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A few weeks ago, I broke down where all the WNBA rosters stood heading into 2026 training camps. Now, a mere day away from the regular season tipping off, it’s time to take a look at where the teams stand for opening day. With 15 squads to cover these days, we’re starting with the teams that are already down to legal 12-player rosters, anticipating that they’ve probably completed their main roster moves. If anything changes for those teams before Part 2 comes out tomorrow, I’ll add an updates section. But also bear in mind that opening day doesn’t mean rosters are set in stone. Plenty of contracts around the league are ‘unprotected’ (WNBA-speak for unguaranteed, meaning you can waive the player at any time without owing them any further money). So those players can be released and replaced at any time. Teams will be making moves all season long as injuries and performance dictate certain changes.
Also, new this year, are the two developmental spots available to each team. I explained a lot of the details on them in the introduction to the training camp articles, but essentially they’re additional players that can travel and practice with the team, play in some games, and potentially be elevated to the main roster if they earn it (and are good enough to push someone else off — the roster maximum remains 12). They can also potentially be ‘poached’ by other teams after a two-week exclusivity period, although their existing team has 24 hours to match a contract offer from elsewhere. Developmental players are listed here underneath the main rosters (and teams have been adding them all week as cuts are being made, so don’t be surprised if these squads fill up those spots in the next day or two). On to the rosters, and don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the teams that are making us wait until the last possible day for their final cuts.
Names in bold are protected — i.e. guaranteed — contracts. You can find lots more contract information and details on where the teams stand on our WNBA Salary Cap Sheets. Each team headline below is a link to their cap sheet.
PG: Natasha Cloud/Courtney Vandersloot/Rachel Banham
SG: Skylar Diggins/DiJonai Carrington/Jacy Sheldon/Sydney Taylor
SF: Rickea Jackson/Gabriela Jaquez
PF: Azurá Stevens
C: Kamilla Cardoso/Elizabeth Williams
Dev: None, yet
Significant Additions: Jackson, Stevens, Diggins, Cloud, Carrington, Sheldon, Jaquez, at some point a healthy Vandersloot
Significant Losses: Angel Reese, Ariel Atkins
Remaining Cap Space: $155,801
In typical Chicago Sky style, the final moves all got a little bit messy. The two second-year players that the Sky ensured they held onto via making trades with the Tempo and Fire before the expansion draft — Hailey Van Lith and Maddy Westbeld — were both ultimately waived anyway. Instead, Chicago chose to keep free agent signing Sydney Taylor, and add veteran guard Natasha Cloud, whose extended time as an unsigned free agent this offseason was the subject of significant debate.
It leaves the Sky looking very perimeter-heavy, even when you consider that Vandersloot and Carrington will start the season on the sidelines continuing to recover from injuries. Presumably, the plan is that Jackson will play a lot more at the 4 than she did in Los Angeles, trying to use her quickness and range to exploit bigger opponents when she slides over to that spot. Once they get healthy, it won’t be a surprise if they make a move to add another big and balance things out a little. Especially considering how often Cardoso finds herself in foul trouble, the lack of depth inside could cause problems, or at least force them into playing certain types of lineups without any alternatives.
This is certainly an intriguing collection of players, and a swift assembly of talent that many didn’t think was possible in Chicago with their facilities and reputation around the league. It’s going to be interesting to see how well all the personalities and skillsets can mesh together, but if they can create a coherent whole then the ceiling is pretty high. But it might still be a little messy while they’re working things out.
PG: Odyssey Sims/JJ Quinerly
SG: Paige Bueckers/Arike Ogunbowale
SF: Azzi Fudd/Aziaha James/Alysha Clark
PF: Maddy Siegrist/Awak Kuier
C: Alanna Smith/Jessica Shepard/Li Yueru
Dev: Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, Costanza Verona
Significant Additions: Fudd, Smith, Shepard, Kuier, Sims, Clark, new head coach Jose Fernandez
Significant Losses: Luisa Geiselsöder, Haley Jones, Myisha Hines-Allen
Remaining Cap Space: $194,787
Yes, I’m aware that if they start the season with the roster balance as I have it above, that would be somewhat controversial. It would also be an incredibly expensive bench, with two reserves earning seven-figure salaries. But I thought this setup worked well in preseason, and the group looked comfortable playing like this, so they might stick with it at least for the early stages of the regular season. We also don’t know how healthy Arike Ogunbowale is at this point, so the primary controversial choice — leaving the star of their pre-Bueckers era on the bench — might be forced on them anyway.
