2023 WNBA Free Agency List
A complete list of all the players who could be on the move heading into the 2023 WNBA season, along with explanations of all the terms and categories involved
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With the conclusion of the 2022 WNBA regular season last night, welcome to this year's edition of what's becoming an annual tradition here at Her Hoop Stats - the 2023 WNBA free agency list. Yesterday was the last day that contract extensions could be signed, so we now have a more complete understanding of where everyone stands heading into next year. The WNBA will release its official list in January, but our consistently updated salary cap sheets allow us to collate the information and bring it to you long before they will.
The league waits until January because most of the statuses below don’t become 100% official until then. From January 1 to January 14, teams are required to send out qualifying offers to make applicable players restricted or reserved (terms explained below). However, the vast majority of eligible players will receive those qualifying offers, because it’s non-guaranteed money that teams can cut at a later date if they want to. So the list below assumes each relevant player will have a qualifying offer extended. If they do not, we will update the list and cap sheets on the site at the appropriate time. The status of impending unrestricted free agents won't change, outside of the possibility of a few core designations. Players are included on our lists if they received qualifying offers this year or were involved in some way in the 2022 season.
As with everything in the cap sheets, all the information in this list has been carefully gathered and checked via league sources. However, in such an extensive list it is possible that mistakes can be made. For any issues, questions or corrections please contact us at Her Hoop Stats or @RichardCohen1.
The WNBA players that are free agents and/or out-of-contract heading into the 2023 season essentially fall into four categories: Unrestricted Free Agent, Restricted Free Agent, Reserved Player, and Suspended - Contract Expired.
Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA): Players who have just completed a contract need a minimum of five years of service in the WNBA to gain this status. Players can also become a UFA before their fifth season if they are cut by a team and pass through waivers without being claimed. UFAs are free to discuss terms and sign a contract with any team of their choice, unless cored (explained below).
Restricted Free Agent (RFA): This applies to players with four years of service in the WNBA. Most commonly, players fall into this category when they have just completed their rookie scale contract. They can talk to and sign with any team they like, but their previous team has the “right of first refusal” to match any offer sheet they sign with another team and thereby retain the player.
Reserved Player: If a player’s contract has expired but they have three or fewer years of service in the WNBA, they become “reserved”. That means that they can only negotiate with their previous team and are not allowed to discuss terms or sign with anyone else (unless released).
Suspended - Contract Expired: This status came to the fore in 2021, because of how many players skipped the 2020 bubble season and therefore fell into this category. If a player's contract expires while they are suspended they are deemed to have been "withholding services" in the language of the WNBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement. Their previous team then retains their rights and the player is not allowed to talk to or sign with any other team. In practice, it's very similar to the reserved status described above, although no qualifying offer is required. An unusual case has cropped up this year with Tiffany Hayes being suspended only a few days ago when she left the Dream to represent Azerbaijan overseas. She appears to fall into this category, but exactly how the league will designate her isn’t yet 100% clear.
In order to make a player restricted or reserved, their previous team has to send out the relevant qualifying offer sometime from January 1 to January 14. If they don't, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. Players can then talk to teams from January 15 onwards and begin signing on February 1. Some players may immediately sign those qualifying offers, which is why we sometimes see players being signed even before January 15. That's the only type of deal you'll see before February 1.
Each team also has their core designation, which can be used on one UFA to prevent them from becoming a true free agent. The tag blocks the player from negotiating with anyone else, but comes with a one-year guaranteed supermax contract as the core qualifying offer. The team and player are free to negotiate a contract that lasts longer and/or costs a different amount, but the tag sticks to that player for the length of the contract unless the player is traded, waived or retires. Chicago (Kahleah Copper), Connecticut (Jonquel Jones) and Seattle (Jewell Loyd) currently have their core spots occupied, so could not core anyone this offseason unless the applicable player was traded away in early January. Any other team could use it on any of their UFA/RFAs, although as teams already have control of RFAs it is virtually always used on UFAs. The limit of total seasons a player can be cored for is two, which means that Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Sylvia Fowles, Brittney Griner, Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker cannot be cored anymore regardless of whether their existing team has the spot available to use.
