Welcome back to free agency! Once again, we here at The Next are bringing fun, original, informative resources, continuing our second-annual free agency predictions with the 2023 crop of unrestricted free agents. In case you missed Part I, 15 of our reporters, analysts and contributors each submitted their thoughts on how the 2023 WNBA free agent market would play out. We looked at recent markets, team cap sheets and league trends to help set some expectations for impending offseason moves across the league. You can check out our predictions for restricted free agency here.
Listed below are the top 48 unrestricted free agents, sorted by total projected contract value. Their average contract projections and team predictions are visible. And a visual breakdown of our predictions can be seen by clicking “See more detail.” There you have a graph of our responses for contract length and a histogram to show the distribution of average annual values (AAV, i.e. salaries).
Please note that news has broken since our staff was surveyed. Relevant additional information, such as our Howard Megdal’s report of negotiations between Courtney Vandersloot and the Liberty, is noted below.
(Note to email subscribers: click through to see all the fancy charts and graphs!)
Note: There are 195 charts and graphs in this article — it will take slightly longer than usual to load! It is recommended that you hit “Show less detail” when done with a given player.
Unrestricted free agents
1. Breanna Stewart, big wing, 28 years old
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2. Brionna Jones, center, 27 years old
Jones has been cored by Connecticut, and cannot negotiate with any other teams.
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3. Azurá Stevens, big, 27 years old
Our Howard Megdal reported that Stevens has drawn heavy interest from Chicago, Connecticut, Indiana, Los Angeles and Minnesota. Seattle and Atlanta have been speculatively connected as well.
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4. Nneka Ogwumike, big, 32 years old
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6. Brittney Griner, center, 32 years old
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7. Isabelle Harrison, big, 29 years old
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8. Monique Billings, big, 27 years old
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9. Alysha Clark, off-ball guard, 35 years old
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10. Brittney Sykes, off-ball guard, 29 years old
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11. Diana Taurasi, combo guard, 41 years old
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12. Candace Parker, big, 37 years old
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13. Courtney Vandersloot, point guard, 34 years old
Our Howard Megdal reported Vandersloot’s biggest suitors are Minnesota, New York, Seattle and Chicago.
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14. Emma Meesseman, big, 30 years old
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15. Kia Nurse, combo forward, 27 years old
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16. Stephanie Talbot, combo forward, 29 years old
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17. Erica Wheeler, combo guard, 32 years old
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18. Allie Quigley, off-ball guard, 37 years old
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19. Kristi Toliver, combo guard, 36 years old
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20. Sami Whitcomb, combo guard, 34 years old
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21. Astou Ndour-Fall, big, 28 years old
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22. Nia Coffey, combo forward, 28 years old
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23. Moriah Jefferson, pointg guard, 29 years old
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24. Tiffany Mitchell, off-ball guard, 28 years old
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25. Courtney Williams, combo guard, 29 years old
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26. Epiphanny Prince, combo guard, 35 years old
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27. Tina Charles, center, 34 years old
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28. Chiney Ogwumike, center, 31 years old
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29. Kiah Stokes, center, 30 years old
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30. Elizabeth Williams, center, 30 years old
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31. Damiris Dantas, combo forward, 30 years old
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32. Jordin Canada, point guard, 27 years old
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33. Jantel Lavender, big, 34 years old
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34. Lexie Brown, off-ball guard, 28 years old
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35. Rachel Banham, combo guard, 29 years old
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36. Lindsay Allen, point guard, 28 years old
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37. Bria Hartley, combo guard, 30 years old
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38. Odyssey Sims, point guard, 30 years old
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39. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, combo guard, 28 years old
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40. Maya Caldwell, wing, 24 years old
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41. Kennedy Burke, combo forward, 26 years old
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42. Reshanda Gray, big, 30 years old
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43. Theresa Plaisance, big, 32 years old
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44. Kaela Davis, wing, 28 years old
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45. Sydney Colson, point guard, 33 years old
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46. Tianna Hawkins, big, 32 years old
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47. Nikolina Milić, center, 29 years old
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48. Jennie Simms, off-ball guard, 29 years old
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49. Liz Cambage, center, 31 years old
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The Lynx would be foolish not to re-sign Milić. Nina impacts the game immediately. And with Dantas’ history of injury, Milić would be great off the bench. And Banham, well, as I’ve said before, if you want inconsistency, then re-sign. If not, look around some more. Depending on who is signed through free agency, the Lynx could and probably should look very different, especially if they sign people for the long term. Good luck with Stewie and Azurá. Wouldn’t that be nice.