Get ready for a fast and potentially thrilling ride.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s announcement from the WNBA and WNBPA that both sides signed a term sheet for a new collective-bargaining agreement marks the end of more than a year of negotiations while signaling the start of what\u2019s going to be a frantic run-up to the league\u2019s 30th\u00a0season.<\/p>\n
Training camps for the 15 WNBA teams begin April 19 and the 44-game regular-season schedule tips off May 8.<\/p>\n
However, there\u2019s plenty of work to be done for the league \u2014 and particularly the Storm \u2014 before then. Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n
The new CBA<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll likely take a few weeks for the WNBA Board of Governors and the WNBPA players to ratify a new seven-year CBA deal the league called \u201cone of the most transformational labor agreements ever reached in major professional sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the new CBA, the salary cap will jump from just $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million starting this season. Supermax contracts will now start at $1.4 million, up from $249,244 in 2025. Meanwhile, the average salary rises from $120,000 in 2025 to around $600,000 in 2026. Minimum salaries will range from $270,000 to $300,000 in 2026 (based on years of service, up from $66,079 in 2025.<\/p>\n
The WNBA projects players will receive more than $1 billion in salaries and benefits during the deal, which runs through the 2032 season.<\/p>\n
Expansion draft<\/p>\n
In a normal offseason, the WNBA would have held an expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo in December. But CBA negotiations put those plans on pause.<\/p>\n
No date has been officially set for the expansion draft, but with the NCAA women\u2019s title game scheduled for April 5, it seems as if the league will hold an expansion draft the next day.<\/p>\n
In the past, WNBA teams were allowed to protect five players and expansion teams could choose one player from each roster \u2014 12 total. However, roughly 80% of the league \u2014 more than 100 players \u2014 are unrestricted free agents and it\u2019s uncertain if there will be enough eligible players to fill rosters for the Fire and Tempo.<\/p>\n
Free agency<\/p>\n
This is where the real fun begins, or headache if you\u2019re a WNBA front office executive. Considering the condescend calendar, free agency will likely begin April 7 and ends April 18.<\/p>\n
Normally, the free-agency period is about two months, but this year it\u2019s just 12 days for teams to fill a roster and for players to find a home. Imagine a multimillion-dollar game of musical chairs on steroids.<\/p>\n
It remains to been if the league\u2019s stars will switch teams. Reportedly, A\u2019ja Wilson plans to re-sign with the Las Vegas Aces for a $1.4 million supermax deal while Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu are rumored to return to the New York Liberty.<\/p>\n
After months of planning, it\u2019s decision time for Storm general manager Talisa Rhea and first-year coach Sonia Raman, who spearhead a potentially transformative offseason considering 10 of the team\u2019s 12 players are free agents.<\/p>\n
Dominique Malonga and Lexie Brown are the only players under contract from last year\u2019s team, which finished seventh at 23-32 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Storm also return Jordan Horston and Nika Muhl, whose contracts were suspended due to season-ending injuries.<\/p>\n
Seattle must decide if it\u2019s going to bring back veterans Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor, Brittney Sykes and Erica Wheeler in hopes of making another run at a title.<\/p>\n
Or the Storm might opt to rebuild around promising young star Malonga and Horston?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note, the new CBA deal increased the minimum roster from 11 in 2025 to 12 players in 2026 plus two additional roster spots for developmental players.<\/p>\n
WNBA draft<\/p>\n
The rebuild option is increasingly enticing considering Seattle has the No. 3 and 14 picks in the first round of the WNBA draft. The Storm also have the first pick in the second round (No. 16 overall) and the ninth pick in the third round (No. 39 overall).<\/p>\n
Under the new CBA, the rookie contract scale significantly increases for top draft picks, including the No. 1 overall pick in 2026 who is projected to earn $500,000. Last year, the top four draft picks earned $78,831.<\/p>\n
Spanish center Awa Fam, TCU point guard Olivia Miles, Connecticut guard Azzi Fudd and UCLA center Lauren Betts are considered the top prospects.<\/p>\n
The draft takes place April 13, which means most free agents will have likely signed and the Storm should have a clear vision of their future.<\/p>\n
If mock-draft projections are accurate, the Storm will land either Miles or Fudd and either player should pair nicely with the 19-year-old Malonga, who is potentially a dominant low-post force for the next decade.<\/p>\n
Training camp and preseason<\/p>\n
Raman takes the reins and oversees her first practice April 19 when training camp opens. Similar to previous years, the Storm will have just six days together before their April 25 preseason opener at Golden State.<\/p>\n
Seattle\u2019s last dress rehearsal is April 29 at home against Portland before hosting the Valkyries for its regular-season opener May 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get ready for a fast and potentially thrilling ride. Friday\u2019s announcement from the WNBA and WNBPA that both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,1440,630],"class_list":["post-553009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-storm","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}