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Arike Ogunbowale (24) of the Dallas Wings and Marina Mabrey (3), then of the Connecticut Sun. Photo credit: Chris Poss
Hold on to your hats, because the 2026 WNBA offseason is underway and it won’t be hanging around. We may not have the actual new WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement in hard and completely ratified, but both sides have agreed that it’s complete enough to get things rolling. However, because negotiations took so long, offseason stages that are usually given time to breathe are being compressed into mere days. After last week’s expansion draft stocked the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, teams have been given two days (Monday and Tuesday this week) to send out qualifying offers. Then the negotiation period will last three days (Wednesday to Friday), and players can start signing new contracts on Saturday. That’ll make for a hectic weekend, and then the college draft is on Monday. We already had a major trade and a front-office firing in the first 24 hours just to kick off this crazy week.
But first, let’s talk about the ‘Designation Period’ where teams send out qualifying offers and make decisions on whether they want to use their core designation. Teams are required to send out qualifying offers in order to establish their rights to players who are out of contract and set to become either ‘Reserved’ or restricted free agents (RFAs). If the player’s contract has expired but they have three or fewer Years of Service in the WNBA, their previous team can make them Reserved. The team then has exclusive negotiating rights to that player. If the player has four Years of Service – most commonly someone who’s completed the rookie-scale contract that players sign after being drafted – the team can send them a restricted qualifying offer to make them an RFA. That player is free to negotiate with any team, and to sign a contract with any of them, but their previous team has the right to match the offer and thereby keep the player (called the Right of First Refusal). They have to match all the terms. If they choose not to, the player goes to the new team that they signed with. These qualifying offers are in and of themselves contract offers, albeit one-year, unguaranteed, and either at the minimum or very close to it. So some Reserved players may choose to sign them immediately, but the player and team are also free to negotiate a higher and/or longer deal.
Core designations happen at the same time but are rather different. The WNBA’s version of the NFL’s franchise tag, the core designation allows a team to retain exclusive negotiating rights to one player from their roster last season who would otherwise become an unrestricted free agent (UFA). In return, the player gets a ‘core qualifying offer’, which is one year, fully guaranteed, at the supermax salary. Last year, that was $249,244; this year, thanks to that new CBA, it’s expected to be $1.4m. While the team cap has obviously gone up a lot as well, that $1.4m is now 20% of the cap, whereas last year the supermax was around 16.5%. That’s a meaningful difference, and teams will have to consider the possibility that the player will simply sign the core qualifying offer and immediately swallow 20% of their cap. However, as I often have to reiterate several times, a cored player does not have to sign for the supermax. The team and player are free to negotiate any price from minimum up to supermax, and any length from one year to the maximum length (which was four years when re-signing with your prior team under the old CBA). Also important to remember with these decisions is that it’s not always about actually re-signing the given player. Often, especially if the player wants to leave, it’s about making sure you get value for them in a trade. Star players are assets, so using the core designation can be about asset management as much as trying to keep your previous roster intact.
Bear in mind that we’re largely working from the basis that the prior rules are still in place, only with the new numbers. Without the CBA document, there’s not a lot else we can do. Media reports and WNBA/WNBPA releases have only mentioned one change to core rules, which is that only players with six or fewer Years of Service will be subject to the core designation, but have specifically stated that change will start in 2027. So the only UFAs who can’t be cored this year should be the players who are ineligible under previous rules, i.e. those who have already played two or more seasons under a core contract. That includes Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones, Brittney Griner, Jordin Canada, Kahleah Copper, Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Jewell Loyd, Tina Charles, Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner.
So let’s go team by team and look at the possible core decisions that they all have to make by the end of today. If anyone in the league is using this article to help inform their decision, I hope they read it early in the day.
