Around the W: Grading WNBA Free Agency

Read my thoughts on how each team performed this off-season with free agency.

Free agency has been going on for a little over a month now. With all the major players now re-signed or signed to brand new teams I thought I’d take some time to share my thoughts on how each team did this off-season. Find out which teams impressed me the most and which teams I felt struggled. Feel free to share your comments below on which moves you liked or anything that surprised you this off-season!

Atlanta Dream

The Atlanta Dream had a very disappointing off-season considering the amount of salary cap space they had available entering free agency. Dream fans were hoping to land a big free agent like Liz Cambage or Jewell Loyd and it didn’t happen.

To make matters worse the team cut Tiana Hawkins to save salary cap space (a move that wasn’t really necessary) and then Hawkins went on to become the Champion/MVP of the new Athletes Unlimited league.

The team also traded disgruntled star guard Chennedy Carter for Erica Wheeler, the LA Sparks’ 2nd round pick in 2022, and LA’s first round pick in 2023. It’s really difficult to judge this move because of the controversy surrounding Carter who was suspended mid-way through the 2021 season due to an altercation with teammate(s). Carter has superstar talent on the offensive end but her attitude and maturity have been questioned. I don’t feel the Dream got the better end of the trade if Carter plays to her potential and stays out of trouble. But they might be betting on her not being able to do that throughout her career. If she winds up in more trouble this trade will look a lot better than it does right now.

Atlanta was able to re-sign Tiffany Hayes and Monique Billings while bringing back Nia Coffey. Hayes is a very good player but it still looks like they may have overpaid her a bit to retain her. She was the team’s largest free agent acquisition and the team’s highest paid player ($215,000). Retaining Billings was a solid move but compared to the rest of the market it feels like they overpaid for her as well.

Grade: F

Chicago Sky

The defending champions made the biggest splash last off-season when they signed Candace Parker and lured her away from LA. That moved paid off in spades as Parker helped lead the Sky to their first ever WNBA title.

With several key players from the 2021 championship team needing to be re-signed I thought head coach and General Manager James Wade did a really good job this off-season. He retained the team’s three most important players that he needed to by putting the core tag on Kahleah Copper and signing her to a two-year contract at around $200,000 per season (above the regular max but below the supermax). He was also able to keep both Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley. Quigley specifically was signed at an absolute bargain of $135,000.

We knew it was virtually impossible for the team to re-sign all of their key players so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see both Stefanie Dolson and Diamond DeShields not be retained by Chicago. However, Wade was somehow able to replace Dolson with Emma Meesseman which I see as a net positive. Both players are talented and Dolson may be a little more reliable in that she doesn’t have the overseas commitments. But their talent on the court, I give the advantage to Meesseman.

Instead of outright losing Diamond DeShields, Wade was able to parlay her into acquiring Julie Allemand from the Indiana Fever in a three-team trade along with the Phoenix Mercury. It did cost Chicago their first round picks in 2022 and 2023 which isn’t ideal, but in the trade they were able to recoup a first-round pick from the Mercury. Overall, they’re only losing one draft pick and they were going to lose Diamond DeShields either way so this way the team actually gets something out of her.

Allemand was impressive during her play in the 2020 Bubble season. And Chicago still needs a legit backup for Courtney Vandersloot. Chicago is also in a similar situation as Seattle; not only do they need a legit backup PG but they also need a true successor to Vandersloot if they aren’t able to re-sign her beyond the 2022 season.

Initial reports stated that Vandersloot felt the offer from the Sky this off-season was disrespectful and there were even reports that she might just sit out the entire WNBA season and work out a deal with her Russian team to pay her to rest (similar to what Diana Taurasi did in 2015).

With the prioritization clause impacting the WNBA in 2023, we don’t even know if Vandersloot will sign with any WNBA team next year. And even if she does, there’s no guarantee she’ll stay in Chicago. She could be lured by another franchise including a team from her home town state (Seattle Storm).

Knowing this, acquiring a new potential starting point guard in Julie Allemand is a smart move by the Sky.

Overall, I felt Chicago had one of the more impressive off-seasons when it comes to free agency. The 2022 roster is arguably better than it was in 2021 when the team won the Championship. If nothing else, they should have an excellent chance to try and repeat as WNBA Champions later this year.

