Count on big names and bigger moves in WNBA free agency this offseason.

Former WNBA MVPs Breanna Stewart and Candace Parker are among the top players available. The addition of Stewart, Parker or another key free agent could help transform a team into a championship contender.

Teams can issue qualifying offers and designate core players from Jan. 11-20, and they can negotiate with players starting on Jan. 21. Players can sign contracts starting on Feb. 1.

Before negotiations get underway, Just Women’s Sports ranks the top five players on the market in 2023.

1. Breanna Stewart

While there may be debate over the rest of these rankings, Stewart is the consensus No. 1.

The 28-year-old has been a dominant force with the Seattle Storm since they drafted her in 2016. She led Seattle to WNBA titles in 2018 and 2020, taking home the MVP trophy in both Finals. She was named league MVP in 2018 and is in conversation for the award every season. And she is still in her prime, averaging 21.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 steals and nearly a block per game.

There’s not a team in the country that wouldn’t be thrilled to have Stewart on their roster, but she’s likely to be interested in a select few. The frontrunners include the Storm, with whom she has spent her whole career, and the New York Liberty, a team she met with last season before signing a one-year extension with Seattle.

Sue Bird, Stewart’s longtime point guard in Seattle, retired after the 2022 season, but the Storm still offer another dynamic scorer in Jewell Loyd. If the Storm add another pass-first point guard to their lineup – say, Courtney Vandersloot, another top free agent – then it makes sense for Stewart to stay put.

But if she’s looking for a new challenge, New York could be the better fit. The Liberty made the playoffs last season and beat the Chicago Sky in Game 1 before eventually falling 2-1 in the first-round series. They have solid pieces, including excellent passers in Sabrina Ionescu and Marine Johannes, that would complement Stewart well. And the addition of the former MVP would instantly put them in contention for the title.

👏 BREANNA 👏 STEWART 👏#TakeCover pic.twitter.com/IxhxtIBYSz

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 28, 2022

2. Brionna Jones

This is a great time to invest in Brionna Jones, because despite two All-Star nods and the Sixth Player of the Year award in 2022, Jones has yet to reach her full potential. The ceiling is high for the 27-year-old post, and she could be a core piece for whichever team she signs with.

Last season, Jones averaged 13.8 points and 5.1 rebounds off the bench for the Sun en route to a WNBA Finals appearance. Jones adds a strong presence in the paint that could anchor an offense or complement another big, especially a lankier shot-blocker. The Sun had success when they played through Jones in the paint, and the same should be true wherever she lands.

If the Sun can afford her, and if new coach Stephanie White can convince her to stick around, Connecticut would be foolish not to re-sign the Maryland product. But with players like Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas already fixed as the team’s superstars and Curt Miller leaving to coach the Sparks, it could be the perfect time for Jones to join a new team and establish herself as one of its top players.

.@_bjones18 takes home the 6th Player of the Year

Jones averaged 13.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.22 SPG in 25.1 MPG off the bench pic.twitter.com/yHCxARwbYj

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 1, 2022

3. Emma Meesseman

The Sky lucked out when they signed Meesseman in 2022 after the forward spent seven seasons with the Mystics. And it might make sense for them to re-sign her, depending on where their other free agents (namely, Parker and Vandersloot) end up. But if those players move on, then Meesseman likely will too, as the Sky officially will enter a rebuild.

A skilled 6-4 forward, Meesseman was named Finals MVP in 2019 despite coming off the bench for the Mystics. She added another dimension to the Sky offense as a big who could stretch the floor and pass the ball, averaging 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 34.2% from the 3-point line. Perhaps her best – and one of her most underrated – abilities is her passing. Meesseman showcased a high IQ for the Sky, making all the right plays, with a nearly 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Though Meesseman isn’t as skilled as the next player on this list, she has a lot of career left at just 29 years old, which gives her plenty of options. She can join a team that needs a few seasons to build or serve as a great addition to a team that’s already competing but missing the final pieces.