The Wings were among the first teams to pare down the training camp group to their 12-player roster, making their final wave of cuts on Monday. Most of the moves had become pretty clear from the rotation choices in their final preseason game the night before, so there weren’t any huge surprises, but because of the way they packed their camp there was meaningful talent released. Lindsay Allen has been a very reliable point guard in several stops around the league, and the Wings gave her a $410,000 contract to sign in Dallas this year (albeit unprotected, so they could waive her without it costing them anything); Amy Okonkwo, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and Grace Berger have all shown flashes of talent in previous WNBA seasons, and Italian point guard Costanza Verona has a long-established career overseas; and Rayah Marshall was only recently acquired in a trade for Diamond Miller (albeit the primary value to that deal was likely getting rid of Miller’s guaranteed contract). The Wings chose to keep last year’s draft picks James and Quinerly, veteran wing Alysha Clark, and Chinese center Li Yueru (although Verona and Fankam Mendjiadeu were later re-signed as developmental players).
With Smith, Shepard and Kuier brought in to increase their strength and quality inside, and Fudd’s shot-making added to Bueckers’s increased pro experience on the perimeter, this squad should be ready to take a significant step forward. But it remains to be seen how well the pieces come together, and whether they can find a comfortable mesh between their new class and Ogunbowale, who got paid a lot of money to stick around. They’ll certainly expect to be better than the team that finished 10-34 last year.
PG: Caitlin Clark/Tyasha Harris/Raven Johnson
SG: Kelsey Mitchell/Shatori Walker-Kimbrough
SF: Sophie Cunningham/Lexie Hull
PF: Monique Billings/Myisha Hines-Allen/Makayla Timpson
C: Aliyah Boston/Damiris Dantas
Dev: Justine Pissott
Significant Additions: Billings, Hines-Allen, Harris, Johnson, Walker-Kimbrough, and hopefully a healthy Clark
Significant Losses: Natasha Howard, Odyssey Sims, Aari McDonald, Sydney Colson, Brianna Turner
Remaining Cap Space: $4,521
Aliyah Boston (7), Damiris Dantas (12), Caitlin Clark (22) and Lexie Hull (10) of the Indiana Fever. Photo credit: Chris Poss
This was probably the most obvious final 12 anywhere around the league when training camp opened. The Fever invited a few extra guards, but it never looked like Megan McConnell, Kayana Traylor or Jessica Timmons were going to beat out Harris, Johnson or Walker-Kimbrough. The axe finally fell on Wednesday, and the expected group was set.
The Fever continue to try to find the right pieces to put around their established core of stars. Billings and Hines-Allen give them some bounce at power forward alongside Boston, and some veteran reliability if Timpson isn’t ready to make a step up yet. Harris and Walker-Kimbrough are also veterans who’ve proven themselves as reliable options in previous WNBA stops, while Johnson gives them a younger, cheaper perimeter option to bring through as part of the future alongside Clark and Boston.
This is a group looking to take the next step towards being a real contender if Clark can stay healthy this year, rather than the fighting to survive we saw last year when everyone kept getting hurt. They might take a while to figure out how all the new rotation pieces fit together, but you can certainly see the vision. If Clark, Mitchell and Boston all stay mostly healthy and play to their maximum level, Indiana’s ceiling is exceptionally high, and the pieces around them mean they should be comfortable playing in various styles (although mostly they’re just going to want to outscore you). With Mitchell a true unrestricted free agent next year and Clark likely to join Boston in becoming a lot more expensive, this could also be the year they need to take the leap before the roster balance might have to be re-thought. Time for the Fever to produce.
