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UCLA center Lauren Betts and teammates huddle during an NCAA tournament game against California Baptist on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
In less than two months, six UCLA<\/a> women\u2019s basketball players might be working out with WNBA teams. The draft is April 13, a week after the NCAA national championship game, and the season starts less than a month later.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n One of the most consequential pieces of the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement<\/a> for current college players, including the UCLA super senior class, is expanded rosters.<\/p>\n Not only are two new teams \u2014 Portland and Toronto \u2014 entering the WNBA this season and adding 24 roster spots, but the new CBA will allow each team to have 12 traditional roster spots and two developmental player spots.<\/p>\n The new developmental players will get housing assistance and can practice and travel with their respective WNBA squads.<\/p>\n UCLA’s Charlisse Leger-Walker, left, and Angela Dugalic, back, swarm California Baptist forward Grace Schmidt during an NCAA tournament game at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Across the country during the NCAA tournament, players and coaches have noted how much the new WNBA CBA changes the future for the next generation of players.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n South Carolina coach Dawn Staley noted to reporters last week that it\u2019s one of the first times many women\u2019s basketball players will be able to accumulate generational wealth. And they can do so without necessarily having to play in other leagues around the world during the WNBA offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cThe WNBA will make you make a choice because you have to be on time in training camp.\u201d Staley said. \u201cIt’s worth it now. It’s worth it to actually have your body recover and just play in the WNBA season.\u201d<\/p>\n Last season, just 20 rookies made rosters out of training camp. The fight for those spots might get more competitive for some young players now that the league offers higher salaries and some high-end international players might find it more worthwhile to sign in the WNBA.<\/p>\n Teams are now required to roster 12 players, compared with the option to have 11 instead of 12 under the previous CBA, which allowed franchises to spend more on top players and have less of a cap hit by triming their roster size.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But likely, more players who otherwise wouldn\u2019t have gotten looks or would have been cut during past training camps will now have a realistic shot a developmental player spot.<\/p>\n Read more: WNBA and players reached a historic deal. Here’s what needs to happen next<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI just feel a lot of pride,\u201d said UCLA sixth-year forward Angela Dugalic. \u201cBecause of them, I’m able to have a lot of things that they maybe weren’t able to have at the start of their career. And some of them, like, they’re either at the end of their career or they’re even finished right now, they’re still fighting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n The entire UCLA starting lineup \u2014 Charlisse Leger-Walker<\/a>, Kiki Rice<\/a>, Lauren Betts<\/a>, Gianna Kneepkens and Gabriela Jaquez<\/a>, plus Dugalic off the bench \u2014 project as WNBA picks, most as early as the first round.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Kneepkens or Leger-Walker (though she was recovering from an ACL injury) would have been WNBA draft-eligible after last season. Their rookie salaries would have been around $70,000, depending on where they were selected. This year, the rookie minimum will be $270,000, and top picks, which Betts and Rice are projected to be, will make as much as $500,000.<\/p>\n \u201cJust like the growth we’re even experiencing now in college, we have so many people before us to thank that. [They] fought for better exposure and TV rights … fought for Title IX and resources to be allocated appropriately,\u201d UCLA coach Cori Close said. \u201cI think it’s similar right now in terms of the CBA. We need to really thank the people in that room that fought hard.\u201d<\/p>\n UCLA guard Kiki Rice dribbles up the floor under pressure from California Baptist guard Filipa Barros Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n UCLA players are understandably locked in on the NCAA tournament, but they haven\u2019t ignored an important moment.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s awesome for women’s basketball and the progress going forward,\u201d Leger-Walker said. “I love that we have players who are willing to advocate and really stand on what they believe in. We’re making steps forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Where they all fit on individual teams or in respective mock drafts will all be more clear after free agency begins in the week ahead of the draft. Around 80% of the league are free agents, so there are going to be plenty of new-look teams.<\/p>\n UCLA players will soon get a chance to join those roster makeovers under working conditions past players never enjoyed.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m just grateful for all the women who fought for what they’ve earned,\u201d Kneepkens said. \u201cThat’s just super cool for anyone that’s a WNBA fan and anyone that’s part of it. They made this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"UCLA's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/80ade45482338075070f23b9e431e33a.jpeg\"\/)
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