WNBA free agency takeaways: Finals contenders load up, veterans run it back and some prove you can go home again

As the WNBA’s chaotic free agency period continues this week through the collegiate draft on Monday, a few trends stood out for players making decisions in a condensed timeline.

While comfort and fit are always key during free agency, the comfort aspect seems to be at a premium. A few unrestricted free agents returned to teams where they spent the majority of their career, or at least where they reached peaks. Others are re-uniting with people they’ve played alongside recently or back in college. And significant veterans are returning to their childhood homes.

Those takeaways for players who did not re-sign with their 2025 franchise fall farther down the list than the most obvious point: The offseason Finals contenders have only solidified their ranks atop the rest.

New York successfully re-signed its core of Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, none of whom have officially signed contracts yet, plus added wing Satou Sabally to the lineup. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is set to return from surgery that kept her out last year, and Leonie Fiebich came into the season on a team-friendly contract. That’s a loaded starting five, and it doesn’t even touch on the depth at play for first-year head coach Chris DeMarco.

Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu will return to the Liberty under new head coach Chris DeMarco. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)

It looks like reigning champion Las Vegas also fit their superstars under the new $7 million cap, re-signing Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, and reportedly working on Jewell Loyd and four-time MVP A’ja Wilson. Wilson made it clear at Team USA camp she wasn’t going anywhere, so she may be waiting out to take a team-friendly deal. They also re-signed center Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, who played in all six playoff games after missing nearly all of the season following the birth of her second child.

Atlanta maintained its core as well, bringing back Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Naz Hillmon and Brionna Jones, who could miss the start of the season with the meniscus tear she sustained overseas in February. They also leveled up with rebounding leader Angel Reese in a major trade that officially opened this chaotic month.

Indiana was always going to be in a solid spot with Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston under contract. It kept its hold by re-signing guards Kelsey Mitchell, Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull. Health is the biggest hurdle there, and at least so far, it’s looking promising.

Phoenix, the Finals runner-up, re-signed Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas. It still has work to do.

The lone outlier is in Minnesota. Alanna Smith, the co-Defensive Player of the Year on the Lynx’s league-leading unit, signed a three-year max deal in Dallas that starts at $1.19 million in 2026, per Her Hoop Stats. Key reserve Jessica Shepard also signed a two-year deal with Dallas for $1 million per season. Natisha Hiedeman signed in Seattle and DiJonai Carrington in Chicago. And Bridget Carleton signed her three-year core max with Portland after the Fire selected her first in the expansion draft. Maria Kliundikova went to Toronto in the draft.

The only holdovers are point guard Courtney Williams and shooting guard Kayla McBride, both of whom the Lynx formally announced as returning on Sunday. Napheesa Collier is also likely to stay in town, but could miss a significant portion of the season after undergoing surgery on both of her ankles. Cheryl Reeve, serving as president of basketball operations as well as head coach, is a master at doing more with less, but the championship window may have shut for now.

Veteran champions return home

Nneka Ogwumike is going back to the beginning. The 10-time All-Star signed with the Los Angeles Sparks, where she was drafted No. 1 overall in 2012, won the 2016 MVP and hit the winning bucket in the deciding Game 5 of the 2016 Finals.

The 6-foot-2 forward and WNBA Players Association president played the last two seasons in Seattle following 12 in Los Angeles. She’s been on nine MVP ballots over her career, including each of the last four while earning All-WNBA honors.

Ogwumike, 35, is the Sparks franchise leader in steals, field-goal percentage, true shooting percentage, offensive rating, offensive win shares and win shares. She is 380 points behind Lisa Leslie on the franchise scoring list, a mark she could pass around midseason. And she’ll provide much-needed defense after it doomed the Sparks’ chances to snap what is now a six-year playoff drought.

Nneka Ogwumike began her career with the Sparks, and she's heading back there this year. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

(Tim Clayton via Getty Images)

The return is a major signifier the Sparks are trending in a better direction in head coach Lynne Roberts’ second season than when that championship core dispersed. They also signed Erica Wheeler, who averaged a career-best 13.6 points per game in her lone season in L.A., and re-signed All-Star guard Kelsey Plum and forward Dearica Hamby.

Azurá Stevens, a starter on the 2021 WNBA championship team, signed back with Chicago after three seasons in L.A. And Natasha Howard is returning to Minnesota, where she came off the bench in the 2017 championship season.

Non-WNBA reunions

There are always connective dots to be found in the small world of the WNBA. Some are more distinct than others.

Satou Sabally will reunite with former Oregon teammate Ionescu in New York. The duo helmed the most successful run in Ducks history with a Final Four berth in 2019. They were top contenders to win the national championship in 2020 when the NCAA tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ducks finished the season ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, while Ionescu and Sabally went first and second, respectively, in the WNBA Draft.

Nyara Sabally, Satou’s younger sister, was a freshman on that team. She won the 2024 championship with New York and was selected by Toronto in the expansion draft.

One of only a few new signings in Indiana came for a player who recently spent time alongside the Fever’s stars. Monique Billings, an eight-year forward, played at Unrivaled with Mitchell and on the U.S. national team at the Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament with Clark and Fever head coach Stephanie White, an assistant with Team USA.

Billings, a journeywoman since her first five seasons in Atlanta, cited both fit and synergy gained playing with the backcourt as significant reasons for signing.

True veteran homecomings

One of the more surprising moves came out of Chicago, where Skylar Diggins signed a two-year contract worth a reported $920,000 in 2026, per Her Hoop Stats. Diggins, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 draft, has yet to win a championship despite joining a superteam in Phoenix and a veteran-laden playoff squad in Seattle. She spent the first portion of her career toiling in the Dallas Wings organization, first in Tulsa as their draft pick.

The move to Chicago symbolized more of a homecoming than more ring-chasing, though the Sky’s moves this week after the Reese trade are intriguing. They added noteworthy names, including trading for Rickea Jackson, despite still working on a practice facility and beginning training camp at a location downtown.

Diggins is a native of South Bend, Indiana, and led Notre Dame to three Final Fours and two national championship games. Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in the team release Diggins is “a player that we have coveted for years.”

Indirectly, veteran Brittney Griner is also heading home. The Houstonian is heading to Connecticut ahead of the franchise’s move to Houston for the 2027 season. Griner signed a one-year deal, but indicated a future with the franchise through her Instagram announcement post featuring the song “Texas” by BigXthaPlug.

It is Griner’s third team in as many years after spending her entire career in Phoenix. The No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft averaged single digits for the first time in her career playing largely a bench role for Atlanta. The three-time Olympic gold medalist will contribute immediately and serve in a mentorship role for Aaliyah Edwards with eyes on a potential retirement in her home city.

Gabby Williams, Golden State’s first massive free agent signing in franchise history, has deep roots in the Bay Area, as the team noted in its release. Her late father had roots in Oakland, she has extended family in the East Bay, and she grew up playing during the summer for two local AAU teams, the Alameda Bulldogs and Mission Rec Center Rebels, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

Williams, a lottery pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, finished third in last year’s Defensive Player of the Year voting and is a natural fit to head coach Natalie Nakase’s defensive-forward system. The Valkyries finished third in defensive rating behind Minnesota and Atlanta.