Grade: A

Connecticut Sun

The most important thing that Connecticut Sun did was re-sign MVP Jonquel Jones to a new two-year deal just below the Supermax (around $210,000 per season). Connecticut finished with the best record in the WNBA last season and have a roster that should allow them to be one of the top teams again in the WNBA. This season they’ll have an opportunity to roll out DeWanna Bonner, Jonquel Jones, and Alyssa Thomas for the entire year. Jones missed all of the 2020 season and Thomas missed most of the 2021 season with a torn Achilles. With all three presumably healthy, the Sun should be one of the favorites to win the title in 2022.

Connecticut made one more important move and that was bringing back Courtney Williams. The talented shooting guard had success in Connecticut but wasn’t able to come to a contract agreement and left to Atlanta a couple of years ago. An off-the-court incident resulted in Williams being told she wouldn’t be welcome back in Atlanta despite the fact that statistically she had the best season of her career averaging 16.5 PPG, nearly seven rebounds per contest, and 4.0 APG.

The addition of Williams should help Connecticut in an area that they’ve really struggled with and that’s having a player who can score and get offense when called upon, especially with the game on the line in the final moments.

Bringing back Jonquel Jones was a must and adding Williams should give the Sun a great chance to win the title.

Grade: B

Dallas Wings

The Dallas Wings had absolutely no cap room to spend in free agency this off-season so it’s not terribly surprising that the team made essentially no moves. Greg Bibb had a difficult choice in that if he wanted to bring in some more talented veterans he was going to have to cut some of their (many) first round draft picks from recent years. Essentially, having to give up on players a lot earlier then you’d normally want to.

As it is, the team will still have to make some cuts of recent draft picks or trade them away for other assets or future picks.

The one big move the team did make that they should get credit for is extending their superstar Arike Ogunbowale locking her up through the next four years with a Supermax extension of three additional seasons after 2022.

When I look at the Wings I wonder if they’re able to replicate what the Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces have been able to do. Both Seattle and Vegas got multiple draft picks at #1 overall and have been able to turn that into two of the more successful franchises over the past few years. Dallas has picked several times in the Top 3 in recent drafts and last season they managed to reach the playoffs. Can they continue that climb and start competing in the semifinals and possibly WNBA Finals?

Grade: D

Indiana Fever

Where do I even begin? The team cut 4th overall pick Kysre Gondrezick in late January after just one season with the team. Gondrezick became the second lottery pick cut by the team as they had waived Lauren Cox (3rd overall in 2020) in the middle of the 2021 season.

This week the team also announced they waived first round pick (11th overall), Aaliyah Wilson. The Fever traded Kennedy Burke to Seattle in order to acquire Wilson. Now they don’t have Burke or Wilson on their roster.

In total, that means three first round picks have been waved in less than 12 months. A damning statement for the scouting department and (then) General Manager Tamika Catchings.

They made a trade that brought Bria Hartley’s bloated contract to the team which allowed the Mercury to add Tina Charles and Diamond DeShields. In that trade, they also sent Julie Allemand, one of their better young players, to Chicago. They did pick up Chicago’s 1st round pick and two second-round picks from the Mercury. But considering how poorly they’ve drafted in recent seasons it’s difficult to claim that trade as a win for Indiana.

I hate to say it but the best move the team made was a decision by Tamika Catchings and the organization for her to step down as VP of Basketball Operations and her General Manager duties. In her place, Lin Dunn (the Storm’s first franchise head coach), has stepped in to fill the interim General Manager role. Dunn was a large factor in gathering talent and leading the Fever to a WNBA Championship in 2012.

Grade: F

Las Vegas Aces

The Aces biggest acquisition by far was hiring Becky Hammon as their new head coach. However, we’re not grading the coaches, we’re grading what moves the team made to improve their roster from 2021. Las Vegas appeared to be taking the “less is more” approach. They opted not to re-sign All-Star Center Liz Cambage. For now their move to replace her was signing Kalani Brown to a training camp contract but there is no guarantee Brown even makes the final roster.

The Aces biggest moves were re-signing A’ja Wilson to a new two year deal for around $200,000 per year. They also brought back Riquna Williams which was a solid move. Wilson was a restricted free agent so there was no serious risk of losing her.

They also opted not to re-sign Angel McCoughtry who was incredible with the team in 2020 helping lead them to the Finals but missed the entire 2021 season with another ACL tear.

