2023-24 WNBA Offseason Guides: Seattle Storm

With teams being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, we're here with all the information as eyes turn towards the offseason and preparing for 2024

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As of last weekend, WNBA teams have started being officially eliminated from playoff contention in 2023. As a result, attention for those teams and their fans turn towards the offseason and preparing for next year’s challenge. We’re here to detail where the teams stand, what they might be looking to change, and how much they can accomplish during the offseason. There will be one of these for each team as their 2023 seasons come to an end. First up, the Seattle Storm.

Photo Credit: Chris Poss

2023 record (when eliminated): 10-25

2024 draft picks: Hold all their own selections, including a top-4 lottery pick. 3rd- or 4th-best odds in lottery, depending on the final teams that miss the playoffs.

Free agents: Jewell Loyd (uncoreable unrestricted free agent), Gabby Williams (UFA), Yvonne Turner (UFA), Joyner Holmes (RFA)

Under contract: Mercedes Russell, Ezi Magbegor, Kia Nurse, Sami Whitcomb, Jordan Horston, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, Jade Melbourne

2023 performance: The 2023 season was a significant step back for the Seattle Storm, but that was virtually inevitable after the offseason they had preceding it. With Sue Bird retiring and Breanna Stewart deciding to leave for New York (and first-choice Bird replacement Courtney Vandersloot joining Stewart in the Big Apple), the Storm were pushed into a rebuild that they'd been hoping to avoid. They signed some veterans to help keep the ship afloat (Sami Whitcomb, Kia Nurse, eventually Gabby Williams), leaned on Jewell Loyd, tried to develop some youth for the future, and then leaned on Jewell Loyd some more with the help of Ezi Magbegor. It didn't result in many wins, but performances did improve in the second half of the season once Williams was added into the mix and Whitcomb moved into the starting lineup.

Offseason finances: The two-year guaranteed deals they gave to Whitcomb and Nurse, along with the final remaining season of Mercedes Russell's contract means that the Storm don't have quite as much cap space as you might expect going into 2024. But there's still plenty. If they keep the seven currently under contract and add their lottery pick, they'd have $873,827 committed to eight players. That would leave $589,373 in cap space to fill the final three or four spots. That's enough, for example, for one supermax contract ($241,984), one regular max contract ($208,219), and a third well-paid veteran on around $139,000. Or if one of those theoretical max players took fractionally less, they could fit in two minimum deals rather than that final well-paid vet. So they can't go wild in free agency, but the space is there to spend a decent amount if players want to stay in/come to the Pacific Northwest.

Offseason priorities: Convince Jewell Loyd to stick around. Having lost Bird and Stewart, Loyd is the last remaining genuine star presence in Seattle. There have been rumours for years that she might fancy heading home to Chicago, but the Storm may benefit from the Sky not being in great shape themselves right now, making that move less appealing. With their history of winning, well-established female ownership group and an incoming dedicated training facility, the Storm remains an appealing WNBA option, even if it isn't in one of the 'glamour destinations' that often attract free agents. The Storm will try to sell Loyd on the positives of being a one-team legend, like Bird and Lauren Jackson, and on this being very much her team. However much Ezi Magbegor develops and whoever might join them, Loyd is the #1. That might not be the case elsewhere. They can also offer her the most money, as only a player's existing team can offer the supermax. If Loyd were to go elsewhere, she'd either have to sign for the regular max (or less), or the Storm would have to agree a sign-and-trade deal with whichever team she wanted to move to. Virtually every other team around the league will be interested in a player like Loyd, and she cannot be cored again because she's now played two seasons under a core contract, so she'll have suitors. The Storm have to hope that she chooses to stay, or the rebuild is likely to get even more dramatic than it was this year.

Beyond Loyd, they'd be hoping to find running mates for her and Magbegor. Williams is a question mark to return due to the same commitments in France that complicated her WNBA participation this year, and she's now an unrestricted free agent as well. There's another lottery pick to add in to the group (and the Storm have traditionally been very lucky with the ping-pong balls when they've dropped into those draws), plus they'll be hoping for more development next year from Jordan Horston and pleasant surprise Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu. Given the latter’s positive play, they'd probably be happy to trade away Russell - especially if Loyd leaves and this becomes a real tear-down - but might struggle to find takers for her $160,000 deal. If Loyd agrees to stay they'll probably chase the big names (Diggins-Smith? Copper? Ogwumike?) but may well end up shopping a tier or two down like last year. Although, technically, Breanna Stewart is headed for free agency again. Can't hurt to make the phone call, right?

Future assets: The Storm still own all their own picks in 2025 as well as 2024, but with no extras from elsewhere. There also aren't any remaining previously-drafted foreign players stashed overseas, something which has become something of a regular element of Storm roster-building over the years.

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