Is WNBA free agency about to happen?<\/p>\n
No. But even though the WNBA and WNBPA have not agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), free agency could have commenced on Sunday, January 11.<\/p>\n
The lack of a CBA means the league and union have entered a \u201cstatus quo\u201d period<\/a>, where both sides abide by the stipulations of the previous CBA as they continue to negotiate. Per the old CBA, it was time for the WNBA\u2019s free agency period to begin.<\/p>\n However, no signings, trades or player movement chaos is about to ensue because the WNBA and WNBPA agreed to a moratorium that pauses league business. The league first proposed the moratorium late on Friday, just before the extended CBA negotiation deadline expired. The union reviewed the proposal, and on Monday afternoon announced that they had accepted.<\/p>\n The moratorium allows teams NOT to go through free agency formalities\u2014issuing qualifying offers and core designations\u2014for essentially no reason, as it is unlikely that players would be inclined to sign contracts before a new CBA is finalized.<\/p>\n The locus of last season\u2019s free agency frenzy\u2014Unrivaled\u2014thus has not again become ground zero for recruiting pitches. As Rose BC\u2019s and the Phoenix Mercury\u2019s Kahleah Copper recently told Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports:<\/p>\n It\u2019s really not recruiting. Yesterday after practice we just sat in the locker room and talked general free agency, where we thought people would go, what teams we thought would break up, what people are chasing, what are you looking for. \u2026 We all kind of play GM with each other.<\/p>\n On the Good Game with Sarah Spain podcast, Breanna Stewart, a WNBPA vice president who plays for Mist BC and the New York Liberty, similarly indicated that players are trying to imagine what might happen while in \u201cTamper Bay.\u201d<\/a> Stewie additionally cited February 1 as her hoped-for date for a new, finalized CBA. Speaking from Unrivaled, she suggested that the continued delay, while not ideal, would not pose insurmountable challenges, saying<\/a>:<\/p>\n Things are going to be late because we\u2019re just stuck. But is it going to be so late that many people don\u2019t make moves? Maybe people sign one-year deals, and then they\u2019ll do free agency the following year because it\u2019s not as fresh.<\/p>\n Speaking to Costabile, Copper further communicated players\u2019 recognition that free agency likely will be different this year, whenever it happens. Copper said<\/a>, \u201cYou won\u2019t be able to go places and visit. You\u2019ll have to make a decision like that. For me, I feel like it\u2019ll be rushed. I wouldn\u2019t want to make a rushed decision.\u201d<\/p>\n