{"id":589882,"date":"2026-04-08T08:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/589882\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T08:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:48:16","slug":"wnba-free-agency-news-live-updates-napheesa-collier-kelsey-plum-among-players-to-receive-core-qualifying-offers-angel-reese-traded-to-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/589882\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA free agency news, live updates: Napheesa Collier, Kelsey Plum among players to receive core qualifying offers; Angel Reese traded to Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

After months of uncertainty that we\u2019d even have a WNBA season, free agency has finally arrived<\/a>. This will be an unprecedented free agency period, both in terms of the available free agents and the paychecks they\u2019ll be cashing.<\/p>\n

After months of negotiations between the WNBA and WNBPA, the league and players\u2019 union reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement<\/a>, set to run over the next seven years. Through the new CBA, the WNBA salary cap will increase from $1.5 million to $7 million \u2014 meaning the league\u2019s spending in free agency will hit a new all-time high.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The first big breaking news item of WNBA free agency hit on Monday, as the Chicago Sky traded All-Star Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream<\/a>. The Sky received the Dream\u2019s 2027 and 2028 first-round picks, while the Dream acquired Reese and the right to swap second-round picks with the Sky in the 2028 WNBA Draft.<\/p>\n

As far as the players available, there\u2019s no shortage of elite star power in free agency \u2014 though it remains to be seen how many of them will actually test the free-agent market despite being \u201cavailable\u201d to negotiate.<\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart and Liberty teammate Sabrina Ionescu<\/a> already announced their intent to re-sign with New York, and Wilson intends to re-sign with the Las Vegas Aces<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Liberty extended a core qualifying offer to Ionescu on Tuesday \u2014 a fully guaranteed one-year deal worth the supermax, worth a reported $1.4 million<\/a> under the new CBA. The Minnesota Lynx also extended a core qualifying offer to star Napheesa Collier ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Most of the league\u2019s vets strategically aligned their contracts to become free agents in 2026, which means the pool of talent is deep, and most team rosters could look dramatically different this year, particularly on the heels of an expansion draft<\/a> for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire.<\/p>\n

Check out our team-by-team look at the top free agents from each team here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Follow along with Yahoo Sports as WNBA free agency opens up following the league’s historic CBA negotiations:<\/p>\n

Live14 updates\"JackTue, April 7, 2026 at 7:55 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

It looks like Satou Sabally will be a one-and-done for the Phoenix Mercury. Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports reports the All-Star forward is not expected to re-sign with the Mercury and is meeting with multiple teams in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\"JackTue, April 7, 2026 at 7:53 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

Sophie Cunningham is an unrestricted free agent and just signed with a new team. Just not a WNBA team.<\/p>\n

The WNBA veteran concerned Tuesday she will be working as a studio analyst for USA Network this season. She isn\u2019t retiring as a player though, as Fieldhouse Files\u2019 Scott Agness<\/a> reports the gig is in addition to her playing career.<\/p>\n

\"JackTue, April 7, 2026 at 2:39 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

According to the WNBA transaction log, the following players have been extended core qualifying offers:<\/p>\n

Allisha Gray – Atlanta Dream<\/p>\n

Ezi Magbegor – Seattle Storm<\/p>\n

Arike Ogunbowale – Dallas Wings<\/p>\n

Sabrina Ionescu – New York Liberty<\/p>\n

Bridget Carleton – Portland Fire<\/p>\n

There have also been reports of the following players getting core QOs:<\/p>\n

Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n

Marina Mabrey – Toronto Tempo<\/p>\n

Kelsey Plum – Los Angeles Sparks<\/p>\n

Kelsey Mitchell – Indiana Fever<\/p>\n

Ariel Atkins – Chicago Sky<\/p>\n

\"SeanTue, April 7, 2026 at 2:24 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Sean Leahy<\/p>\n

Ionescu, the WNBA champion and four-time All-Star, said last week she would be back<\/a> with the Liberty for a seventh season.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old guard played 38 games last season and averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game in 31:25 of court time.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Gardner was dealt to the Liberty in March 2024 from the Chicago Sky. She suited up 41 times last season for the Liberty and averaged 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in a little over 12 minutes per night.<\/p>\n

\"KateTue, April 7, 2026 at 11:00 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Kate Magdziuk<\/p>\n

WNBA free agency has begun, as teams were officially able to issue qualifying offers as of Monday, April 6.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the qualifying offers that have gone out<\/a> so far, broken down by team:<\/p>\n

Toronto Tempo: Reserved qualifying offers extended to Maria Kliundikova, Julie Allemand, Nikolina Mili\u0107<\/p>\n

Atlanta Dream: Reserved qualifying offers extended to Sika Kon\u00e9, Lorela Cubaj<\/p>\n

Indiana Fever: Core qualifying offer extended to Kelsey Mitchell; extended restricted qualifying offer to Lexie Hull<\/p>\n

New York Liberty: Reserved qualifying offer extended to Marine Johann\u00e8s<\/p>\n

Chicago Sky: Core qualifying offer extended to Ariel Atkins; reserved qualifying offer extended to Sevgi Uzun<\/p>\n

\"TarohnTue, April 7, 2026 at 9:56 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Tarohn Finley<\/p>\n

The Indiana Fever reportedly extended a core qualifying offer to star guard Kelsey Mitchell and a restricted qualifying offer to forward Lexie Hull, according to WNBA reporter Tony East.<\/p>\n

