Top 5 Supermax Candidates Under WNBA’s New CBA

The WNBA will enter its 30th season under a historic collective bargaining agreement. On Friday, the WNBA and WNBPA completed and signed a term sheet for the new CBA after a lengthy, sometimes contentious negotiation.

The league officially announced “one of the most transformational labor agreements ever reached in major professional sports.”

Among the many revelatory components is “the first comprehensive revenue-sharing model in women’s professional sports history.” The league’s official release stated that the new supermax contract will start at $1.4 million and could grow to over $2.4 million by 2032. The previous supermax started at $249,444 in 2025, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, and the salary cap jumps from $1.5 million to $7 million.

In July 2024, the WNBA announced an 11-year media rights deal valued at around $2.2 billion, including Amazon Prime Video, Disney, and NBCUniversal. That set the table for players to opt out of their CBA in October 2024.

Comparing the WNBA to the NBA is often misguided, but there is one undeniable parallel. The NBA secured a transformational broadcast deal with NBC in 1989. The $600 million pact tripled the league’s previous deal with CBS and went into effect for the 1990-91 season, just in time for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ three-peat. That was the jumping-off point to the NBA becoming a global phenomenon.

If anything, according to Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum, the WNBA is ahead of schedule.

“When I get comparisons to the NBA, it’s like apples and oranges,” Plum told All The Smoke in 2023. “We’re so young. Where we are in our league versus where the NBA was [in its 26th year] … we’re technically bigger.”

Plum added, “I tell fans all the time, like, don’t come support me. Come watch me play. When you go watch Devin Booker play, you’re not saying, ‘I’m here to support Devin.’ No, you say, ‘I wanna see this man hoop.’ […] There’s a language difference. This isn’t charity. I think that matters. That respect factor matters.”

There has always been this appetite for women’s hoops. According to Sportico, 5.04 million viewers tuned in to watch Rebecca Lobo and the New York Liberty take on Lisa Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA’s first-ever game on June 21, 1997. Now, today’s WNBA players will finally capitalize on what they’ve earned. The respect has arrived.

While I’m a proponent of as many players getting the supermax as possible, these five WNBA stars are no-brainers to be among the first to cash in big. (Note: Indiana Fever All-Star Caitlin Clark is not eligible for the supermax this year.)

A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

A’ja Wilson is the best player in the world, and it’s not particularly close.

Last season, the 29-year-old Aces forward/center became the first player in league history to win a championship, WNBA Finals MVP, WNBA MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season (via ESPN). Wilson is the back-to-back reigning WNBA MVP and the only four-time winner in league history. The South Carolina alum is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, four-time blocks champ, and the 2024 scoring champion.

If the Aces want to keep their dynasty churning — having won three of the past four titles — Wilson has to be the centerpiece. They know that. Everyone knows that.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Callie Fin reported Wilson is “expected to re-sign” with the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces “on the historic new WNBA supermax salary of $1.4 million as soon as possible.”

Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty

To reiterate, the Liberty would be justified in signing Breanna Stewart or Sabrina Ionescu — or both! — to the supermax. 2021 WNBA MVP, 2024 WNBA Finals MVP, and five-time All-Star Jonquel Jones also deserves consideration.

The Liberty have been playoff mainstays since drafting Ionescu No. 1 overall in 2020. When Stewart left Seattle to sign with New York in 2023, a superteam was formed between her, Ionescu, and Jones. They made back-to-back Finals appearances and won the Liberty’s first championship in 2024.

Ionescu and Stewart were both top-10 scorers last season, while Ionescu was top 10 in assists, Stewie was top 10 in blocks, and Jones was a top-10 rebounder. Tough choices ahead in New York, but in this hypothetical, one of the sport’s all-time winningest players gets the nod. Seriously, Stewie has more rings than fingers.

In September 2021, Stewart was named to the “W25,” a list of the league’s best 25 players over its 25-year history.

Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx

Napheesa Collier is the heart and soul of the Minnesota Lynx.

The Lynx were the preeminent dynasty of the 2010s, with four championships between 2011 and 2017. Hall of Famer Maya Moore was the face of the franchise, later joined by Sylvia Fowles. When Moore stepped away from basketball to focus on criminal justice reform after the 2018 season, the Lynx needed the next face of their franchise. Collier was drafted out of UConn at No. 6 overall in 2019.

Collier won Rookie of the Year and has improved with each subsequent season. The five-time All-Star, four-time All-WNBA selection, and four-time All-Defensive selection came in second to Wilson for the 2025 WNBA MVP. The Lynx finished with a league-best 34-10 record in 2025 and lost to Phoenix in the semifinals because, in part, Collier suffered a devastating ankle injury.

Collier, 29, required offseason surgery to repair torn ligaments in both ankles. Maybe the Lynx will be squeamish to give Collier the supermax on the heels of serious injury, but that would be shocking.

Collier is two years removed from leading the Lynx to winning the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup, 2024 Commissioner’s Cup MVP, and 2024 Defensive Player of the Year. Despite dealing with injuries last season, Collier bucketed a career-high 22.9 points per game. If head coach Cheryl Reeve wants to restore the Lynx as the league’s power, she needs Collier.

Kelsey Plum, Los Angeles Sparks

Kelsey Plum won back-to-back championships with the Aces in 2022 and 2023, but after the 2024 season, the four-time All-Star guard wanted a new challenge. She requested a trade, and a three-team blockbuster landed her with the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2025.

“I just remember thinking in that offseason, ‘If you really are about it, and you really believe that you are as good as you think you are, and you really think you can impact winning at the highest level, there’s only one way to find out,'” Plum told Sue Bird last summer.

In her first season with the Sparks last year, Plum led the team in scoring (19.5 points per game) and assists (5.7) and earned her fourth straight All-Star selection.

Along with Dearica Hamby, who is also deserving of supermax consideration, Plum led the Sparks to a 21-23 record. On its face, that doesn’t look successful, but the Sparks were a league-worst 8-32 in 2024. Los Angeles hasn’t made the playoffs since 2020. Plum’s tenacity and playmaking are paramount to getting them there in 2026.

Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm

We have to end with Madam President.

Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike is entering his age-36 season, it’s true. Maybe it’s wiser for the Storm to move on and retool with a younger core. Frankly, I reject the premise. The WNBA and WNBPA literally would not have reached this historic CBA without Ogwumike, who is serving her third term as WNBPA President.

Ogwumike also doesn’t need any off-court justifications for receiving the supermax. The 2012 No. 1 overall pick has been dominant from Day One. She won 2016 WNBA MVP and the 2016 WNBA Finals with the Sparks, where she played from 2012 to 2023, and she was named to the W25. She signed with Seattle in February 2024.

The Storm have made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. Ogwumike, a 10-time All-Star and eight-time All-WNBA honoree, led the Storm in scoring (18.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.0) last season. Seattle would be wise to bet on Ogwumike continuing to impact winning in 2026.