The WNBA offseason officially began on Feb. 1 when players were allowed to sign new contracts, and many stars have found new homes. From the Connecticut Sun losing their entire starting lineup to the Las Vegas Aces sending star Kelsey Plum away in a trade with the Los Angeles Sparks, the WNBA has had a chaotic offseason. These signings come in primarily one-year deals as the players look ahead to a new collective bargaining agreement taking effect next offseason which will see the contracts grow larger as the league becomes more popular.
The Atlanta Dream had one of the first major free agent signings when, on the first official day, they signed ten-time All-Star center Brittney Griner. This one-year deal will lead to Griner’s first time not beginning the season as a member of the Phoenix Mercury, where she spent the first 11 seasons of her career.
Even non-WNBA fans might know Griner from her highly-publicized Russian arrest in 2022 on charges of smuggling illegal drugs. Since returning to the WNBA in 2023, Griner has yet to perform as well as she did before her imprisonment in Russia. In both 2023 and 2024, she averaged fewer points, rebounds, assists and blocks than she did in 2022. Griner, who has nearly two thirds of the dunks in WNBA history, has gone on record saying that, while she is only officially with Atlanta for the coming season, she feels more committed than her one-year contract implies. The Dream also signed three-time All-Star Brionna Jones to a one-year deal in hopes of improving on last season’s 15-25 record.
The power structure of the league shifted in the offseason. The Indiana Fever, whose two most recent Rookies of the Year – Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston – only managed to propel them to a first round loss to the Connecticut Sun, added veterans Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner to their roster. Meanwhile, Sun fans will find their entire starting lineup, which brought them one win away from making the finals in the playoffs, no longer on the team. Bonner and Jones left in free agency, and Connecticut traded away Tyasha Harris, DiJonai Carrington and Alyssa Thomas. Plum, along with sophomore players Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink, will try to bring Los Angeles up from their disappointing last-place finish in the 2024 WNBA. Golden State has also made interesting moves in free agency. In their recent expansion draft, they didn’t go for any big-name, expensive players, instead focusing on role players. They have a lot of money to spend, but they seem to be content with slowly developing into a contender.
As the collective bargaining agreement looms overhead, all of this year’s WNBA free agency shuffles should be thought of as temporary. In 2026, all of these stars, including Griner, could find new teams yet again in a search for larger contracts.
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