Has the team you were rooting for in the WNBA Playoffs been eliminated? Are you trying not to be a hater on the internet while wondering what they can do for next year? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here I’m taking a look at the teams who are done for the year and what their respective contract situations and potential offseason strategies might be. How much cap space do they have? How many roster spots do they have to fill? What do I think they should do? And more! If your season ended without you hoisting the big trophy then you obviously got to come up with something different for next year. So lets’ see what it looks like.
OK before we see what it looks like, a quick note about who’s going to be on the market. There are four big names out there: Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, Kelsey Mitchell, and Napheesa Collier. They’re all already making over $1 million a year and will at the very least expect to stay where they are salary wise. I am not clairvoyant nor am I in contact with any of them so I can’t tell you what any of them are thinking. But anyway, let’s get to it.
All salary cap and contract numbers were found on Sportrac. If they’re wrong I’ll make corrections as need be.
Minnesota
- Cap Space for 2027: $3,857,660
- Roster Spots to Fill: 6
- Free Agents: Napheesa Collier
- Key Players Under Contract: Olivia Miles (through 2029), Courtney Williams (2027), Kayla McBride (2027), Natasha Howard (2027)
Minnesota suffered a humiliating defeat, the first time a one seed has ever lost in the first round, and now must figure out what to do. They are built to win right now, with no key players other than Miles signed beyond next season. Their biggest question in the immediate term is what to do about Collier; she’s a homegrown star and a yearly MVP finalist but they got swept in the first round by an 8 seed with her and she’ll be 30 next year. That’s far from old but if you’re at a crossroads like they are and you’re going to have to pay her $1.5 million to stay, it’s not a slam dunk call.
Option 1 is to re-sign Collier to a multiyear deal and figure the rest out later. Option 2 is to sign her to a one year deal to coincide with the other veteran contracts and then rebuild or reload afterwards depending on the outcome. Option 3 is to either let her leave and try to sign someone in her place or do a sign-and-trade for a comparable player.
I’d go for Option 1. You have a good 4 to 5 years with her and Miles to work around, might as well go for it, it’s not like you can’t re-sign Williams or McBride after 2027 for another year or two to keep the group together. Those two have already gotten their big pay bumps from the CBA and won’t require big raises to keep around for another year or two after their deals expire. Letting or her leave or trading for some package of a player and picks will be a step backwards and may cause Miles to consider leaving when she can leave in 2029.
Las Vegas
- Cap Space for 2027: $2,772,400
- Roster Spots to Fill: 7
- Free Agents: Jackie Young, NaLyssa Smith
- Key Players Under Contract: Aja Wilson (through 2028), Chelsea Gray (2028), Jewell Loyd (2028)
The Aces are in a really tough spot. They have 7 roster spots to fill and $2.7 million to do it, and their second best player (Young) is a free agent who made over $1 million last year and may want a bump up to same level that the rest of her All-WNBA cohort makes. Before her season ending injury Smith was a crucial piece at power forward, she is now both free and unable to play until later next season. Bringing them both back will leave them with 5 roster spots and under $1 million to cover them. So they’re in a real pickle here.
You can re-sign both and fill the rest of the roster with cheap and available players. But is that team good enough to get any further than this year’s unit did? Sans Smith they got swept in the second round by Golden State; is adding a healthy Smith close to playoff time enough to win that series next year, or would they just be prolonging the inevitable by a game or two? If they think she can get them over that hump and they can find suitable roster filler in the bargain bin then I imagine they get the band back together. But if they don’t think so they gotta make some tough decisions. I imagine they want to re-sign Young no matter what; she’s the youngest star on the team (28) and an All-WNBA level player. Gray and Loyd are bound to them through 2028; Loyd has been a bust since arriving there and Gray was still playing quite well but at 35 that cliff may come at any time for her. Worst case scenario they lose Young and Gray gets old next season, and in the best case they keep the former and the latter gives them one more All Star season.
What would I do? Man, this is tough. I’d re-sign both and muddle through the regular season until the latter is ready to return. We saw what happened without her so unless you can replace her production you might as well keep her and get her ready for the playoffs. Given that they are committed to Wilson, Gray and Lloyd through 2028 the best bet in my opinion is to run it back and hope for the best.
Indiana
- Cap Space: $3,604,606
- Roster Spots to Fill: 5
- Free Agents: Kelsey Mitchell, Sophie Cunningham
- Key Players Under Contract: Caitlin Clark (through 2027), Aliyah Boston (2029), Lexie Hull (2027)
They lost in 3 to the Aces in the first round, and while they were the highest scoring team in league history during the regular season it didn’t totally carry over to the playoffs. And now they’re facing a PR debacle after several former players have spoken out about Fever fans at their home arena while they are trying to re-sign Kelsey Mitchell who voiced her own frustrations in her exit interview. Should they succeed there they’ll still have 4 roster spots to fill out with a healthy $2 million to do it.