This certainly seems like we’re starting off with a pretty straightforward one. Rhyne Howard and Naz Hillmon are restricted free agents, so Atlanta control their rights anyway. Other Dream unrestricted free agents from last year like Brionna Jones, Brittney Griner and Jordin Canada have already hit the limit of two years played under core-designated contracts. So they’ll surely core Allisha Gray. The Dream will probably hope to negotiate a multi-year deal a little below the supermax given how expensive it’ll be to re-sign the rest of the roster as well, but after the best season of her career in 2025, Gray is too valuable to allow her to walk away for nothing. As in every case we’re going to discuss, even if she wants out and you’re willing to accommodate that request, you core her to make sure you get value in return via trade.
This appears to be pretty obvious as well, albeit with a player who hasn’t quite reached the heights that Allisha Gray did last year. Chicago gave up a lot to acquire Ariel Atkins, and while she wasn’t a star last year, she was comfortably their best perimeter player. She would be overpaid on the supermax, but Chicago likely won’t want to lose her for nothing, so will probably core her. If she wants a multi-year deal rather than to just sign the core qualifying offer for one year at the supermax, Chicago will hope that she’s willing to take a meaningful step down on the yearly salary. Having given up Angel Reese in a trade yesterday, and with their generally poor reputation meaning they might struggle to attract free agents from outside the organisation, the Sky front office surely can’t afford to risk losing Atkins.
The Sky have a host of other UFAs from last year, but coring any of them would be a wild decision.
The only UFA who made any sense whatsoever for Connecticut to core was Marina Mabrey, who was left unprotected in the expansion draft and selected by Toronto. So there’s no one left. Tina Charles is ineligible due to the number of years she’s played under the core designation in the past, and they’re not coring Lindsay Allen or Bria Hartley.
There’s only one realistic option here, so the question is more yes or no, rather than who. I’ve been suggesting for well over a year that the Wings move on from Arike Ogunbowale, starting fresh with a different approach and becoming clearly Paige Bueckers’s team. But part of that scenario, ideally, is getting value for Arike in a trade – as long as there’s still value to be had. So I think they’ll probably core her, whether because they still think they can make it work with both Bueckers and Ogunbowale, or because they think they can get something for Arike in a deal. Of course, that always runs the risk that the player will just sign the core qualifying offer and you have to make room for their supermax on your cap sheet, or that they’ll only agree to go to certain destinations and therefore a trade becomes difficult. Hopefully, Wings GM Curt Miller has already talked to the relevant people and has some idea of the potential scenarios that could play out. If there aren’t likely to be any viable trades, maybe you just let her walk and move on.
Similar to Dallas, the potential player here is obvious, so it’s just a question of whether the Valkyries actually want to do it or not. Kayla Thornton was their leader for much of the year and made the All-Star team, before her season was ended by a knee injury. I would imagine they’d like to keep her, but her numbers weren’t particularly efficient; the team played essentially just as well without her; and she’s coming off that injury at 33 years old. Basically, she’d be overpaid on the supermax. The Valkyries may well rely on their relationship with Thornton and their own inherent draw to bring her back, without risking that they might have to pay her $1.4m. After the success of their inaugural season and with the number of free agents floating around this week, they might be in the market for some bigger names, so that cap space and spending power could be useful elsewhere.
Tiffany Hayes is also a Valkyries UFA who could theoretically be cored, but at 36 years old and with injuries now frequently limiting her availability, it definitely seems like it’s Thornton or no one.
This one looks along the same lines as Atlanta in it’s simplicity. Kelsey Mitchell made the All-WNBA first team last season and is far too valuable to allow to leave for nothing. She’s still eligible to be cored (barring an unexpected change in that new CBA) because the only season she’s played under a core contract was 2025. So Mitchell will surely be cored again. As was the case 12 months ago, if she really wants to leave they might accommodate that request, but coring her would mean they could demand a significant return.
None of their other UFAs are anywhere near Mitchell in value or calibre.