PG: Chelsea Gray/Chennedy Carter/Dana Evans
SG: Jackie Young/Jewell Loyd
SF: Stephanie Talbot/Kierstan Bell
PF: NaLyssa Smith/Cheyenne Parker-Tyus/Janiah Barker
C: A’ja Wilson/Brianna Turner
Dev: None, yet
Significant Additions: Talbot, Carter, another banner
Significant Losses: Kiah Stokes, Aaliyah Nye, Megan Gustafson
Remaining Cap Space: $7,500
Given the Aces only brought 13 players to camp, there wasn’t much suspense to their 12-player roster. It always looked like a straight choice between Janiah Barker and Jordan Obi for the final spot, and they cut Obi on Monday to get down to 12. Simple as that.
Largely speaking, the Aces are going with the logic of “run it back”, which is pretty reasonable when you’ve won three of the last four WNBA championships. With a little help from some players taking a little less cash than they could’ve demanded, the whole core from last year is back again. Turner replaces Kiah Stokes as the defense-first big; Parker-Tyus being available all year makes them a little deeper inside; and Talbot gives them some depth on the wing. The wildcard signing, which could be incredibly useful if it works out, is Chennedy Carter. An electric scoring guard who no one would touch in 2025 due to character/behaviour concerns, the Aces are giving her a chance and if she fits in she could be instant offense from the bench. Her defense will drive Becky Hammon insane at times even if there are no behaviour issues, but the scoring can more than make up for it.
Obviously they had their struggles last year before everything came together in time for another title run, and there’s always a chance that Pat Riley’s “Disease of More” will kick in at some point, but you can easily argue that this year’s squad looks better than 2025’s. And last year ended in yet another ring.
PG: Erica Wheeler/Ta’Niya Latson
SG: Kelsey Plum/Chance Gray
SF: Ariel Atkins/Rae Burrell/Jihyun Park
PF: Dearica Hamby/Sania Feagin
C: Nneka Ogwumike/Cameron Brink/Emma Cannon
Dev: Laura Ziegler
Significant Additions: Ogwumike, Atkins, Wheeler, Latson, Park, and hopefully a healthy Brink
Significant Losses: Rickea Jackson, Azurá Stevens, Julie Allemand
Remaining Cap Space: $103,650
After offseason moves to add Ogwumike, Atkins and Wheeler, the Sparks are now led by a very veteran lineup with an average age of over 32 (if Wheeler starts). Then you look beyond that group, and after cutting European guards Julie Vanloo and Sevgi Uzun, they’re largely very young and inexperienced on the bench. It’s a strange sort of roster balance that we used to see more around a decade ago, when the salary structure of the league largely meant you were either near the max or still on rookie scale — there was very little middle ground.
The question is whether this group is meaningfully improved from the inconsistent squad that went 21-23 last year. Apart from the potential benefits of a full season of Cameron Brink, the primary changes are largely one-for-one, with the hope that the new group will mesh better. The length and range of Azurá Stevens is now the veteran smarts and eternal production of the returning Ogwumike; the youthful promise and developing skills of Rickea Jackson were swapped for the known quantity and consistency of Atkins; and after point guard Julie Allemand was lost in the expansion draft, they brought back Wheeler as a replacement. They’re certainly built with the hope of being good immediately considering all those veterans, with only Burrell and Brink as young first-round picks who might still improve.
Last year they scored a lot of points, but a combination of their shaky defense and the pace they played at meant they gave up even more at the other end. With Atkins on the perimeter and Brink/Ogwumike inside, they’ll be hoping that the defense can improve dramatically without giving up too much of their effectiveness on offense. It’s certainly possible. There’s a lot of skill, and a hell of a lot of basketball smarts on this squad. Piecing it all together and staying healthy — or finding any depth that can help them survive through injuries — could be tricky.