I think there’s a good chance that the Aces are taking a longer term approach to free agency by not making a ton of moves this year. Key players including Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, and Jackie Young will all be free agents next season with all of them being Unrestricted Free Agents except Young who will be Restricted.

Las Vegas still has a very solid core that should compete for a Top 5 spot but on paper they are certainly less talented than they have been over the past two years. Because of that, for now they don’t grade out well this off-season.

Grade: D

Los Angeles Sparks

Honestly, I might be more impressed with the moves that head coach and General Manager, Derek Fisher, made with the LA Sparks than any other WNBA team. Los Angeles did not have a lot of salary cap flexibility heading into free agency. They also have two guaranteed contracts that no other team would want to touch with Kristi Toliver and Chiney Ogwumike. And they somehow managed to change up their roster considerably infusing a significant amount of talent through trades and free agent signings.

The first major domino was Fisher’s trade of Gabby Williams to Seattle to acquire Katie Lou Samuelson and Seattle’s first-round pick. I might be wrong but I still believe Katie Lou has a higher ceiling than Gabby Williams. If just the two players were traded for each other I might prefer to have Lou. But even if Williams ends up having more success, Fisher did two more things with this trade that have a large positive impact on the Sparks. He acquired Seattle’s first-round pick and he freed up about $70,000 in cap space by trading Gabby Williams and her contract to Seattle while acquiring the cheaper cost of Katie Lou.

This set one of his next moves in motion which was to sign Jordin Canada away from Seattle. I’d honestly love to know if the Storm tried to include Canada in the trade with Katie Lou instead of their first-round pick. At that point, they probably understood they weren’t going to be able to re-sign Canada so it would be smarter to trade Canada away than their first-round pick. But instead they traded away their draft pick and then had to release Canada allowing the Sparks to get Katie Lou, Seattle’s draft pick, and Jordin Canada.

Fisher then made an even bigger trade with the Atlanta Dream acquiring Chennedy Carter and Li Yueru for Erica Wheeler, the team’s 2nd round pick in 2022 and 1st round pick in 2023. This trade will be boom or bust for the Sparks. Carter has superstar potential and talent. If she can mature and if Fisher can help her become a better team player, then this will be a huge win for Los Angeles. If Carter gets suspended again or continues to rub teammates the wrong way then Atlanta will be the winner of this trade. Ultimately, I think a player with the talent of Carter is worth the risk. There’s one more factor with this trade as well, trading Wheeler and her salary of $185,000 freed up more than $100,000 in salary cap space that led to the Sparks biggest off-season acquisition.

With those two trades, Fisher and the Sparks were able to free up roughly $170,000 in salary cap space and that’s exactly what they used to sign All-Star Center Liz Cambage. Cambage had long wanted to play in Los Angeles but was eventually traded from Dallas to Las Vegas. Once Vegas opted not to re-sign her it was unclear if any WNBA team would be able to sign her. Initially, the Sparks simply didn’t have the salary cap space to make that move. But Fisher was wheeling and dealing until they had the right pieces in place to get it done.

Now there is certainly a question of whether or not all of this new talent can actually gel together to win a championship or even make the playoffs. But there is no denying that the LA Sparks in 2021 had one of the weakest rosters in the league. The team finished with the third-worst record in the WNBA. No team did more to improve their roster this off-season than the Los Angeles Sparks and for that they get an A grade!

Grade: A

Minnesota Lynx

After making a big splash in free agency in 2021 by signing three relatively big contracts with Kayla McBride, Aerial Powers, and Natalie Achonwa the Minnesota Lynx took a more conservative approach this off-season. They re-signed Sylvia Fowles for her final season in the WNBA and brought back Layshia Clarendon who impressed with their play last year after being cut by the New York Liberty.

Their biggest acquisition was Angel McCoughtry who signed for a very reasonable $130,000. This is one of those signings that will be really fascinating to see how it plays out this season. McCoughtry, 35, tore her left ACL in the playoffs of the 2018 season forcing her to miss the entire 2019 season. She then tore her right ACL in the preseason last year forcing her to miss the entire 2021 season. In between that, she averaged over 14 PPG and 5 APG in just 20 minutes with the Las Vegas Aces and helped lead them to the best record in the WNBA and a trip to the WNBA Finals in 2020.

