Table of Contents

• CBA Update

• What will Free Agency Look Like

  • But What About the Expansion Drafts?

• OffSeason Leagues

  • Unrivaled

  • Athletes Unlimited (AU) Pro Basketball

  • WNBL

  • Euroleague & EuroCup

• Offseason Chisme

  • Film Session: WBB Highlights & Insights 📽️

  • Booked & Busy: WBB Reads 👓

  • Drip Report 💧

CBA Update

It was all Hallow’s Eve, and the CBA was about to expire. Then someone said,” Oh, Shit! I guess we could extend it or whatever.”

The WNBA and WNBPA agreed to a 30-day extension set to expire on November 30. The WNBPA also reserved the right to cancel the extension at any point with 48 hours’ notice.

What will Free Agency Look Like

Free agency is about to be NUTS. Besides Kalani Brown (Phoenix) and Lexie Brown (Seattle), every player not on a rookie contract is a restricted or unrestricted free agent. Players negotiated one-year deals (or two-year deals, two years ago) so they wouldn’t get locked into contracts as the new CBA would bring higher salaries. This will make for a fun and nerve-wracking free agency, lol expect to see major roster shakeups. Hell, there may even be more roster spots available per team.

Of course, we will see teams core players (if this is still a part of the CBA). This means that when a team cores a player and they can only leave via trade. This was made to protect teams from big players leaving for $free.99 in free agency. If the team cannot find a trade for the player, they have to pay them the Super max contract or a negotiated lower contract. More about the coring process can be found here.

Here are my core predictions:

• Atlanta Dream- Allisha Gray 

• Dallas Wings - Arike Ogunbowale

• Indiana Fever- Kelsey Mitchell

• Las Vegas Aces- Jackie Young

• Los Angeles Sparks - Dearica Hamby or Kelsey Plum OR Azurá Stevens

• Minnesota Lynx- Naphessa Collier

• New York Liberty- Sabrina Ionescu

• Phoenix Mercury- Alyssa Thomas (I can see a world where Satou is cored)

• Seattle Storm- Gabby Williams

Beyond the draft, expect significant player movement across the league. Teams are going to look very different, and it will be fascinating to see where everyone lands.

But What About the Expansion Drafts?

Two expansion teams, the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, are set to join the WNBA in 2026. This means that there will have to be two expansion drafts in the winter. The thing is, we do not know what the expansion draft rules will be until the new CBA is signed.

For the Valkyries’ expansion draft, each team was allowed to protect six players. The only players who were completely off-limits are unrestricted free agents who have already been “cored” twice. If that rule stays in place for the next expansion cycle, stars like Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones, and Kahleah Cooper will not have to be protected by their teams.

This would be huge for teams like the Liberty because they now have 2 extra players they can protect. I also expect an increase in the number of players that can be protected because there are two teams drafting. Maybe 7-8 protected players.

We’ll get into who I think teams will protect once we receive literally any information about the Expansion drafts lol

OffSeason Leagues

There are several offseason options for players, both stateside and overseas. I’ll focus on the ones that are easiest to watch from the U.S.

Unrivaled 

Unrivaled Season 2 is coming, and I’m ready to see how they build on Season 1’s success. For those who don’t already know, the league was started by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart as a domestic off-season league that brought together the WNBA’s top talents to play some 3v3 hoops.

There’s a 48-player pool for Season 2, and all but two have been announced. The league is also adding two new clubs, Hive and Breeze. While many stars are returning, there are exciting new faces, including Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron, & Kelsey Mitchell. International talent will also be on display, with players like Dominique Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, and Li Yueru joining the mix.

Some big people won’t be returning: Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, Brittney Griner, Kayla McBride, Dijonai Carrington, and Jewell Loyd

Season 2 tips off on January 5th and runs through March 2025, with games on TNT, truTV, and Max. The main arena is in Miami, but they’re hitting the road for a special game in Philly on January 30th.

Watch the Roster reveal on their YouTube on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET

Athletes Unlimited (AU) Pro Basketball

AU was one of the first stateside offseason leagues for WNBA players and has quickly become known as a place where players could improve their skills and revive their WNBA careers.

Unlike Unrivaled, AU is traditional 5-on-5 basketball. Players are drafted onto different teams each week by team captains, and individual performance is tracked so there is one overall champion at the end of the season. Maddy Siegrist took home the title last year.