PG: Olivia Miles/Eliška Hamzová
SG: Courtney Williams/Maya Caldwell
SF: Kayla McBride/Antonia Delaere
PF: Napheesa Collier/Nia Coffey/Anastasiia Olairi Kosu
C: Dorka Juhász/Natasha Howard/Emma Čechová
Dev: Emese Hof
Significant Additions: Miles, Juhász, Howard, Coffey, Čechová
Significant Losses: Alanna Smith, Bridget Carleton, Jessica Shepard, Natisha Hiedeman, DiJonai Carrington, Maria Kliundikova
Remaining Cap Space: $19,177
This is no longer the Minnesota Lynx squad that threatened to win a championship for the last couple of years. While Collier is still around as the star, and Williams and McBride were retained, all the other important pieces from last year have been picked off by other franchises. They have the excitement of adding the No. 2 overall pick in Miles, but otherwise it’s a couple of veteran free agents in Howard and Coffey and a lot of unknowns filling out the squad. And both Collier and returning post Juhász are starting the season recovering from injuries with return dates somewhat up in the air.
It seemed like Minnesota’s final 12 was becoming clear after their final preseason game, and when they signed Hof to a development deal rather than finding immediate room for her on the main roster. Then on Wednesday they pulled a little bit of a surprise by trading a 2028 third-round pick to Portland for Maya Caldwell, which led to Jaylyn Sherrod joining Liatu King and Saylor Poffenbarger as their final cuts. Sherrod had looked like she would stick as an energy-injection backup point guard, but they went with the size and length of Hamzová and off-guard skills of Caldwell instead.
Once they’re healthy, the Lynx still have the potential to be very good. Counting out a team with Collier as its star and Cheryl Reeve at head coach would not be a smart decision. Juhász has also improved overseas, Čechová is a real talent, and everyone’s seen how good Miles is during her NCAA career. The question is whether their ceiling can be anywhere near as high as the last couple of years without all the pieces they’ve lost. Until they prove it all over again, people are going to revert back to doubting the Lynx.
PG: Georgia Amoore/Rori Harmon/Alex Wilson
SG: Sonia Citron/Lucy Olsen
SF: Michaela Onyenwere/Cotie McMahon/Cassandre Prosper
PF: Kiki Iriafen/Angela Dugalić
C: Shakira Austin/Lauren Betts
Dev: Darianna Littlepage-Buggs
Significant Additions: Betts, Amoore, Dugalić, McMahon, Onyenwere, Harmon
Significant Losses: Sug Sutton, Alysha Clark, Jade Melbourne, Emily Engstler, Jacy Sheldon
Remaining Cap Space: $2,384,634
There were no real surprises from the Mystics in training camp. The final cuts were Nyla Harris, Madison Scott and Christeen Iwuala, none of which came as a shock after their limited use in preseason and how effective Prosper had looked in her stretches of play. It means they kept Australian guard Alex Wilson who didn’t appear in either of their preseason games, giving them a few options at point guard — although those options currently combine for zero games of WNBA regular season experience.
This is an incredibly young squad, even by the typical standards of a rebuilding team or in comparison to last year’s Mystics. There’s no Stefanie Dolson, Alysha Clark or Brittney Sykes to help guide this group through the vagaries of the WNBA experience. Onyenwere and Austin, respectively 26 and 25 years old, are the closest they have to WNBA veterans, and they’re barely off their rookie-scale deals. It’s an unusual approach — most rebuilding teams at least sign a vet or two to help teach the kids — but clearly they trust this group and don’t feel the need to sign older players purely for the sake of their experience. Citron and Iriafen were both a success as rookies, Austin still has lots of potential if she can just stay healthy, and there’s a whole new crop of rookies coming in to add to the talent.
Expect inconsistency and the inevitable mistakes of youth, but also expect a team that’s going to be a whole lot of fun to watch. Sydney Johnson got a lot out of them last year, and they were threatening a playoff appearance until a late-season tailspin. They may still be playing more for the future than the present, but the journey should be pretty entertaining along the way.
That’s it for now. Come back tomorrow when we’ll cover all the remaining teams after they make their final moves to set their rosters for opening day.
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