This one is a little different from any of the teams addressed so far. The Aces have three players who could easily be considered core-worthy if they were in other situations. A’ja Wilson, after four MVP awards in the last six years, would be an obvious choice. You absolutely, positively don’t want to lose her for nothing. However, Wilson’s already said she’ll be re-signing with the Aces. If you are completely 110% convinced that she’s not going anywhere, the core designation can become a tool to make sure you don’t lose someone else, rather than having to spend it on your superstar. Then you could use it on Jackie Young or Chelsea Gray. Both have seemed pretty happy in Las Vegas, but you can never know everything from the outside. In a vacuum, Young seems the more likely core option because she’s five years younger, so is more likely to be part of your long-term future as well as the present, and more likely to draw multi-year max contract offers from all around the league. She’s also an easy fit on almost any roster, whereas other teams with ball-dominant guards might not accommodate Gray as easily. But teams have lost superstars in the past when they could’ve cored them – Seattle with Breanna Stewart being the prime example – so you couldn’t really blame the Aces if they used it on Wilson. Just in case.
Jewell Loyd is ineligible to be cored due to hitting the limit of seasons played under the designation, but would be a distant fourth choice behind the trio mentioned anyway.
We’re back in the relatively obvious category here. The Sparks gave up the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft – which became Dominique Malonga – in order to acquire Kelsey Plum as their primary perimeter weapon. She had a good year, albeit not quite at the peak efficiency from her best years in Vegas, and they’ll surely want to make sure she can’t walk away for free. She’s from California, so there might be some chance that they’re so confident she’ll stay that the core is unnecessary, but after only one year with the organisation they probably won’t risk it. Dearica Hamby has been their most reliable and productive interior player in recent years and is also a UFA, so she would be another option, but the relationship between her and the Sparks seems strong after they made her feel wanted when things went sour in Las Vegas. So Hamby may be more likely to re-sign without the need for the core.
Azurá Stevens is also a UFA and will draw plenty of interest, but despite a very good season in 2025, she’s probably a backup in LA if they keep Hamby to pair with Cameron Brink. That makes Stevens a player you might like to keep, but not one you’re going to use the core on when there are other options, and not one you want to risk paying the supermax.
I think the Lynx will probably keep this simple. There’s a small chance that they’re so confident in their relationship with Napheesa Collier that they wouldn’t feel the core is necessary, but it doesn’t seem worth the risk. Also, unlike a team like the Aces, the Lynx arguably don’t have other true supermax-worthy options among their many UFAs. They’ll presumably be hoping to keep several of them, but hopefully while paying the likes of Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith around the regular max at most. So you stick to basics and core Collier, and hope your standing as a franchise and relationships with your other leading players draw them back when they could just walk away.
This is yet another case where the team could take a risk, but it doesn’t seem likely to be worth it. Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones are out of the equation after playing multiple seasons under core in the past, so they can’t be cored again. That makes Sabrina Ionescu the obvious choice. She seems happy in New York, but you never know, especially with that attractive team in violet that opened up on the West Coast near where she grew up.
If the Liberty are completely convinced that Ionescu’s not going anywhere, they do have other UFA options like Emma Meesseman and even Natasha Cloud who might be considered for core designation under the right circumstances. However, cap maths starts to come into this as well. Even if they’re all happy to stay, Stewart, Jones and Ionescu are likely going to require significant salaries. If someone like Meesseman or Cloud was cored and chose to simply sign the one-year supermax core qualifying offer, that’s $1.4m sliced off the $7m team salary cap and a lot less room for the Big Three. So, like with Minnesota, I’d expect the Liberty to keep it simple and make the obvious move.
Ultimately, I think there’s only one choice here. Kahleah Copper can’t be cored again due to reaching the limit of seasons played under a core contract (neither can DeWanna Bonner, although that’s less relevant), which leaves two prime UFAs in Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally. While she only missed five regular season games last year, Sabally’s health has been fragile throughout her WNBA career, which has limited her impact despite a clear high level of talent. Beyond that, while Sabally’s very good, Thomas continues to be a remarkable driving force all on her own. Top-five in MVP voting for four years in a row, a triple-double machine and elite defender, you surely have to core Thomas and take your chances with Sabally. In most cases I’d mention Thomas’s age – she’s about to turn 34, six years older than Sabally – but she had probably the best season of her WNBA career in 2025. She does force you to play a certain way, but that way has been very successful. Hard to see any other path here (again, unless they’re overwhelmingly confident she’d return even without the core designation).
