2024 WNBA Mock Free Agency Podcast Summary

Details of the fourth annual edition of our Mock Free Agency podcast, including how you can listen or watch, and the deals that went down

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The WNBA’s free agency calendar officially began on Jan. 11, when teams were first able to send out qualifying offers and make core decisions. Players can then start discussing deals from Jan. 21 and sign contracts from Feb. 1, again using last year’s dates as a guide. We here at Her Hoop Stats beat them to it. For the fourth time, we handed the reins of each franchise over to a group of knowledgeable WNBA writers and simulated the offseason in podcast form (with thanks for the inspiration still due to the Dunc’d On Podcast’s NBA variant). Following all the official league rules and using the accurate team and player salary data you can find on our cap sheets, we went through all the negotiations and haggling that you’d expect in reality - with the same mathematical constraints and hurdles that the real general managers have to struggle with. (If you have any questions about the terms used or contract varieties, check out our WNBA CBA and Salary Cap Explained page.)

Gabe Ibrahim hosted and served as the player agent, looking for the best opportunities and deals for each player; Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic played GM of the Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury; Kevin Pelton of ESPN controlled the Seattle Storm and Dallas Wings; Nekias Duncan of The Dunker Spot podcast and WNBA.com piloted the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics; Richard Cohen handled the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever; Alford Corriette took on the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky; and Bobby Mummery rounded out the group with the Atlanta Dream and Minnesota Lynx. Jacob Mox of Her Hoop Stats was also on the call as the league office to help keep track and make sure that everyone stayed within the rules.

For all the twists and turns of GMs making decisions and deals, and battling each other for different players, you’ll have to listen to the podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. However, for a basic summary of the moves and contracts, you can check out the lists below:

Core Qualifying Offers Extended (Bold - Guaranteed Deal):

Breanna Stewart re-signed with New York, 2 Years/$410,000 ($205,000/$205,000)

Unrestricted Free Agent Contracts Signed (Bold - Guaranteed Deal):

Nneka Ogwumike re-signed with Los Angeles, 2 Years/$491,228 ($241,984/$249,244)

Alanna Smith signed with Seattle, 3 Years/$643,397 ($208,219/$214,466/$220,712)

DeWanna Bonner re-signed with Connecticut, 2 Years/$422,685 ($208,219/$214,466)

Skylar Diggins-Smith signed with Washington, 2 Years/$422,685 ($208,219/$214,466)

Jonquel Jones re-signed with New York, 2 Years/$410,000 ($205,000/$205,000)

Elena Delle Donne re-signed with Washington, 2 Years/$400,000 ($200,000/$200,000)

Brionna Jones re-signed with Connecticut, 2 Years/$390,000 ($195,000/$195,000)

Jordin Canada signed with Connecticut, 2 Years/$380,000 ($190,000/$190,000)

Courtney Williams re-signed with Chicago, 2 Years/$360,000 ($180,000/$180,000)

Rebecca Allen re-signed with Connecticut, 2 Years/$360,000 ($180,000/$180,000)

Natasha Cloud signed with New York, 2 Years/$340,000 ($170,000/$170,000)

Nia Coffey signed with Chicago, 2 Years/$340,000 ($170,000/$170,000)

Brittney Griner re-signed with Phoenix, 1 Year/$165,000

Katie Lou Samuelson signed with Las Vegas, 1 Year/$140,000

Bridget Carleton signed with Phoenix, 2 Years/$270,000 ($135,000/$135,000)

Layshia Clarendon re-signed with Los Angeles, 2 Years/$240,000 ($120,000/$120,000)

Aerial Powers signed with Las Vegas, 1 Year/$120,000

Candace Parker re-signed with Las Vegas, 1 Year/$100,000

Restricted Free Agent Contracts Signed (# - Sign-and-Trade, Bold - Guaranteed Deal):

Satou Sabally re-signed with Dallas, 2 Years/$422,685 ($208,219/$214,466)

#Ruthy Hebard signed with New York, 1 Year/$87,354 (Qualifying Offer)

Suspended-Contract Expired Players Signed (# - Sign-and-Trade, Bold - Guaranteed Deal):

Han Xu re-signed with New York, 1 Year/$76,535

Sign-and-Trade Details:

Chicago traded Dana Evans and the Restricted Free Agency Rights to Ruthy Hebard to New York for NYL’s 2024 First-Round Pick (No. 11) and the Restricted Free Agency Rights to Jocelyn Willoughby

Other Trades:

New York traded Courtney Vandersloot and NYL’s 2024 Second-Round Pick (No. 23) to Seattle for SEA’s 2025 First-Round Pick

Phoenix traded Moriah Jefferson, PHO’s 2025 Second-Round Pick, and PHO’s 2024 Third-Round Pick (No. 25) to Atlanta for Haley Jones and ATL’s 2024 Third-Round Pick (No. 32)

Chicago traded Isabelle Harrison, Sika Koné, the lesser of CHI and DAL’s 2025 First-Round Pick, CHI’s 2026 First-Round Pick, PHO’s 2024 Second-Round Pick (No. 13), the Suspended Player Rights to Julie Allemand, and the Suspended Player Rights to Astou Ndour to Minnesota for Dorka Juhász and MIN’s 2024 First-Round Pick (No. 7)

Seattle traded Kia Nurse, SEA’s 2024 Second-Round Pick (No. 14), and SEA’s 2025 Second-Round Pick to Los Angeles for LAS’s 2025 Third-Round Pick

Connecticut traded Tyasha Harris and CON’s 2024 Second-Round Pick (No. 22) to Minnesota for PHO’s 2024 Second-Round Pick (No. 13)

Significant Players Waived:

None

Qualifying Offers Not Extended:

Joyner Holmes (Restricted)

Notable Free Agents We Excluded (Prioritization Questions):

Emma Meesseman

Gabby Williams

Marine Johannès

Notable Free Agents and Reserved Players We Didn’t Get To:

Monique Billings

Kiah Stokes

Diamond DeShields

Danielle Robinson

Jasmine Thomas

Stefanie Dolson

Kalani Brown

Tianna Hawkins

Lindsay Allen

Rachel Banham

Megan Gustafson

Natalie Achonwa

Amanda Zahui B.

Emma Cannon

Sydney Colson

Shey Peddy

Karlie Samuelson

Asia Durr (AD)

Jocelyn Willoughby

Cayla George

Rae Burrell

Liz Dixon

Rebekah Gardner

Sug Sutton

Nikolina Milić

Li Meng

Morgan Bertsch

Joyner Holmes

Maya Caldwell

Ivana Dojkić

Chennedy Carter

Tina Charles

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