The busiest time of the WNBA offseason is upon us as free agents meet with their prospective teams leading up to Feb. 1, when they can sign contracts.

The prospects of a new collective bargaining agreement will influence this season’s free agency, but expect to see stars change uniforms and championship contenders rearrange their rosters. Follow this tracker, where you’ll find news and analysis of moves that could reshape the league.

How will CBA negotiations affect free agency?

Though some of this year’s free agents might sign multiyear deals this offseason, considering the economic windfall expected to hit the league next winter, many top free agents are expected to sign one-year deals and re-enter the market next season when salaries likely increase.

In late October, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association opted out of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement, setting up negotiations for a new contract that will significantly affect the league’s future.

Talks between the two sides come amid a period of economic growth in women’s basketball. As evidenced by the ratings, attendance and merchandise boom this past summer, the WNBA announced a new media rights agreement in 2026 that will pay an average of $200 million over the next 11 years. Its current deal is valued at roughly $50 million annually. The increase in media rights is expected to lead to a jump in player salaries and league salary cap when the new CBA goes into effect.

Only two players — Kalani Brown and Lexie Brown — are not on rookie contracts but signed to a 2026 contract. More than 60 players who ended the 2024 season on a roster are expected to be free agents next year.

An offseason of record change seems increasingly possible as players who appear content on their current teams, including Breanna Stewart, have signed one-year contracts in recent years presumably to wait to ink a long-term contract at higher value in the 2026 offseason.

Players to watch

Alyssa Thomas

The Connecticut Sun applied a core designation to Thomas, meaning she is not free to negotiate a new agreement with other teams. However, Thomas has been outspoken this year about the importance of top amenities, and she could request a trade rather than play under Rachid Meziane, who is a first-year WNBA head coach.

Satou Sabally

In early January, Sabally said she had informed the Dallas Wings about her desire to play for another franchise next season. Nevertheless, Dallas cored Sabally, meaning that any move involving the one-time All-WNBA first-team forward must be via a sign-and-trade.

Kelsey Plum

Plum is the only core member of the Las Vegas Aces’ championship team (A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray) who hasn’t signed a recent extension. (Plum uses different agency representation from the other three.) If she is moved, Las Vegas would receive compensation in return.

Brittney Griner

Griner is testing the free-agent market for the first time in her career, her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told The Associated Press. If she heads to another team, the Phoenix Mercury could replace her with other free-agent bigs such as Emma Meesseman, Brionna Jones, Tina Charles or Natasha Howard.

Jewell Loyd

Loyd is not a free agent, but the six-time All-Star requested a trade from the Seattle Storm earlier this offseason. How they handle her request could trigger a chain reaction, as it’s possible the Storm would need to fill the void left by the six-time All-Star with more backcourt depth.

DiJonai Carrington

Carrington is a restricted free agent, meaning Connecticut can match any offer sheet she signs with another team. However, all RFA offer sheets must be for at least two years, and Carrington is unlikely to sign a multiyear deal (because of CBA changes). As a result, Carrington’s situation is akin to that of a cored player: She likely will either return to the Sun on a one-year contract or get flipped to another team in a sign-and-trade.

Top 20 impact players

*Player is cored

**Player is restricted

Key free-agency dates

WNBA franchises had from Jan. 11 to Jan. 20 to extend qualifying offers to make applicable players restricted or reserved free agents. In that window, players could accept qualifying offers, but these deals could be accepted only before Feb. 1.

Beginning Jan. 21, franchises could begin negotiating with free agents, no matter their classification. Contracts cannot be officially finalized and announced until Feb. 1.

What does it mean to be a cored player?

A core designation in the WNBA is similar to the NFL’s franchise tag. It can be applied to one unrestricted free agent per team to prevent a player from becoming an unrestricted free agent. Applying the core designation to a player gives the team exclusive negotiation rights, and any agreement between the player and team must be at minimum a fully guaranteed one-year deal worth the supermax.

A player can be cored for a maximum of two times in her career.

Cored players might not necessarily suit up for the franchise that applied the designation, but cored players can only then be moved in sign-and-trade agreements. This might become the case with Plum, Thomas and Sabally.

WNBA cored players this offseason

• Breanna Stewart (Liberty)

• Kelsey Mitchell (Fever)

• Satou Sabally (Wings)

• Kelsey Plum (Aces)

• Alyssa Thomas (Sun)

• Gabby Williams (Storm)

How will teams value draft picks?

Keep an eye on how many — and which — draft picks get put into offseason trades. With the ongoing CBA negotiation, franchises might be hesitant to deal their first-round picks because the salary slotting of a first-round pick will almost assuredly be lower this year (around $76,000) than in the next CBA. Assuming next year’s CBA increases rookie minimums, players drafted this year would be locked into lower salaries than next year’s rookies.

Franchises can also trade picks in the 2027 WNBA Draft, but teams might be hesitant to deal such selections because of the incoming star power, including USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Texas’ Madison Booker.

How do Golden State Valkyries affect free agency?

In December, Golden State selected 11 players for its inaugural season. However, it’s likely all of those players won’t be part of Golden State’s roster. Only three players — Stephanie Talbot, Kayla Thornton and Kate Martin — are under contract with the Valkyries, and Golden State has the most cap room in the league. As a result, it could be a willing trade partner for players on supermax contracts or free agents looking to maximize their short-term earnings.

Free-agency predictions

Stewart headlines another deep pool of free agents in the 2025 offseason, which features multiple former MVPs and multi-time All-Stars. Stewart has already announced that she will return to the New York Liberty, but there should be much more movement as other teams gear up to take down the defending champions.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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