The big question with the Lynx is how much does McCoughtry have left at her age and after dealing with multiple knee injuries. If she can replicate her 2020 season there’s a good chance she’ll help lead Minnesota into the playoffs and potentially a deep playoff run.

I have the Lynx at a C Grade because their moves aren’t shaking up the landscape of the league. But if Angel stays healthy and plays like she did in 2020, you could easily bump this up a grade.

Grade: C

New York Liberty

The New York Liberty made headlines when it was announced that they made a major recruiting pitch to Breanna Stewart. They may not have been successful in landing one of the league’s premier players this season but we’ll check back in another year when Stewart will once again be an Unrestricted Free Agent.

Even though they struck out with Stewie, they still made a solid splash by adding Stefanie Dolson. Dolson should fit really well with the Liberty because of her ability to play the low post and stretch the floor from the perimeter. Dolson will also help Natasha Howard play more at her traditional position at the Power Forward spot which will be a benefit. The team signed Dolson to a two-year deal at $160,000 per season which is a little less than she made last season with Chicago. They did not have to overpay to lure Dolson away which was important.

The only other major signing New York made was re-signing Rebecca Allen. Allen signed a new two-year deal with the team. Once the Liberty hired Sandy Brondello to be the new head coach it made a lot of sense for them to re-sign Allen. Allen plays for Brondello with the Australian National team and is someone that can now be coached to her full potential under Brondello’s guidance.

One move I didn’t like was seeing the Liberty release Jazmine Jones. It’s not surprising when WNBA teams have to make cuts but it was a little surprising to see Jones be one of the first to go before the team even got to training camp.

The key to this free agency will ultimately be what happens with Breanna Stewart in 2023. They planted the seeds this off-season and if it results in Stewart leaving Seattle for New York a year from now then it’ll be a colossal victory for the Liberty.

Grade: C

Phoenix Mercury

The Phoenix Mercury had an incredibly impressive run through the playoffs last season. After barely surviving single-elimination games against the Liberty and Storm, they upset the Las Vegas Aces to reach the WNBA Finals. But ultimately the team fell short as they lacked depth in that Championship series against Chicago (especially because Kia Nurse was injured against Vegas).

Phoenix made some really strong moves by acquiring Tina Charles for an excellent bargain at just $108,000. Charles could have easily commanded somewhere between $160-$200K if she wanted to. But instead, she opted to go to a team where she felt had a great chance to win the title with her help and signed for significantly under her value. Phoenix General Manager, Jim Pitman, did an incredible job getting Charles to come to Arizona.

That alone would have been a very solid free agency. But he also landed Diamond DeShields via a three-way trade with Chicago and Indiana. It wasn’t cheap as it did cost the team three draft picks including their 2nd round pick in 2022 and both their 1st round and 2nd round picks in 2023. However, they were also able to shed Bria Hartley’s max contract in the deal which allowed them to use that salary cap savings to sign Diamond DeShields for two years, plus re-sign Sophie Cunningham, Kia Nurse, and Shey Peddy.

Bringing back Cunningham, Nurse, and Peddy gives the team much-needed depth and all three played well for Phoenix last season. Nurse may not play because of her torn ACL late in the playoffs last season. But if she can recover in time for the playoffs, she may be the added piece (along with Charles and DeShields) that puts them over the top to win the title this season.

I absolutely loved what Phoenix did this off-season. In recent years I’ve really felt Phoenix was incredibly talented but truly lacked depth needed to win a championship. By adding Tina Charles and Diamond DeShields while also retaining some key depth pieces to go along with superstars Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi - there will be very few WNBA teams that can match the talent on the court that the Mercury can put out there. Because of this, I’m giving them an A!

Grade: A

Seattle Storm

Seattle had a successful off-season and it was largely centered around keeping their own. The Storm did not make a huge splash in free agency. There was no Emma Meesseman, Tina Charles, or Liz Cambage signing in Seattle. But they did bring back their Big 3 in Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, and Sue Bird. Considering Stewart and Loyd were both named to the All-WNBA First Team it’s easy to make the case that they are two of the ten best players in the league (if not both in the Top 5). Keeping both is a gigantic win for the Storm, especially with both players just entering the prime right now.