The Fire only have one option to core, because one of the rules of the expansion draft is that the new team can only select a single UFA. They took Bridget Carleton from Minnesota, grabbing her with the first pick to block Toronto from bringing her home to Canada. The Fire are by no means obligated to core Carleton. As we saw last year with Golden State and Monique Billings, it’s entirely legal to allow your UFA to simply become a UFA and try to sign them as normal in free agency when they can talk to anyone. Carleton’s been a role player surrounded by stars for most of her career, although we’ve seen her take on more responsibility on overseas teams and for the Canadian national team. She’d be overpaid on the supermax, but unless they have plans to make a big splash in free agency, the Fire should have quite a bit of cap room to work with. Having used that first expansion pick on Carleton and then extolled her virtues at length, I expect they’ll core her and then try to work out a multi-year deal at something a bit more reasonable than the supermax.
The Storm are one of the few teams with multiple very reasonable options for their core designation, and a somewhat tricky decision as a result. Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike are both ineligible to be cored again due to reaching the core limit, so they don’t even come into play. That still leaves Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor and Brittney Sykes as options who might well be considered for the core designation on the right team. Williams committed to a full WNBA season for the first time in years in 2025, and finally started to show more of the player that has starred for European club sides and on the French national team. Magbegor is still only 26 despite seeming like she’s been with the Storm forever, and despite a down year in 2025 still has real value as an athletic interior presence. And Sykes, while a less established part of the Storm after only arriving at the 2025 trade deadline, is a dynamic wing who’s developed her scoring and distribution skills and has always been a defensive threat.
The core decision could be heavily affected by who the Storm expect to return without the need for it. Williams seems to like the franchise after accepting being cored last year when reports previously indicated that there was an agreement that she wouldn’t be. It’s the only WNBA franchise Magbegor has ever known, although they now have a shiny new young center to focus on in Dominique Malonga, which started to sideline Magbegor last year. Sykes has value, but may always have been viewed as a potential rental when acquired last year. My guess is they go with Williams and accept that Magbegor might walk for nothing, but the alternatives wouldn’t be a huge surprise.
As with Portland, the expansion Tempo were only allowed to select one UFA, so they only have one option. That just leaves the choice of whether to core Marina Mabrey or not. Given comments from the Tempo front office after the expansion draft and the inherent implications of making Mabrey their pick, it seems likely that they will core her. They could bank on their right to offer her up to the supermax being enough to attract her anyway (other teams could only offer up to the regular max), but if you’re willing to pay her that much then why not core her anyway?
Mabrey would be overpaid on the supermax, especially if she can’t bounce back from last year’s desperately inefficient season in Connecticut, but unless they’re expecting to chase big name free agents that shouldn’t be a major issue for the Tempo. The question will be whether it’s one year at that $1.4m figure, or if the two sides come to terms on something longer. If there are extra years, Toronto ought to be asking for the price per year to be significantly lower.
Staggeringly, we’ve already had regime change in Washington, with general manager Jamila Wideman fired yesterday due to ‘serious strategic differences’. It doesn’t seem likely that the move was anything to do with core designation decisions. They do have unrestricted free agents – Stefanie Dolson and Alysha Clark are out-of-contract veterans, and Jade Melbourne is a UFA after the Mystics declined her 4th-year option last season – but none of them seem worthy of the core tag or anything close to supermax money. This is one of the few teams where it seems an easy decision not to use their core designation this offseason and to direct their focus elsewhere.
By my count, that’s 12 (or maybe even 13) teams that I have down as good bets to use their core designation. Maybe I’ve gone overboard, because that’s an awful lot of potentially high-priced contracts being thrown around. It would be a record by some margin. But when everyone has this many unrestricted free agents, teams are going to be scared about losing their own valuable pieces. Regardless, by the end of today we should know how many teams have actually chosen to use that core tag.
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