4. Candace Parker

Parker would be much higher on this list if not for the fact that she’s at the tail end of her career. The 36-year-old could easily play for several more seasons – her play has yet to decline – but she’s been vocal about feeling like she’s close to retirement. So the perfect team for Parker is one that can win a title in 2023.

The 2023 season will be Parker’s 16th in the WNBA, and her combination of leadership and on-court skill makes her a great veteran presence. The Tennessee grad has won two WNBA titles – one with the Sparks and one with the Sky – and was named Finals MVP during Los Angeles’ run in 2016. Last season she averaged 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1 steal and one block per game in Chicago.

A star on both offense and defense, Parker is one of the best to ever play in the WNBA. But since this could be her last year, she has to land with the right team. Whoever picks her up must be ready to win now. One possibility? A return to the Sparks. Miller expressed interest in bringing her back during his introductory press conference, but the team would need to find the right pieces to put around her in order to compete for a championship.

What's next for Candace Parker? pic.twitter.com/np0L7egl1o

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 9, 2022

5. Teaira McCowan

In her fourth season in the league, McCowan blossomed into the player she always had the potential to be. The No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft, she helped the Dallas Wings earn a spot in the playoffs after an August that saw her team go 6-2. During that stretch, McCowan averaged a double-double with 17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while also shooting 55% from the field.

McCowan is a restricted free agent, so there is a good chance she will land with the Wings. But they’ll have competition now that the league knows what McCowan is capable of. There are a lot of talented posts in the WNBA, but McCowan is one of the tallest at 6-7 – and at 25, she has a long career ahead of her. If she is able to maintain what she did at the end of the 2022 season, then McCowan becomes a very attractive prospect.

Honorable mentions

Courtney Vandersloot

Vandersloot is a talented guard who can elevate a team with her passing ability. But she’s nearing the end of her career at 33 years old, and she fits onto a roster in a specific way. Vandersloot isn’t the type of guard that’s looking to go isolation. Instead, she wants to set up teammates, and to do that she needs elite scorers around her who don’t have to dominate the ball. Pay attention to where Parker and Stewart land, because Vandersloot may follow one of them.

Brittney Griner

In any other free agent market, Griner would be near the top of this list, but she’s not a true free agent this season. After a traumatic ordeal in which she was wrongfully detained in Russia for 294 days, Griner returned to the United States in December, so this certainly won’t be a normal offseason for the 32-year-old. The Mercury have saved a roster spot for her, and the 6-9 center has said she plans to play for them this season.

Nneka Ogwumike

Ogwumike has said publicly that she wants to stay in Los Angeles, and new Sparks coach Miller said in his introductory press conference that re-signing her is a priority. There’s no reason to believe she lands anywhere else.

The 2025 WNBA season ended on a high note for Connecticut Sun star Tina Charles on Wednesday night, as the veteran center took home this year's Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award, an annual honor recognizing the WNBA player "who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community where they work or live."

Known for her career-long consistency on the court — where Charles leads the WNBA in all-time rebounds and sits second only to retired legend Diana Taurasi in career points — the 36-year-old standout is also deeply active with her nonprofit organization, the Hopey's Heart Foundation.

Founded in memory of Charles's late aunt Maureen "Hopey" Vaz in 2013, the family-run organization works to provide life-saving Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to schools and rec centers. Hopey's Heart celebrated their 500th AED distribution this year.

Due to these efforts — as well as her other team- and community-based initiative work — the WNBA chose to recognize Charles for "her extraordinary commitment to service, social justice, and creating lasting impact in the communities she serves."

Notably, this isn't Charles's first time earning the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award, with the WNBA star first receiving the honor for personally funding the building of a school for hundreds of children in Mali in 2012.

"Through my mother at a young age, I learned the importance of being a servant unto others, and receiving the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award is truly special for me — especially for Hopey's Heart Foundation to receive this honor through its work in raising awareness for sudden cardiac arrest," Charles said in her acceptance speech on Wednesday night.