Mitchell is coming off a breakout season with the Indiana Fever. Last season, she averaged a career-high 20.2 points and earned her first All-WNBA First Team selection. The 30-year-old also averaged 3.4 assists, her highest since 2022, while taking on more of a playmaking role with Caitlin Clark out for the majority of the season.<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark said on NBC\u2019s Basketball Night in America <\/a>that she would love to have her backcourt teammate return next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really only know about five or six people that are going to be on our team next year, but I feel like we have a great core,\u201d Clark said. \u201cOur first priority is to sign Kelsey Mitchell back. She was First Team All-WNBA last year and is my running mate in the backcourt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hull averaged 7.2, 4.3 rebounds and has spent her first four seasons with Fever.<\/p>\n

\"SeanTue, April 7, 2026 at 9:08 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Sean Leahy<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old guard has played four seasons with the Liberty. Last season, she saw action in 44 games, averaged 18.3 minute, 6.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.6 steals per game.<\/p>\n

\"KariTue, April 7, 2026 at 7:43 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Kari Anderson<\/p>\n

The Washington Mystics have fired general manager Jamila Wideman after just one season, per ESPN\u2019s Alexa Philippou. Wideman, a former WNBA player, was hired by Washington in December 2024 after six years as the NBA\u2019s vice president of player development.<\/p>\n

The decision to part ways with Wideman was made by Monumental Sports\u2019 president of basketball Michael Winger, who oversees both the Mystics and the NBA\u2019s Washington Wizards, per Philippou. Winger reportedly made the decision due to \u201cserious strategic differences,\u201d with friction increasing as the team prepared for the start of WNBA free agency this week.<\/p>\n

Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson, who was also hired by the team in December 2024<\/a>, will reportedly take control of Washington\u2019s basketball operations. It is unclear if this is a permanent change.<\/p>\n

Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mon, April 6, 2026 at 6:36 PM PDT<\/p>\n

\"MaggieMon, April 6, 2026 at 3:11 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Maggie Hendricks<\/p>\n

UCLA had an outstanding Final Four, first beating Texas<\/a> and then dominating South Carolina<\/a> on the way to the school\u2019s first NCAA women\u2019s basketball title. That championship was won thanks to the skills of an outstanding senior and grad student class. Gabriela Jaquez led the way in the title game. Charlisse Leger-Walker has led the team in assists and steals all season long. Throughout the tournament, Gianna Kneepkens showed an uncanny ability to hit a big shot at the exact right time. And Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice showed why WNBA fans are already hoping they will get drafted to their teams.<\/p>\n

More than anything, this tournament run showed that UCLA, a dormant program for decades, can both win and develop talent. Now, several Bruins are poised to earn spots in the WNBA, and, thanks to the new CBA, make much more money than any previous rookie class. Now, with the WNBA draft less than a week away, take a final look at how the draft-eligible stars of the NCAA tournament did and how their recent performances might have affected their draft stock.<\/p>\n

Read the full breakdown here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"CassandraMon, April 6, 2026 at 11:20 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Cassandra Negley<\/p>\n

Chicago Sky brass and Angel Reese herself could say whatever they wanted to bounce around the subject this offseason. A trade appeared imminent for months, and anyone shocked at that aspect of the news on Monday morning<\/a> is obtuse, at best.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean the shockwaves are any less impactful for the Sky, a franchise consistently mired in controversy and drama, speeding into the spotlight of All-Star hosting duties this summer. And now they\u2019re without their larger-than-life superstar while facing down yet another sticky rebuild situation.<\/p>\n

Hours into the 2026 WNBA free agency designation period<\/a>, and about 12 hours after the official date was announced by the league amid the ongoing work on the collective bargaining agreement<\/a>, the Sky dropped the first bombshell of what is shaping up to be a crazed three weeks.<\/p>\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"BenMon, April 6, 2026 at 8:56 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Ben Fawkes<\/p>\n

There has been no movement in Atlanta\u2019s title odds at BetMGM following the acquisition of Angel Reese.<\/p>\n

The Dream remain +1200 to win the WNBA title this year.<\/p>\n

Mon, April 6, 2026 at 8:53 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Yahoo Sports<\/p>\n

Read more on the major trade here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisMon, April 6, 2026 at 8:48 AM PDT<\/p>\n

Chris Cwik<\/p>\n

In her first two seasons in the WNBA, Angel Reese made the All-Star team twice, and earned down-ballot MVP votes as a rookie. But that didn\u2019t stop the Chicago Sky from reportedly parting ways with the former LSU star.<\/p>\n

Reese, 23, was traded to the Atlanta Dream on Monday, the team confirmed.<\/p>\n

The Sky reportedly traded Reese and swapped second-round picks<\/a> with Atlanta in 2028, per Annie Costabile of FOS. In exchange for Reese, the Sky reportedly received the Dream\u2019s first-round picks in both 2027 and 2028.<\/p>\n

Since joining the WNBA, Reese has performed like an elite player. As a rookie, she averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game, earning a trip to the All-Star Game, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting and earning MVP votes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After months of uncertainty that we\u2019d even have a WNBA season, free agency has finally arrived. This will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[724,732,4657,49,48,726,14108,70070,3460,736,729,104252,66369,4644,82,45963,630,35520],"class_list":{"0":"post-589882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-angel-reese","9":"tag-atlanta-dream","10":"tag-breanna-stewart","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-chicago-sky","14":"tag-free-agency","15":"tag-free-agents","16":"tag-las-vegas-aces","17":"tag-minnesota-lynx","18":"tag-napheesa-collier","19":"tag-portland-fire","20":"tag-qualifying-offer","21":"tag-sabrina-ionescu","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-toronto-tempo","24":"tag-wnba","25":"tag-wnba-salary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589882","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=589882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}