On to the lists.
Unrestricted Free Agents
Lindsay Allen
Yvonne Anderson
Kristine Anigwe
Amy Atwell
Monique Billings (ATL)
Sue Bird (SEA)
Lexie Brown (LAS)
Rachel Banham (MIN)
Katie Benzan
Kennedy Burke
Maya Caldwell
Liz Cambage
Jordin Canada (LAS)
Kaila Charles
Tina Charles (SEA)
Alysha Clark (WAS)
Alaina Coates
Nia Coffey (ATL)
Sydney Colson (LVA)
Lorela Cubaj
Elissa Cunane
Damiris Dantas (MIN)
Kaela Davis
Sylvia Fowles (MIN)
Reshanda Gray
Brittney Griner (PHO)
Isabelle Harrison (DAL)
Bria Hartley (CON)
Tianna Hawkins (WAS)
Briann January (SEA)
Moriah Jefferson (MIN)
Brionna Jones (CON)
Stephanie Jones
Tina Krajišnik
Jantel Lavender (SEA)
Anneli Maley
Angel McCoughtry
Emma Meesseman (CHI)
Nikolina Milić
Tiffany Mitchell (IND)
Astou Ndour-Fall
Kia Nurse (PHO)
Chiney Ogwumike (LAS)
Nneka Ogwumike (LAS)
Candace Parker (CHI)
Raina Perez
Theresa Plaisance (LVA)
Epiphanny Prince (SEA)
Allie Quigley (CHI)
Karlie Samuelson
Jennie Simms
Odyssey Sims
Hannah Sjerven
Destiny Slocum
Kamiah Smalls
Alanna Smith
Azurá Stevens (CHI)
Breanna Stewart (SEA)
Kiah Stokes (LVA)
Brittney Sykes (LAS)
Stephanie Talbot (SEA)
Diana Taurasi (PHO)
Sparkle Taylor
Kristi Toliver (LAS)
Yvonne Turner
Courtney Vandersloot (CHI)
Kia Vaughn (ATL)
Megan Walker
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (WAS)
Erica Wheeler (ATL)
Sami Whitcomb (NYL)
Courtney Williams (CON)
Elizabeth Williams (WAS)
Kiana Williams
Restricted Free Agents
Emma Cannon (IND)
Bridget Carleton (MIN)
Sophie Cunningham (PHO)
Megan Gustafson (PHO)
Natisha Hiedeman (CON)
Marina Mabrey (DAL)
Teaira McCowan (DAL)
Shey Peddy (PHO)
Victoria Vivians (IND)
Gabby Williams (SEA)
Reserved Players
Anna Cruz (MIN)
Crystal Dangerfield (NYL)
Rennia Davis (IND)
AD Durr (ATL)
Temi Fagbenle (IND)
Rebekah Gardner (CHI)
Joyner Holmes (CON)
Marine Johannès (NYL)
Jazmine Jones (WAS)
Rui Machida (WAS)
Ezi Magbegor (SEA)
Beatrice Mompremier (ATL)
JiSu Park (LVA)
Khayla Pointer (IND)
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (NYL)
Kianna Smith (LAS)
Sam Thomas (PHO)
Evina Westbrook (WAS)
Han Xu (NYL)
Suspended-Contract Expired Players
Maite Cazorla (ATL)
María Conde (CHI)
Bernadett Határ (IND)
Tiffany Hayes (ATL)
Klara Lundquist (WAS)
Maya Moore (MIN)
Chelsey Perry (IND)
Kylee Shook (NYL)
Maria Vadeeva (LAS)
Amanda Zahui B. (LAS)
Cecilia Zandalasini (MIN)
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Could the Storm have traded Lloyd before January 14, 2023, & then put Core tag on Stewart ? Thx in advance, Like ur site