As the WNBA experienced its rocketship growth during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, a strong dissonance emerged between the popularity of college megastars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and how much money they made. The salaries of all WNBA players were too low relative to the growing business of the league, but none more obviously than the new generation of rookies.

The new collective bargaining agreement, which the league and players agreed to in principle early Wednesday morning, aims to address player compensation at large. Unlike the previous CBA, which locked even the league’s best players into their low rookie salaries, the new agreement brings along all players on rookie contracts, including Clark, Bueckers and Reese.

Per the CBA term sheet, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft will make a base salary of $500,000 this season, $520,000 in 2027, $572,000 in 2028 and $646,360 in the fourth and final year of her rookie contract. The rookie scale for the 2025 draftees is reduced by four percent; that means Paige Bueckers (the No. 1 pick in 2025) will make four percent less than the second year of this deal in 2026 (the second year of her rookie contract).​​ That comes out to $499,200. Bueckers would have made $80,408 in 2026 under the previous CBA.

Star player rookie contracts

Player2025 salary2026 salary2027 salary2028 salary

2026 No. 1 pick

–

$500,000

$520,000

$572,000

Paige Bueckers

$78,831

$499,200

$549,120

max contract

Caitlin Clark

$78,066

$527,155.20

max contract

supermax

Angel Reese

$74,909

$349,571.18

$395,015.27**

supermax

Aliyah Boston

$83,371

max contract

supermax

supermax

**Reese hasn’t been named All-WNBA, so she’s not yet eligible to renegotiate her rookie contract.

The rookie scale for 2024 draftees is reduced by another four percent from the 2025 scale. Caitlin Clark’s third-year base salary would thus be $527,155. It was scheduled to be $85,873 under the old CBA. Angel Reese’s salary is lower because the No. 7 pick is on a different pay scale. The 2026 No. 7 pick’s base salary in Year 3 would be $379,309, so Reese’s salary after the two four-percent reductions will be $349,571.

In the upcoming WNBA Draft, the pay scale descends for every pick from No. 1 through No. 8. The ninth through 15th picks are all on the same scale, and the second- and third- round picks in the 2026 draft will all make a base salary of $270,000, which is the rookie minimum.

As the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, Aliyah Boston is scheduled to make about $571,858 in the fourth year of her new rookie contract. However, by the new EPIC player rule (Exceptional Performance in Initial Contract), Boston is eligible to earn the maximum salary in her fourth year (which is 17 percent of the salary cap) because she has made the All-WNBA team. Only players who won MVP in their first three seasons can renegotiate for a supermax in their fourth season (20 percent of the salary cap).

With a salary cap of $7 million in 2026, the average salary of $583,000 will still be higher than what the players on rookie contracts are making. However, the gap has shrunk. Last season, Bueckers made 63 percent of the average salary; in 2026, she’ll make 86 percent of the average salary.

When the 2020 CBA went into effect, players who were still on their rookie contracts — even All-Stars like Napheesa Collier and Arike Ogunbowale remained among the lowest-paid players in the league until those contracts expired. The recent draftees will no longer have to wait. The CBA is making an immediate impact on their bottom line.