Option 1 is to convince Mitchell to re-up and then run it back, while hoping for some improvement from Raven Johnson and Mikayla Timpson. Option 2 is to figure out something else. Everyone there has stated that their first option is getting Mitchell to return, and the worst case scenario would be to lose Mitchell and get nothing back. What would something else out look like? My guess is either landing a replacement in free agency or getting Mitchell to agree to a sign-and-trade. My fantasy GM-ing came up with an idea – sign and trade with the Lynx in return for Courtney Williams. The salaries aren’t far off (Williams made $1.2 million and Kelsey will make $1.5 next season) and Williams has had a lot of praise for Caitlin Clark so they should get along well.
I think that if there is a trade to be made, make the deal. There are real reasons to wonder if a defensively challenged backcourt of Clark and Mitchell can go all the way to a title together, and they aren’t getting rid of Clark. But if they choose to move on then they’ve got to choose wisely or else Clark will more than likely walk after 2027, too. As for Cunningham, is she worth the trouble she brings? I say no but she’s a good sixth woman – she’s gives great effort on defense, is one of the few people on that roster who isn’t afraid when it’s time to not be nice, can score in double figures and is a top 5 three point shooter in the league – so if you let her go you do have to find somebody to replace what she brings on the court. Another thing they could use is a rim protector and Awak Kuler is on the market. I’d make a go at her as well.
Washington
- Cap Space: $3,388,243
- Roster Spots to Fill: 2
- Free Agents: None
- Key Players Under Contract: Shakira Austin (through 2028), Sonia Citron (2028), Kiki Irafen (2028)
They got sent home in short order by the Dream in the first round but they have everyone who is really important under contract for the next two seasons and only two roster spots to fill which means they can do a lot with that $3.3 million in cap space.
They have one major need and there are two ways to try to fill it: the cheap way or the expensive way. The cheap way is to get a low cost veteran like Odyssey Sims or Aari McDonald and ride it out for a year. The more expensive option would be to try to sign Jackie Young away from the Aces. They got more than enough cap space to do it and while Young is not nominally a point guard she averaged almost seven assists this year and was sharing those duties with Chelsea Gray late in the season. At 28 she would fit in perfectly age wise with this team. That’s exactly what I would do: make a big pitch for Young and if she doesn’t want it go get Sims or McDonald.
Dallas
- Cap Space: $3,312,954
- Roster Spots to Fill: 6
- Free Agents: Awak Kuler
- Key Players Under Contract: Paige Bueckers (through 2028), Azzi Fudd (2029), Arike Ogunbowale (2027), Jessica Shepard (2027)
Dallas took Golden State to a third game in the first round but were unceremoniously dumped. Their primary contributors are all locked in for next season save for shot blocker Awak Kuler; including her they have six roster spots to fill and $3.3 million to do it. What do they need? For next seaon someone who can start next to Shepherd and provide some kind of defensive presence. Beyond 2027 is much more uncertain, so they could try to load up this year and see how it goes or play it safe while they figure out what to do with everyone who is free after next season. Me? I’d make a big run at Collier; you get an MVP level frontcourt player who can also take over as the leader of the team to take some pressure off of the kids.
New York
- Cap Space: $3,025,484
- Roster Spots to Fill: 6
- Free Agents: Han Xu
- Key Players Under Contract: Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones (through 2028); Satou Sabally and Loenie Feibich (2027)
After shifting lineups around this season due to injuries, the Liberty shocked the Lynx in round one before getting swept in the semis by the Dream. Their Big 3 are locked in through 2028 so they’re built to win now. They badly needed somebody else in the backcourt who can score and handle the ball a little, and not let the likes of Jordin Canada just run past them with the ball at the other end. They could go one of a few ways: sign Young or Plum and plug her in next to Sabrina, or sign Mitchell to strictly play shooting guard. I think Young is the best choice out of the three if she’s game to jump ship as Plum and Mitchell would only help at one end of the floor.
Conclusions
If I had to rank the available free agents I’d have Collier and Young as 1 and 2, followed by Plum then Mitchell the Smith provided her rehab goes well. There are several others I didn’t mention yet who can fill in roles in the rotation or off the bench on a playoff team: Brittney Griner, Kayla Thornton, Tiffany Hayes, Awak Kuler, and Han Xu. They’d be good additions to teams where they’d fit in the lineup. Then there’s also Chennedy Carter, who I hope will be able to get back on a team and get right next year. It wouldn’t surprise me if when the dust cleared Young, Collier and even Mitchell stayed put. If you’re trying to check every box (money, team fit, winning) then the market shrinks real fast out there.