Their season runs January 31st to March 1st at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, with games streaming on ESPN+ and ESPN U

Returning players include Isabelle Harrison, Jaylyn Sherrod, NaLyssa Smith, and Odyssey Sims. Exciting newcomers making their debut this season are Tina Charles, Ariel Atkins, and Te-Hina Paopao.

More Players: https://auprosports.com/basketball/athletes/ 

WNBL

The Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) is the women’s basketball league in Australia.

One thing I love about the WNBL is how well young players develop while playing there. Two great examples are Veronica Burton and Naz Hillman. Burton played for the Bendigo Spirit in her first season, leading them to a championship alongside Sami Whitcomb, then came back to the WNBA and won Most Improved Player. Hillman also had a standout season in Australia and returned to win Sixth Player of the Year. I expect even more young players will head Down Under to develop their game in the coming years.

Notable WNBA players playing in the WNBL this season: Alissa Pilli (Sparks), Bri Turner (Fever), Grace Breger (Wings), Jade Melbourne(Mystics), Lucy Olsen (Mystics), Sania Feagin(Sparks), Seren Sundell (Draftee), and Steph Talbot (Liberty, hopefully not for long).

Chinese Superstar, Han Xu, will be the first Chinese player to play in the WNBL. Hanny suggested this was the first step in her preparation to return to the WNBA. She last played for the New York Liberty in 2022, and the team still holds her rights.

The WNBL season started this month, and you can catch games on their YouTube Channel and Amazon Prime. Games are usually very late because, well.., it’s Australia.

Euroleague & EuroCup

Many WNBA stars will be playing in various leagues across Europe this offseason. Notable leagues include Liga Femenina de Baloncesto (Spain), the Turkish League, the French League, and others. These teams compete for their domestic league championships as well as in international competitions like the EuroLeague and EuroCup.

Teams within these leagues generally fall into two categories:

EuroLeague – This is the top tier, featuring the best teams from across Europe competing against each other. For example, Fenerbahçe (Türkiye) might face Valencia (Spain), with the winner ultimately crowned EuroLeague Champion. Top teams include Fenerbahçe, which essentially builds a superteam every year with players like Kayla McBride, Jonquel Jones, Emma Meesseman, and Julie Allemand.

USK Praha (Czech Republic), the reigning EuroLeague champions, but lost key players Bri Jones and Ezi Magbegor. Fenerbahçe is my pick to take the title this year.

You can watch EuroLeague games directly on their YouTube channel and follow along using their app.

EuroCup – It’s the second-level competition for strong teams that don’t qualify for the EuroLeague, but it’s still organized by the same governing body (FIBA Europe).

Finally, don’t confuse these with EuroBasket, which is the European (+ Israel) national team competition. That took place this past summer, when players like Leonie Fiebich briefly left their WNBA teams midseason to compete for their countries.

Offseason Chisme

Dominique Malonga, Seattle Storm’s #1 pick, recently underwent wrist surgery in preparation to head to Türkiye and play for Fenerbahçe during the offseason. However, she—or rather Fenerbahçe—recently announced that Dominique had pulled out of her three-year contract with the team in favor of playing in another private league. As many suspected, she’s headed to Unrivaled, making her the first French player in the league.

Unsurprisingly, Fenerbahçe and their very passionate fans were furious, vowing to pursue “every legal avenue possible to seek compensation for any material and moral damage incurred by our club.” So, what can Fener actually do?

First, they paid a contract buyout to Dominique’s former French team, Lyon, to acquire her rights. They are going to want that money back. More importantly, under FIBA rules, Dominique will need a Letter of Clearance from Fenerbahçe to play in the WNBA. They could also take her case to the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal, potentially securing financial compensation or even blocking her from playing for the national team in the FIBA World Cup & Olympics and in other international leagues.

Admittedly, this does reflect poorly on Dominique as she is pulling out of a 3-year contract without warning. It seems like this was due to bad guidance from her former agent, who signed the 3-year deal. Dominique seems excited to play in Unrivaled, but it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Her new agent is trying to resolve the situation amicably.

Meanwhile, Turkish fans are intense: Dominique even deleted all her social media accounts because the backlash was getting very nasty.

Jonquel Jones recently underwent ankle surgery on the same ankle she injured twice this season, aiming to improve stability. She’s expected to be fully healed and ready to play for Fenerbahçe just in time for the EuroLeague playoffs. 

DiJonai Carrington had to pull out of Unrivaled to recover from recent foot surgery. 

Film Session: WBB Highlights & Insights 📽️

Booked & Busy: WBB Reads 👓

Drip Report 💧