Along with her award, the WNBA is donating $10,000 to Charles's foundation alongside $20,000 from Connecticut's Yale New Haven Health.

Congress members are speaking up for the WNBPA amid the union's ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations, with 85 lawmakers from the Democratic Women's Caucus and the House Democratic Caucus sending an open letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Tuesday demanding that the league "bargain in good faith to reach a fair CBA in a timely manner before the October 31 deadline."

Citing concerns "about the WNBA's delayed response, the differing accounts on the status of negotiations, and.. the needs of players," the letter vehemently voices support for the Players Association as temperatures rise in the tense CBA negotiations.

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The league and the WNBPA have struggled to find common ground, with both parties forced to consider filing an extension in the coming weeks.

"WNBA players receive no shared revenue under the current CBA," the Congress members explained in their letter. "This is drastic in comparison with other major professional sports leagues: National Basketball Association players receive 49 to 51%, National Football League players receive at least 48.8%, and National Hockey League players receive 50% of their respective shared revenues."

Players are also speaking out, with Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams recently telling CBS Sports, "The WNBA isn't enticing enough as far as money goes in order to keep us out of the other leagues."

Unrivaled Basketball is on the up and up, with the 3×3 league announcing expansion plans for its second season on Wednesday, growing from six to eight teams in 2026 following the venture's successful round of funding earlier this week.

Joining the offseason upstart in Miami next year will be Breeze Basketball Club and Hive Basketball Club.

The two new teams create 12 more roster spots, while another six will comprise the league's development pool — raising the total athletes on Unrivaled's payroll from 36 in its inaugural season to 54 in 2026.

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Unrivaled is also adding a fourth night of games each week to accommodate the incoming clubs, a move that will eliminate back-to-back matchups though each team will still play two games per week.

After nearly breaking even in their debut season, co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are growing Unrivaled ahead of schedule, moving expansion to 2026 from the league's original 2027 target.

"We outperformed every goal we set for the league in year one, and with the incredible talent we have returning paired with the influx of new stars, it was a no brainer to add two more clubs this season," Unrivaled president of basketball Luke Cooper said in the league's Wednesday announcement.

Unrivaled currently has more than 90% of its 2026 roster confirmed — including Dallas Wings rookie superstar Paige Bueckers — with plans to release the full second-season lineup by the end of September.

The NWSL salary cap has become a hot topic in recent weeks, with big-name — and big-money — transfers like Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson's overseas move to Chelsea and North Carolina Courage striker Jaedyn Shaw's reportedly imminent trade to Gotham raising concerns about the league's financial edge.

While Shaw's reported league-record $1.25 million trade proves that US teams are willing to pay a premium for top talent, the disparity between flashy transfer fees and salary limitations could be holding the NWSL back.

"I know that in the NWSL there are ambitious clubs that want to be able to compete with the likes of a Chelsea, with the likes of a Barcelona," retired USWNT star Tobin Heath said on last week's episode of The RE—CAP Show. "These teams are capped out, they can't compete. They're going to lose their best players."

The league's most recent collective bargaining agreement sets each NWSL club's current salary cap at $3.3 million, which will titrate up to $5.1 million by 2030 while also adding potential revenue sharing options.

In 2024, the average league salary was $117,000. However, with 22- to 26-player rosters, teams often low-ball some athletes in order to afford to pay out for superstars.

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Soft salary cap overseas lures soccer's top players

In comparison, the UK's WSL and second-tier WSL2 operate with soft caps, recently shifting to a framework that allows teams to spend up to 80% of their revenue plus a capped contribution from club owners on player salaries.

"We have no intent to kind of 'cap' any players' earnings," WSL Football COO Holly Murdoch told The Guardian earlier this month. "We're at the investment stage of women's football, so we don't want to deter investment. We don't want to put in rules that don't make us an attractive investment."

With NWSL top earners Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman becoming free agents in 2026, the US league might need to rethink its model to stay competitive in an increasingly aggressive global market.