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The WNBA and its Players’ Union finally reached an agreement on a new CBA early on Wednesday morning, setting in motion a massive pay bump for everyone across the league. The salary cap is up to $7 million, supermax salaries are up to $1.4 million, and minimum salaries are up to $300,000, based on years of service.
That still left some to wonder if players on rookie contracts, like Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers, would be left behind waiting for their deals to expire before they could start reaping the benefits of the new CBA.
That will not be the case, as the WNBA announced that all rookie deals will “increase significantly” based on the new salary scale. The exact amount is unknown, but they’ve reported that Caitlin Clark, the first overall pick the year before Bueckers, is set to see her salary jump to $530,000, so Bueckers should be at or just a little higher than that number.
For comparison, Bueckers was set to make $80,408 next year. It’s still far from the value that a player like Bueckers provides for a franchise (and league), but it’s a much fairer value. The new CBA was a huge win for the players, even if they didn’t get quite everything they wanted.
WNBA and WNBPA Reach Tentative Deal On Historic Collective Bargaining Agreement pic.twitter.com/S294Y59PIm
— WNBA Communications (@WNBAComms) March 20, 2026
New CBA Also Sets Paige Bueckers Up For Massive Future Pay Day
The new CBA also features a new trigger called “Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract”, or EPIC. If a player makes an All-WNBA First or Second Team while on her rookie contract, they would be eligible for a max contract. If they win MVP, they’d be eligible for the supermax. Players can sign that three-year deal in the last year of their rookie deal.
Bueckers is already eligible for the max contract after making the All-WNBA Second Team in her rookie season, putting up an impressive 19.2 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 3.9 RPG, which was also good enough for her to make the All-Star Game. That would put her in line for a salary of around $1.3 million. If she wins MVP in the next few seasons, she’d be able to sign a deal worth over $1.8 million.
Winning MVP may be a little difficult with a force like A’ja Wilson in the league, who has won 3 of the last 4 MVP awards, but it’s not impossible. To get there, the Wings will have to be much better than they’ve been previously.
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