WNBA free agency and trade tracker: Latest deals and news

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We are almost there, WNBA fans. On Wednesday, WNBA free agents officially can sign contracts and offer sheets, and we’ll see the rest of the 2023 offseason dominoes start to fall. We’ve already had big moves via trades and some early announcements, including two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker moving to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.

The decision of another MVP, Breanna Stewart, is the biggest news the league is waiting for, and Stewart’s destination — staying put with the Seattle Storm or moving to the New York Liberty — might also impact the choice of Courtney Vandersloot. The Chicago Sky’s longtime guard, who won a league title with Parker in 2021, might end up teammates with Stewart.

Stewart has played her entire career in Seattle since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2016, winning the 2018 MVP award and leading the Storm to two WNBA championships. If she leaves Seattle in her prime, it will eclipse Parker’s move to Chicago from the Los Angeles Sparks in 2021 as the biggest WNBA free agent move to date.

The 2023 WNBA season — the league’s 27th — will tip off May 19. We already know that 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones will be with the Liberty after a blockbuster three-team trade sent her there from the Connecticut Sun. Keep it here all offseason long for the latest buzz, news and reports surrounding the WNBA.

Ranking the 15 best free agents | Key questions for all 12 teams | Free agency predictions, top storylines | Trade grades

Jan. 31 update

8:52 p.m. ET: Point guard Courtney Vandersloot announced in a social media post that she won’t be returning to the Chicago Sky, setting the stage for her free agency move to another WNBA team. “Although I never planned for this day to come, I have decided it is time for me to pursue a new beginning,” Vandersloot wrote. “As I look ahead to a new chapter, with a new team, in a new city, know that Chicago, its fans, and the Sky organization will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s goodbye for now, but thank you forever.”

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Jan. 29 updates

2:28 p.m. ET: Forward Isabelle Harrison, an unrestricted free agent who played for the Dallas Wings the past four seasons, has met with the Seattle Storm and will also meet with the Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks, sourced told ESPN’s Andraya Carter.

2:10 p.m. ET: Breanna Stewart will sign with either the New York Liberty or Seattle Storm, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and M.A. Voepel. Rachel Galligan first reported the news that Stewart had narrowed her potential free agency destinations.

Jan. 28 update

5:28 p.m. ET: After two seasons with the Chicago Sky, Candace Parker announced via an Instagram post that she plans to sign with the Las Vegas Aces. “After evaluating the landscape together with my family, we’ve decided the Las Vegas Aces are the right organization for us at this point in our lives,” the two-time WNBA MVP and unrestricted free agent wrote. Parker’s contract with the Aces will be for one year, her agent, Boris Lelchitski, told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou on Saturday. Parker’s salary is still being negotiated.

  • How Parker’s move impacts Las Vegas, Chicago and the WNBA

Jan. 22 updates

6:37 p.m. ET: Allisha Gray and the Atlanta Dream will ultimately seek a contract extension for her in Atlanta, multiple sources told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Gray had only one more year left on her contract upon being traded from the Dallas Wings this week.

3:07 p.m. ET: Breanna Stewart has made charter air travel a key factor in her free agency, league sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. The issue of private air travel has come to the forefront of free agent conversations around the WNBA, multiple sources told ESPN, because of the assumption that Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner will need to fly privately due to security concerns. Griner was wrongfully detained for nearly 10 months in a Russian prison before being released in a prisoner swap in early December.

Jan. 21 updates

2:00 p.m. ET: The Dallas Wings have traded Allisha Gray to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for two first-round draft picks, the teams announced. The Wings pick up the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft and the Dream’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft. Gray averaged 11.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in six seasons in Dallas. The Gray trade was previously reported by ESPN on Jan. 18.

  • Pelton: Grading the Atlanta-Dallas trade

8:05 a.m. ET: The Los Angeles Sparks have acquired Dearica Hamby and the Las Vegas Aces’ 2024 first-round pick in exchange for the negotiating rights to Amanda Zahui B. and the Sparks’ 2024 second-round pick. Hamby is an eight-year veteran who is a two-time All-Star and helped Las Vegas win its first championship in 2022. Later in the day, Hamby alleged the Aces treated her in an “unprofessional and unethical way that … has been traumatizing” due to her pregnancy.

Jan. 20 update

3:01 p.m. ET: Forward Breanna Stewart, largely considered the top-ranked free agent this offseason, will meet with her current team, the Seattle Storm, and the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty and Washington Mystics once the league’s free agency period opens Saturday night at midnight ET, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. The free agency of Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot is expected to factor into Stewart’s decision as well, sources said.

  • Stewart’s decision: Return to Seattle? Leave for Liberty, Lynx or Mystics?

Jan. 18 update

7:15 p.m. ET: The Atlanta Dream have an agreement in place to obtain Dallas Wings guard Allisha Gray, sources told ESPN’s M.A. Voepel. Details are still being finalized, but the deal also involves draft picks. Atlanta has the No. 3 and No. 8 overall selections in April’s WNBA draft. Gray was the 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year and a Tokyo Olympics 3-on-3 gold medalist.

Jan. 16 update

2:02 p.m. ET: The Connecticut Sun announce they’re sending longtime point guard Jasmine Thomas — who missed the majority of the 2022 season with an ACL tear — as well as their 2023 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for three young players: 2021 seventh overall pick Jasmine Walker, the rights to 2022 16th-overall pick Kianna Smith and 2022 19th-overall pick Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Smith, the Sun said, is unlikely to play during the 2023 WNBA season after rupturing a patella tendon in December.

  • Trade takeaways: What’s next for Liberty, Sun, Wings, Sparks?

Jan. 15 update

5:35 p.m. ET: Forward Jonquel Jones, the 2021 MVP, has been traded from the Connecticut Sun to the New York Liberty in a three-team deal, sources told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Jones, a four-time All-Star, requested the trade specifically to New York; she had one more year on her contract with the Sun. The deal will be made official on Jan. 16. As part of the trade, Rebecca Allen and Natasha Howard will be sent from New York to Connecticut and the Dallas Wings, respectively. The Wings also receive the rights to Crystal Dangerfield of the Liberty while sending Kayla Thornton to New York as well as Tyasha Harris to Connecticut. The Sun also receive New York’s No. 6 pick in the 2023 WNBA draft.

  • Pelton: Grading the Liberty-Connecticut-Dallas trade

Jan. 13 update

3:15 p.m. ET: The Atlanta Dream announce they have acquired guard Danielle Robinson in a trade with the Indiana Fever, who receive guard Kristy Wallace in the deal. A three-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA All-Defensive Team selection, the 33-year-old Robinson is expected to provide veteran leadership to the team.

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