate the extension at any time with 48 hours notice — a move that would put them on a path toward a possible work stoppage.
"While we believed negotiations would be further along, the players are more focused, united, and determined than ever to reach an agreement that reflects their value and undeniable impact on the league," the union wrote in a Friday statement.
ESPN reported that the two sides met multiple times last week, as a busy WNBA offseason with two expansion drafts and an active free agency period looms.
The Toronto Tempo have apparently landed a head coach, with The IX Sports reporting Wednesday that the WNBA expansion side tapped ex-New York boss Sandy Brondello as their sideline leader for the team's 2026 season debut.
The Liberty parted ways with Brondello following New York's first-round exit in the playoffs last month — less than a year after the 20-year WNBA coaching veteran led the team to their first-ever championship.
Toronto expects to make the deal with Brondello official in the next few days, as soon as the parties finalize the terms of the contract.
After her dismissal from the Liberty, Brondello reportedly fielded significant interest from several WNBA teams, opting to join the upstart squad as the Tempo continues to build out their front office.
Toronto brought on WNBA champion Monica Wright Rogers as GM in February 2025, later appointing longtime LA Sparks assistant GM Eli Horowitz as the new franchise's assistant GM and senior VP of basketball strategy.
With the Tempo now following fellow 2026 expansion side Portland in securing sideline leaders this month, the WNBA now has three vacancies remaining in its coaching carousel, with the Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, and New York still searching for their next leaders.
Both the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire will now hope for clarity from the league's ongoing CBA negotiations in order to prep for an expected expansion draft and free agency period in early 2026.
The Las Vegas Aces won the 2025 WNBA Championship in Friday's Game 4, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury to put a bow on the league's longest-ever season — while also starting the clock on its next CBA.
"We have great players," Aces guard Chelsea Gray told reporters, stressing the importance of the upcoming deal after helping secure Las Vegas's third title in four years. "You need to treat them like that."
Like many teams across the league, the Aces have just one player under contract for 2026 — rookie Aaliyah Nye — after a rash of now-free agents opted to sign one-year contracts in anticipation of salary shifts in the upcoming CBA.
With the October 31st deadline looming, negotiations are likely to extend past that mark amid mounting tensions between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert in recent weeks.
"I think they'll work it out somehow, I hope — I haven't been consulted," said Aces owner Mark Davis.
Davis also joked about making Becky Hammon the best-paid head coach in the WNBA, with the Las Vegas manager currently pulling in $1 million annually — four times the single-year supermax player contract under the league's current CBA.
Salary structure a tipping point in WNBA CBA negotiations
As for the players union, the WNBPA says they're aiming to expand revenue sharing, while the league is reportedly looking to keep salary structures mostly intact.
"It's basically the same system that we exist in right now," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN in August. "When you approach it from the perspective of their response to our proposal, yes, money is more, but ultimately if you look at the growth of the business, the money relative to the percentage of everything is virtually staying the same."
According to Front Office Sports, the most recent WNBA offer included an $850,000 supermax contract plus a veteran minimum near $300,000.
The WNBA will likely have until the end of 2025 to strike a deal, but with little common ground emerging thus far, the potential for a work stoppage looms large.