Now that the WNBA and WNBA Players Association have verbally agreed to new contract terms, attention turns to a whirlwind month on the league calendar.
The two sides have held more than 100 hours of negotiations over the past eight days, ending a 17-month ordeal and will take their final bow in the coming weeks. A formal term sheet will be finalized this week, after which the document will be sent to the players and WNBA Board of Directors for a vote.
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“They (lawyers) didn’t get any sleep either, so maybe we’ll let them get some sleep tonight and tomorrow,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters on the scene in a transcript shared with Yahoo Sports early Wednesday morning. “Then we’ll get into the feature-length [CBA document] Then hopefully there’s the expansion draft, free agency, the college draft, training camp and preseason, and the end of the season on May 8. “
This starts the official clock and also overlaps with the most important three weeks of the college basketball season: March Madness. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Yahoo Sports that the remainder of the offseason schedule will begin on time, but CBA paperwork will need to be completed before any dates can be confirmed.
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Some dates are set in the calendar, while others are proposed dates from the last proposed schedule the league shared with teams.
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Here’s a look at the 51 days leading up to the league ending its 30th season on May 8.
Portland, Toronto expansion draft: April 1-6
Portland and Toronto still need to select their initial rosters in the expansion draft, which will begin the offseason. The terms of the expansion draft were negotiated as part of the CBA and will differ from the Golden State Warriors’ 2024 single-team expansion draft.
Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello and general manager Monica Wright-Rogers will enter the expansion draft with the Portland Flames. (Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
(Nick Lachance via Getty Images)
Valkyrie’s selection took place in December, a few months before free agency began. The Golden State Warriors can acquire one player’s contract or negotiating rights from each team. Only one player in the league who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent can be drafted, which presents a problem in this round.
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Currently, 12 teams have submitted lists of protected players. These lists are not publicly released, and this assumption carries over to this draft extension as well.
The target dates for the expansion draft fully cover the NCAA Final Four weekend in Phoenix.
Free Agents: Over 100 Free Agents
The free agency period is made up of several different parts, all of which are expected to occur within a 12-day period. Last offseason, this window was extended by 22 days, from January 11 to February 1, giving free agents enough time to sign through February.
Given management’s issues with crunching the numbers, the big jump in salary will be an interesting one to watch. Some key numbers:
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According to ESPN, the salary cap will rise from $1.5 million to $7 million, an increase of 466%.
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Supermax contract rose 561% to $1.4 million from about $250,000
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The minimum salary is over $300,000, and the average salary is around $600,000.
These numbers fall within the range reported over the past few months, giving the team at least an idea of what their offer will be when the time comes.
Qualifying offer target date: April 7-8
First, teams will send qualifying offers to players who are retained or restricted free agents.
Retained players are free to negotiate contracts with their own teams using different terms than their qualifying offers, but not with other teams. A restricted free agent can sign an offer sheet with another team, but his controlling team has a “right of first refusal” and can match the deal to keep the player on the roster.
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Atlanta’s offer will be key to watch, as 2022 No. 1 pick Ryan Howard and Naz Hillmon, who moves into the starting rotation, are both limited. Sparkle (Ray Burrell) and Valkyrie (Veronica Burton) also have high-contribution names on these lists. Last season’s window period was extended by 10 days from January 11 to 20.
This is also when teams can offer “core titles,” which operate similarly to the NFL’s franchise tags. The length and period of the core designation in the last CBA were limited, and the players union hopes to further reduce the length and period of the core designation in this round of negotiations.
Previously, teams could only designate a core player at most. As of the last season of the previous CBA, players could not serve as core players for more than two seasons.
Complicating the process further is the league’s proposal that — if it were in the CBA — any player on a rookie contract who earns WNBA All-Conference honors would be eligible to sign a max contract in year four but would not be eligible for core designation. This offseason, it affected the heat. Aliyah Boston is eligible for a max contract, while Kaitlyn Clark is eligible for a max contract next year.
Negotiations: April 9-11
Teams have an estimated three days to negotiate with free agents, which is down from the typically set ten days. Players cannot sign offer sheets and teams cannot announce any handshake deals, obvious or not, until the signing period begins. The Storm were fined under the league’s tampering rules for announcing Sue Bird’s re-signing in 2022 during this window.
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Players and their agents have had preliminary conversations about their free-agent plans, much like conversations among players around the league during the offseason. The team and management also talked to the players during exit interviews after the last game to find out if the players wanted to return and to let the players know if they wanted to return. So while the window is shorter, these conversations are not just beginning.
Free agency opens: April 12
Free agency is expected to open on April 12 and last one week until training camp opens. Additional signings will likely occur once training camp opens, or even throughout the preseason. But the period between April 12 and 14 probably saw the most news.
With the exception of Kalani Brown and Lexi Brown, all players not signed to rookie contracts are free agents. The contracts signed by the players will expire in 2025, so that they can re-sign under the new CBA framework for economic and profit reasons.
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Conflicting with the free agency period is the college draft, which creates potential headaches when front offices select free agent targets in the draft. Unless they use New York as a landing spot to meet with free agents and recruits, the staff will be stretched thin again.
College Draft: April 13
The middle of free agency is the college draft, which the league publicly determined late last year. The location has not yet been announced. The draft has been held in New York City since 2016, but the 2020 draft was held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two seasons were open to fans.
The timetable for releasing the draft is not far off. The league typically waits until mid-March to name locations and open ticket sales. Last year, the news happened on March 12. The league has been operating throughout the negotiations as though there will be a full season, so an announcement here could be coming soon.
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The Dallas Wings have the No. 1 pick for the second straight season, followed by Minnesota, Seattle, Washington and Chicago. Toronto and Portland will select at Nos. 6 and 7, but the order of those two has not yet been announced. Lottery draft prospects include UConn’s Azie Forde, UCLA’s Lauren Bates, TCU’s Olivia Myers and Spanish center Ava Fahm. UConn and UCLA are the two true seeds in the NCAA tournament and will likely meet in the championship game on April 5.
Preseason: April 19
That’s the date the league has been most concerned about during the past eight days of tough negotiations. Preseason camps are starting slightly earlier this year due to an earlier start date as the FIBA World Cup will impact the back end of the schedule. The competition will be held in Germany from September 4th to 13th.
Preseason rosters were once a quiet affair, but are now broadcast widely to satisfy fan demand. Tickets for these games are also selling well and this year’s scheduled games are also expected to sell out.
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preseason
April 25: Liberty City Fever; Valkyrie Storm
Clark, who was named MVP of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament this weekend, will visit New York for the first time healthy since her rookie season. The Valkyrie’s first season average attendance was 18,064 and total fans were 397,408, setting an all-time attendance record.
April 29: Sun Rhythm: Fire of the Storm
April 30: wings in fever
May 3: freedom under the sun
The latest expansion team will begin their long-awaited season. The next day, Clark and the Fever faced off against the Dallas Wings and their No. 1 pick, Paige Bueckers.
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Seasonal opening: May 8
The 30th anniversary season ended with three games, but it was Saturday’s game that really brought the fire. The Wings will travel to Indiana, the Mercury will travel to Las Vegas for a WNBA Finals rematch and the Sky will travel to Portland.