Since the WNBA and the WNBPA are negotiating a new CBA\u2014arguably the most important one in the league\u2019s history\u2014most veterans will enter some kind of free agency once a new deal is signed. Only two veterans, Lexie Brown and Kalani Brown, didn\u2019t sign long-term deals, and a bunch of players are on their rookie contracts. Everyone else could potentially be on the move, even if many top players will ultimately just re-sign with their current teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For veteran-heavy title contenders, this means that they will have to get a lot of new deals done and make some tough decisions, as star players will get significant pay raises. For example, all of the Lynx\u2019s five starters will be unrestricted free agents. The expansion draft for the Fire and Tempo could already change the Lynx\u2019s makeup significantly<\/a>. A monumental free-agency period could change it even more.\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0Sabreena Merchant shared a worrying assessment of the situation for all those Lynx fans who love the current iteration of the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Napheesa Collier is going anywhere,\u201d Merchant said on the latest episode of\u00a0No Offseason: The Athletic Women\u2019s Basketball Show<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cbut you look at Alanna Smith, Kayla McBride, Bridget Carleton, Courtney Williams. Any of these players, I think, could easily be pilfered\u2014whether they are protected in the expansion draft or not\u2014just by a bigger contract, bigger role, a different situation. You wonder if what\u2019s happened with the Lynx has already run its course.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota\u2019s free agents will draw a lot of attention in free agency<\/p>\n Even if teams are pretty certain that Collier isn\u2019t leaving Minnesota, they will try to lure some of the Lynx\u2019s other starting talent away. The Lynx have some of the top free agents in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kayla McBride is a proven veteran, a tough defender, and one of the best movement shooters in the W. Alanna Smith shared 2025 Defensive Player of the Year honors with A\u2019ja Wilson and is a great 3-point shooter for her position. Bridget Carleton would be a dream target for the Toronto Tempo as one of the top Canadian players currently in the league. Last but not least, Courtney Williams is one of the deadliest mid-range scorers in the game, and she has proven that she can run a high-end offense during her time with the Lynx.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teams looking to boost their playoff or championship odds will surely keep an eye on the situation in Minnesota. Depending on the offers, the Lynx may just not be able to afford to keep the core together.\u00a0<\/p>\n Losing some of their starters in free agency would change the Lynx\u2019s makeup, but not necessarily their postseason potential. If Collier re-signs, the Lynx still have one of the best players in the league. They also still have a great veteran coach in Cheryl Reeve and a lottery pick coming in<\/a>. That will make Minnesota an appealing place for some of the top free agents looking for new opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the WNBA and the WNBPA are negotiating a new CBA\u2014arguably the most important one in the league\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":467890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-467889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115772050918348060","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}