Official WNBA Free Agent List

[Wbbfan1]

2019 Core Players, Reserved Players, Restricted Free Agents and Unrestricted Free Agents - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

 

[Dillon77]

Thanks. Always interesting seeing who the RFA's are. Some points:

- Trader Bill Laimbeer always has loyalty to players he's had (successfully) at other stops, so my mind drifts to the New York Liberty RFA's. Numerous posts indicate that the Aces need a low post to work with A'ja Wilson and/or an outside shooting wing-type to augment Wilson and team with Kmac, Kelsey Plam, MoJeff, etc. So....
-- Rebecca Allen. Laimbeer brought the Aussie aboard and played her more than Katie Smith was. Bring her out as a place-card holder and/or one-year stopgap?
-- Amanda Zahui B. Still "showing some moments" before disappearing again. But Bill loves his centers. Bring her out and use the top choice for trade bait and/or going after KLS?

Other interesting names on the board:
- LA Sparks have two big names there in Chelsea Gray and Odyssey Sims. Keep one, both or move on?
- Natalie Achonwa. Misplaced as a low post. However, one hard-working and intelligent high post who could work very well with an aircraft carrier. Could stay in Indiana if they draft McCowan or Brown. Or perhaps work well in Dallas with Liz Cambage (and former ND teammate Skylar Diggins-Smith, when she comes back from maternity leave).

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (RFA) – Players with four or five years of service are considered to be Restricted Free Agents (RFA). Restricted free agency gives the player’s prior team the right to keep the player by matching a contract offer the player signs with another team (Right of First Refusal). If the player signs a contract offer with another team, the RFA’s prior team has four days from the date it receives the offer to determine whether it wishes to match. If the offer is matched, the player will remain with her team. If the offer is not matched within the four-day period, the RFA will be under contract with the offering team.

Natalie Achonwa (IND)
Rebecca Allen (NYL)
Brittany Boyd (NYL)
Natasha Cloud (WAS)
Damiris Dantas (ATL)
Jamierra Faulkner (CHI)
Chelsea Gray (LAS)
Dearica Hamby (LVA)
Cheyenne Parker (CHI)
Odyssey Sims (LAS)
Erica Wheeler (IND)
Amanda Zahui B (NYL)

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

5 former Rutgers players are unrestricted free agents. Will it be the end of the road for any of them?

 

[psconn]

Lots of available talent, but it's hard to see how the Sun could improve in the free agent market (even assuming any free agent would want to summer in Uncasville... a long shot at best).

They really need to find (acquire or develop) a big-time go-to scorer if they're going to progress past "one and out" in the playoffs.

 

[Orangutan]

Well, from a Sky perspective, coring Sloot is the prudent move. Quigley will undoubtedly resign as well.

So the only moving pieces are Harper as a reserved player and Parker and Faulkner as RFAs.

Faulkner is decent backup PG and someone who is a lot of fun to watch but she's fairly replaceable. Parker is the interesting one. She showed dramatic improvement last year and she finished #1 in PER and #2 in Win Shares for Chicago despite only starting 5 times.

I can imagine that someone may offer her a bigger role. Does James Wade see her as a key cog going forward and match any offers made or does he plan for Gabby and Stef to be his frontcourt going forward and let her depart?

I sure hope Parker does stay in Chicago. At times, last year she was both Chicago's best 4 and best 5.

 

[Shades]

5 former Rutgers players are unrestricted free agents. Will it be the end of the road for any of them?

My breakdown would be
Carson & Prince make roster spots;
Vaughn & Pondexter maybe if they work cheap;
I like Laney, but there’s so few roster spots available.

 

[Orangutan]

My breakdown would be
Carson & Prince make roster spots;
Vaughn & Pondexter maybe if they work cheap;
I like Laney, but there’s so few roster spots available.

I have to think someone has a spot for Laney.

She's way better than some of the end of the bench dregs you see in garbage time. She can actually be a decent rotation player.

 

[wallman]

Well, from a Sky perspective, coring Sloot is the prudent move. Quigley will undoubtedly resign as well.

So the only moving pieces are Harper as a reserved player and Parker and Faulkner as RFAs.

Faulkner is decent backup PG and someone who is a lot of fun to watch but she's fairly replaceable. Parker is the interesting one. She showed dramatic improvement last year and she finished #1 in PER and #2 in Win Shares for Chicago despite only starting 5 times.

I can imagine that someone may offer her a bigger role. Does James Wade see her as a key cog going forward and match any offers made or does he plan for Gabby and Stef to be his frontcourt going forward and let her depart?

I sure hope Parker does stay in Chicago. At times, last year she was both Chicago's best 4 and best 5.

Parker will be picked up quickly if they don't get her signed.

 

[Shades]

I have to think someone has a spot for Laney.

She's way better than some of the end of the bench dregs you see in garbage time. She can actually be a decent rotation player.

