At the beginning of what appears to be a very intriguing free agency for the WNBA, there are several teams looking to spend big money to bring talent to their franchise. Let's take a look at each team's salary cap and signed player situation beginning with the teams who have the most to spend.
1. Seattle Storm - $1,025,564 cap space
Players on roster (2): Jewell Loyd, Mercedes Russell
The Storm enter into free agency with both the most cap space and the least amount of players on their current roster. In a post-Sue Bird world, look for Seattle to make some big moves to create a new era of Seattle basketball.
2. Los Angeles Sparks - $996,101 cap space
Players on roster (5): Katie Lou Samuelson, Chennedy Carter, Jasmine Walker, Rae Burrell, Olivia Nelson-Ododa
The Sparks seem to have been building toward this year of free agency ever since the Candace Parker departure. With a ton of cap space and the warm weather of LA calling, this could be a very competitive Sparks team in 2023.
3. Atlanta Dream - $942,916 cap space
Players on roster (5): Cheyenne Parker, Aari McDonald, Rhyne Howard, Naz Hillmon, Kristy Wallace
McDonald, Howard, and Hillmon are each still on entry level contracts which leaves Atlanta with a lot of money to work with. Despite the money available, Atlanta could have an uphill battle convincing big names to come to town because of very underwhelming results in recent years.
4. Chicago Sky - $931,801 cap space
Players on roster (5): Kahleah Copper, Ruthy Hebard, Julie Allemand, Dana Evans, Li Yueru
Chicago is at the center of so many free agency rumors and predictions. Several big names such as Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Emma Meesseman, and Azurá Stevens are being rumored to other teams (looking at you LA and Seattle). This team could very well be needing to find their own big time signings to replace a core that brought them a title in 2021.
5. Phoenix Mercury - $881,650 cap space
Players on roster (3): Skylar Diggins-Smith, Diamond DeShields, Brianna Turner
Phoenix has had one of the most difficult years of a franchise in WNBA history in 2022. Brittney Griner's situation obviously taking center stage in most Mercury news, there were still other issues for Phoenix on and off the court. It feels likely that Phoenix will be able to sign Griner and Diana Taurasi and keep the duo in Arizona, but many questions surround the future of SDS and her staying with the Mercury. Diggins-Smith announced in October that she is expecting her second child and some are expecting her to find another team in 2023.
6. Washington Mystics - $572,466 cap space
Players on roster (5): Elena Delle Donne, Natasha Cloud, Myisha Hines-Allen, Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin
Washington seems to be stuck between deciding to go "all in" on competing in 2023 or accumulating assets for a rebuild. This free agency could be very telling of how the front office is leaning when determining the future of the franchise.
7. Minnesota Lynx - $539,278 cap space
Players on roster (5): Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, Aerial Powers, Natalie Achonwa, Jessica Shepard
Securing the #2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, extending head coach Cheryl Reeve's contract, and keeping a solid core of players while enjoying some decent cap space has put Minnesota in a very appealing position for 2023. If you aren't paying attention to the Lynx, you need to be.
8. Indiana Fever - $527,552 cap space
Players on roster (8): Kelsey Mitchell, Danielle Robinson, Emily Engstler, NaLyssa Smith, Lexie Hull, Queen Egbo, Destanni Henderson, Florencia Chagas
The Fever have one of the most exciting young cores in the league. Add the #1 overall pick in 2023 to the mix and Indiana just might have enough to convince a saavy veteran or two to the mix and start to build a more competitive roster than we've seen in Indiana for a very long time.
9. Connecticut Sun - $436,313 cap space
Players on roster (6): DeWanna Bonner, Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones, Jasmine Thomas, DiJonai Carrington, Nia Clouden
Connecticut might be the most cohesive unit outside of Las Vegas this season, but that could depend on the future of Jonquel Jones and if the team is looking to trade her while her stock is as high as ever. If another team is willing to offer enough, many consider Jones to be officially on the trading block.
10. New York Liberty - $382,915 cap space
Players on roster (8): Natasha Howard, Betnijah Laney, Stefanie Dolson, Rebecca Allen, Sabrina Ionescu, Jocelyn Willoughby, Michaela Onyenwere, Didi Richards
The biggest rumor surrounding the Liberty is that they could be a frontrunner to sign Breanna Stewart this year. This would be huge for any franchise, but the Liberty seem to have so many pieces already that a Stewie to NY move would likely vault them into "title contender" status. A starting five including Stewart, Howard, Laney, and Ionescu is something most other teams in the league would salivate over.
11. Dallas Wings - $363,696 cap space
Players on roster (10): Arike Ogunbowale, Allisha Gray, Kayla Thornton, Satou Sabally, Bella Alarie, Tyasha Harris, Charli Collier, Awak Kuier, Veronica Burton, Jasmine Dickey
Dallas continues to rely heavily on developing the young talent that they've accumulated over the last few drafts. While this strategy could eventually pay off and the Wings did outperform what many expected of them in 2022, Dallas seems to be out of position to do very much in the 2023 free agency period.
12. Las Vegas Aces - $138,803 cap space
Players on roster (9): A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, Dearica Hamby, Jackie Young, Riquna Williams, Kierstan Bell, Iliana Rupert, Aisha Sheppard
At face value, the Aces really don't have a lot of money to work with so many expect them to lay low in free agency. This wouldn't be a terrible strategy as the Aces return essentially every contributor to their 2022 title. However, if the Aces do have anything up their sleeve (see what we did there?), Las Vegas is an appealing destination for any aging players looking to ring chase.
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