Bringing Sue Bird back was a formality once she decided she was willing to play another season in the WNBA (her 21st since she was drafted). But there’s no doubt that Bird still plays a pivotal role on this team. The greatest point guard in WNBA history is still one of the league’s best at that position and consistently makes everyone around her better.

Retaining their three All-Stars was critical but they also managed to re-sign both Mercedes Russell and Stephanie Talbot. Russell received a significant pay raise going from around $70,000 a year ago to $160,000 each of the next three seasons. Russell has consistently improved while playing for Seattle over the past four seasons, playing a critical role on the team in both 2019 and 2021. Russell still has more room to grow and improve and Seattle’s front office is banking on that.

The Stephanie Talbot move was also excellent especially for the value. They were able to re-sign her for the veteran minimum which is really impressive considering her age (just 27) and her on-court production. The Talbot signing was also significant because the team traded away Katie Lou Samuelson and they will need her three-point shooting.

Seattle’s only real free agent signing was adding Briann January, a defensive specialist (and Spokane native) coming from the Connecticut Sun. January was brought in to back up Sue Bird at the point guard position (replacing Jordin Canada) and to add another lockdown defender; something the team was missing last season after Alysha Clark left in free agency when she signed with the Washington Mystics.

The biggest off-season move (outside of retaining their own) was the trade with the Los Angeles Sparks for Gabby Williams. Seattle sent Katie Lou Samuelson and their first-round pick to LA.

Right now it’s difficult to say if this trade was a win for Seattle. I haven’t seen enough out of Gabby Williams in the WNBA to feel she is a major impact player or even significantly better than Katie Lou. I wrote a lot about the trade back in early February. Williams will give Seattle more versatility with her ability to slash, shoot, defend, rebound, and pass. She is not as strong of a shooter as Katie Lou is and she gives up several inches in height but makes up for it with elite athleticism.

The trade would look stronger if the team didn’t also part ways with their first-round draft pick (9th overall).

With this likely being Sue Bird’s final season and it’s already been confirmed to be Briann January’s final year, the team is going to have a huge gap to fill at the point guard position in 2023. Especially, considering they released the rights to Jordin Canada allowing her to sign with the LA Sparks.

The other major concern is that Breanna Stewart only signed a one-year deal instead of a multi-year contract. Stewie told me and the rest of the media that this was primarily due to the Prioritization Clause coming into effect in 2023 and 2024. I do believe that to be true, but I’m sure Storm fans would feel a lot better if the team had signed Stewart to a three-year deal instead.

Grade: B

Washington Mystics

The Mystics really had a sneaky good free agency period. They didn’t wow anyone with any blockbuster additions. And the team did lose some very talented players with Emma Meesseman heading to Chicago and Tina Charles going to Phoenix. However, they were able to re-sign Myisha Hines-Allen to a three-year deal that will pay her around $175,000 per season on average during the length of the contract.

In 2020, Hines-Allen proved she is a very talented post player that can be a key piece to a winning team. With Tina Charles moving on and Elena Delle-Donne’s back issues still a concern, locking up Hines-Allen for three years was an excellent move.

Coach Mike Thibault has always prioritized good defense and adding Elizabeth Williams should bolster the team’s interior presence. They also secured Williams, a former All-Star, to a contract under $100K, so the team is getting great value there.

They also added Tiana Hawkins who was cut by the Atlanta Dream. Hawkins had a lot of success in her previous stint with the Mystics and is now coming off an incredible season with Athletes Unlimited where she won the championship (essentially MVP of their league). Hawkins signed a training camp contract for the veteran minimum but should have a legit shot to make the final roster.

Washington also re-signed Megan Gustafson and Shatoria Walker-Kimbrough to training camp contracts.

I’m also intrigued by the addition of Japanese Olympian, Rui Machida. The point guard helped lead the Japanese National team to the Silver Medal in the Tokyo Olympics while averaging over 12 assists per game.

Grade: B

Notes: First off, a huge thank you to Her Hoops Stats for their salary cap sheet information for all 12 WNBA teams. Their work allows me to do better reporting and I appreciate their efforts. If you’re interested, you can check their site for more salary cap information.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for the free newsletter and especially everyone that has become a paid subscriber. I greatly appreciate those that have become paid subscribers or renewed their membership! It’s an exciting time in the WNBA and I look forward to covering the Storm and the league in 2022. Thanks for all your support!

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