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WNBA players, team owners, and officials aren’t the only people who are navigating the ongoing CBA negotiations: general managers are also coming up with strategies for planning around a season that doesn’t have a firm start date — or may not start at all.
ESPN recently spoke to several WNBA GMs on the condition of anonymity about everything from how they’re planning for the Tempo and Fire expansion drafts to the 2026 WNBA Draft to free agency, and the answers reveal a lot. GMs are alternately just accepting the situation for what it is, hoping for the best, and planning for the worst.
Here’s what they told ESPN:
The expansion drafts aren’t top priority
While teams are definitely planning for navigating the Tempo and Fire’s expansion drafts, the rules of the drafts aren’t clear and it’s difficult to discern exactly what they should anticipate. The drafts are obviously of the utmost importance for the two new teams, but other teams in the league appear to be prepared to just take the expansion drafts as they come.
“We’ve gotten a gist that we’re not going to be able to protect six. Most likely the rule will be five. You just run through a bunch of scenarios to try to be as prepared as possible … trying to project other teams and what their situation is going to be, who’s going to be available or who’s not,” one GM said. “So a lot of it is preparing even more, because we can’t say ‘OK, here are our parameters. We just need to worry about this.’ It’s like, ‘We kind of know, maybe.'”
An unknown salary cap makes planning free agency more challenging
While one GM told ESPN that much of free agency can be planned for the same way it always is, others were less optimistic. Without knowing what the new salary cap will be, teams are having to plan free agency strategies based on what percentage they believe they’ll be able to give a player.
“Ultimately a cap is a cap, no matter what the number is,” they said. “So what you do is think in terms of percentages: ‘We can probably give this much percent to this player.’ Then you feel like you’re prepared to go have conversations when you’re finally allowed to do that.”
Another pointed out that potential rule changes could impact how free agents are signed or not signed. They’re also weighing how much interest expansion teams may have in specific players, though did not clarify if that applies to players on their roster, on other teams, or both.
Players might stick with the teams they already know
There’s been a lot of questions about whether players will be more inclined to sign lengthy contracts with a new team or a safer one-year deal with the team they already know well — and one GM said it looks like the latter is more likely.
“Agents are pointing in that direction. Players might look at a safer, one-year contract with a team they know,” the GM said.
But there is a catch, and it’s a big one: “I think if the max goes up to $1 million, there will be movement. Who will turn down a max salary?” they continued. “Right now, I am just talking to agents and sharing our vision … just asking to please get us a seat at the table.”