It’s a deep draft, and everybody will be making room for their first round picks. Plus with Connecticut, they traded for Bria Holmes who wasn’t available last year but is available this year. Can Laney beat out Holmes? I dunno....

 

[Rixxx]

Has Coates made big enough strides towards her W career so that Parker may be expendable? Or is Coates expendable?

 

[Shades]

Has Coates made big enough strides towards her W career so that Parker may be expendable? Or is Coates expendable?

They were playing Parker more at PF because Gabby at times wasn’t suited to play the position (she’s short). Coates is a straight up center. Different coach this year, so who knows what will happen there.

 

[Orangutan]

Has Coates made big enough strides towards her W career so that Parker may be expendable? Or is Coates expendable?

I was not impressed at all by Coates last year. Parker is far better.

 

[psconn]

It’s a deep draft, and everybody will be making room for their first round picks. Plus with Connecticut, they traded for Bria Holmes who wasn’t available last year but is available this year. Can Laney beat out Holmes? I dunno....

Betnijah unexpectedly won her spot last year with big energy and hustle. She was a good option off the bench for Coach Curt all year and she was popular with fans.

I think it's unlikely Betnijah will beat out Holmes so long as Bria has been working hard on fitness and skills since giving birth, and comes to camp ready to compete. The Sun made a strong commitment to Bria and won't let go easily. She has a huge incentive to make the team and establish herself here, as she and her family are Connecticut residents. Playing in Connecticut makes her life much easier.

The Sun not only gave 2 draft picks for Holmes, they also justified their selection of Lexie Brown over Kia Nurse based on what Miller thought was Bria and Kia's similar skill set.

The calculation was that Lexie filled a needed spot (back up and protege to Jas Thomas) and Kia's likely spot was already "occupied" by Bria and others. I still feel a little ill over that choice, but it adds weight to the need for Bria to be a strong contributor this year.

 

[Shades]

I think ATL felt a little bad about that trade, since they ended up getting Billings with the #15 pick. They ended up giving the 2019 second round pick in that trade back to Connecticut in the Clarendon-Bentley trade.

 

[ctkaiser]

Betnijah unexpectedly won her spot last year with big energy and hustle. She was a good option off the bench for Coach Curt all year and she was popular with fans.

I think it's unlikely Betnijah will beat out Holmes so long as Bria has been working hard on fitness and skills since giving birth, and comes to camp ready to compete. The Sun made a strong commitment to Bria and won't let go easily. She has a huge incentive to make the team and establish herself here, as she and her family are Connecticut residents. Playing in Connecticut makes her life much easier.

The Sun not only gave 2 draft picks for Holmes, they also justified their selection of Lexie Brown over Kia Nurse based on what Miller thought was Bria and Kia's similar skill set.

The calculation was that Lexie filled a needed spot (back up and protege to Jas Thomas) and Kia's likely spot was already "occupied" by Bria and others. I still feel a little ill over that choice, but it adds weight to the need for Bria to be a strong contributor this year.

Curt is probably feeling ill over that choice.

 

[eebmg]

Ok. Head exploding.

Since I gave up on the liberty, I can only keep the Storm, Mercury and Sun in my head. I will wait for the children's edition of this thread.

 

[jennyo70]

I know so very little about the W, please bear with me, and help me understand for those of you in the know.
So, off the top of my head, there are names that are missing from the totality of the lists. What is their status?
For instance, I am thinking of Angel, EDD, C Parker, S Bird, Stewie, Skylar, Sue Bird, etc.

Last years rookies, what happens to them? Aja, Nurse, and even less played Hines-Allen. Do they go back to their respective teams? Do they go to camp of those teams then have to make the team all over again?

 

[Shades]

Angel

She’s signed but suffered an ACL injury during the WNBA season. She’s likely to miss some time.

EDD

She’s signed.

C Parker

She’s signed. Her off-season career as a NBA analyst seems to be taking off.

Summer Bird

She disappeared and hasn’t been heard from in years.

Stewie

She’s signed. Will be her last year on the rookie contract.

Skylar

She’s signed but is pregnant and will miss some time.

Sue Bird

She’s signed.

etc.

They’re all signed too.

Last years rookies, what happens to them? Aja, Nurse, and even less played Hines-Allen. Do they go back to their respective teams?

Yeah, a rookie is signed to a 4 year non guaranteed contract. If they’re good, they’ll return to the team that drafted them. There’s always a chance any player could be traded, including rookies.

 

[willtalk]

In the case of LA, if it comes down to Sims and Gray there is no doubt they will take Gray. Even if she were not as valuable as she is, she is a Parker favorite and Parker has a lot of say. To keep both Sims and Gray they need to free up some salary somewhere. They could try to trade Lavender who is getting the max for little production. Now if they can only find a buyer. She might be worth more to another team. With LA she is just redundant. Some one who shots three's with her foot over the line for long two's. . Sims took a minimum last season to free up cap space to sign Cappie. They might think they owe her something for that, but not at the expense of a choice between her and Gray.