The Seattle Storm got through the WNBA expansion draft relatively unscathed, only losing one player. Still, with only three under contract, free agency will be a massive factor in determining the team’s success in 2026.
It almost looked like the Storm would get through a second-straight expansion draft without losing a single player, but point guard Nika Mühl was taken with the last pick by the Portland Fire. The selection doesn’t massively change any plans for Seattle, as it was announced just days earlier that Mühl had undergone surgery to repair a torn ACL, her second in as many years, and she would miss the 2026 season after already missing the entire previous season as well.
With Mühl gone, the Storm have three players under contract. The primary player they will be building around is 20-year-old center Dominique Malonga, last year’s No. 2 overall pick. The 6’5 Frenchwoman was slowly introduced to the WNBA through limited minutes, but grew immensely throughout her rookie season, leading up to a big playoff performance and her teammates calling her a future league MVP. Malonga continued that development in the offseason at Unrivaled, wowing crowds with her dunks, blocks and three-point shooting.
The other young player the Storm will hope is part of their core moving forward is Jordan Horston. Horston made an impressive leap in her sophomore season, but then tore her ACL playing in Athletes Unlimited and missed the entire 2025 WNBA season. Before the injury, Horston believed she could be a future All-Star and All-Defensive Team player. It is unlikely that personal belief has waivered, but how exactly she will look coming off that injury is unknown. However, her sophomore season showed that she has the desire and work ethic to continue her climb.
Lastly, Seattle has one of just two veterans under contract league-wide, Lexie Brown. The former WNBA Champion played sparingly in Seattle and expressed frustration with her playing time, saying in a prepared statement in her exit interview, “I just don’t think I was given the opportunity I deserved.” She publicly expressed a willingness to come back to the Storm once the new coaching staff was hired. Her contract is protected, meaning she can’t be waived without her salary coming out of the cap. The only way to free up her roster spot without the cap hit would be a trade. Though she signed for
$98,818, her salary will be increased by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to $277,000, a source familiar tells The IX Sports.
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All of last season’s starters are unrestricted free agents. So, with a new head coach in Sonia Raman, the Storm and players have some decisions to make. The Storm declined to make Raman or general manager Talisa Rhea available for comment.
Let’s start with the two players who can’t have the core designation (which would give Seattle exclusive negotiating rights) used on them: Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike. Both are 35 years old and admittedly closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, but were All-Stars once again in 2025. Diggins is one of the league’s best point guards and expressed a hope to retire in Seattle, but also acknowledged that may not be up to her. Ogwumike, a former MVP, continued to rewrite the record books in her 14th season and play at an All-WNBA level.
Last season, Seattle utilized the core designation to retain French guard-forward Gabby Williams, presumably because Williams had some desire to leave. It worked out well for Williams, though, as she earned her first All-Star honor and was a top contender for Defensive Player of the Year. She had one of the best offensive and defensive seasons of her career and could look to build on that in front of a fan base that she credited for her return. Williams was also a key mentor for Horston because they have similar games playing the three and being some of the best athletic defenders. The Storm could core Williams again if she wants to leave, while the team wants to keep her.
Another significant starter is Ezi Magbegor. The Australian is entering unrestricted free agency for the first time in her career, all of which has been spent playing for the Storm. Magbegor has looked like a key piece of the Storm’s long-term core for years, but 2025 was a down year for the center as she eventually found herself playing behind Ogwumike and Malonga. The 26-year-old can make impactful offensive contributions, but is also a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, long praised as the Storm’s defensive anchor. Both the Storm and Magbegor will be thinking about what a Malonga-Magbegor pairing could look like, if they can split playing time, how Ogwumike factors in, and if it would work to lead the franchise to another WNBA Championship. She is also eligible to be cored.
Brittney Sykes was acquired in a midseason trade with the Washington Mystics in which Seattle gave up its 2026 first-round draft pick. The hope was that bringing in the premier defender, who was having one of the best offensive seasons of her career and was named an All-Star for the first time as a result, would be the piece that elevated the Storm to a championship. That did not come to fruition. Sykes has no extended ties to the Storm but said she is looking to win a championship at this point in her career.
Erica Wheeler signed with the Storm in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent and was a massive contributor, both off the bench and as a starter. At 34 years old, she played herself into a career resurgence of sorts, immediately becoming a fan favorite and showing off her shooting and defense.
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Katie Lou Samuelson missed the 2025 season after suffering a torn ACL in training camp. The 28-year-old can bring great size and shooting, but how she will look upon return from injury is yet another unknown. Tiffany Mitchell brought veteran experience and aggressive driving to the bucket to Seattle, but won’t be a primary target to re-sign.
Mackenzie Holmes and Zia Cooke are both reserved free agents who will likely be offered a spot to compete in training camp, but played some of the fewest minutes on the team last year, and don’t look on the level to be key rotation pieces yet.
If all of Seattle’s free agents do want to return, the Storm have to decide if that is what is best for the team. On paper, the roster looks stacked with talent, but they barely snuck into the playoffs last season. While they very nearly upset the eventual champions, the Aces, in the first round, the rest of the season was inconsistent and featured a painfully long losing streak. Were the results due to issues with the coaching, and thus, Raman can do much more with the same roster? Or, does the roster need an overhaul?
Some other questions for Seattle include, will the team’s identity continue to rely on defense first and foremost? The roster is made up of many of the best defenders in the league, at times to the detriment of the offense, so do they lean into that defense or seek a new focus under Raman? Raman did say after her hiring that the identity of her team will begin first and foremost on the defensive side of the ball, but still, more offense could be good.
Also, does the team want to build in a younger direction? Of last year’s key players, Ogwumike, Diggins, Sykes and Wheeler are all over 30 years old. Do they continue trying to add a few young pieces into an older roster and win now, or build around a younger core?
It is also worth mentioning that the Storm have the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s college draft, plus an additional late-first-round pick, No. 14. They will hope that the lottery pick, at the very least, adds a player who can make an immediate impact at the pro level.
A new head coach paired with the largest ever free agency could mean a complete overhaul or minimal changes because it is also the shortest free agency period ever. The designation period, during which qualifying offers and core player designations must be sent, will take place over April 6 and 7. Contract negotiations can begin to take place April 8-10 and players may begin signing on April 11, with the college draft scheduled for April 13.
