WNBA offseason 2025: Guides for every team

The 2025 WNBA regular season is entering its final stretch, but we know which eight teams will be vying for the championship trophy when the playoffs begin Sunday. The remaining five teams that have been eliminated — the Connecticut Sun, Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks — will focus on their offseason.

This is expected to be one of the most pivotal offseasons in WNBA history. The league and the players are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA); two new teams in Portland and Toronto will join the league and hold an expansion draft; and there will be an unprecedented number of free agents given many players signed one-year deals after the players’ association (WNBPA) opted last October to terminate the current CBA. The draft lottery will also determine which team will get the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft.

In the meantime, we’re breaking down potential moves for each WNBA franchise as its season ends, including a look at the state of each roster, team needs and priorities for each front office.

(Note: All players listed as “reserved” can become free agents if no qualifying offer is extended from their current team.)

Jump to a team:br/>CHI | CON | DAL | LA | WAS

Eliminated in the regular season

Season recap: Lynne Roberts left Utah and the college game to coach in the WNBA for the first time. Record wise, her Sparks improved a lot from last season’s 8-32 last-place finish, and despite beginning the summer with a 5-13 record, had played relatively solidly after the All-Star break. They remained in contention for the playoffs until the third-to-last night of the season. Still, a franchise that for many years was practically automatic about reaching the playoffs has now missed the postseason for the fifth year in a row.

State of the roster: Post players Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Sania Feagin, and guard Sarah Ashlee Barker will still be on their rookie contracts. Jackson has had the most success, averaging 14 points and 3.6 rebounds over two seasons. Brink returned from an ACL injury that cut short her 2024 rookie season, playing 19 games this year and averaging 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds. The Sparks hope both of their 2024 lottery picks are long-term pillars for the team.

Top front office priority: Bringing back Plum, the team’s leading scorer, and Hamby and Stevens, its top rebounders. After the Sparks were eliminated Sept. 9, Coach Roberts said she is hopeful that the franchise can keep its core together as she believes the Sparks can build a lot on the progress made this season. She also said her biggest disappointment was some of the close games the Sparks felt got away from them, but that experience should help next season.

Biggest offseason question: How much better can Brink be? Provided players such as Plum — who asked to be traded from Las Vegas last offseason — choose to remain in Los Angeles, maybe the biggest key for Roberts and general manager Raegan Pebley will be Brink’s ongoing recovery. Brink averaged 7.5 points in 2024 before she was injured, and it seemed as if she was really starting to build confidence around the time she got hurt. This year, she returned to action but didn’t seem very comfortable offensively. Brink still has a chance to be one of the league’s impact players, which would be a big boost for the Sparks.. — Michael Voepel

Season recap:The Mystics really had two different seasons. Through Aug. 5 with a 13-15 record, they were battling for a playoff spot behind three All-Stars: rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen and first-time veteran Brittney Sykes. After trading Sykes to Seattle to get the Storm’s first-round pick for 2026, Washington then struggled down the stretch. The Mystics finished the season on a 10-game losing streak, which could allow them to move up in the draft lottery order, pending the Sparks’ season finale. The late slide can’t take away the excitement about Citron and Iriafen, both locks for the All-Rookie first team.

State of the roster: After holding two of this year’s top four draft picks, Washington will again add young talent in the spring. Seattle’s late slide will give the Mystics three draft picks in the top 11 to join Citron and Iriafen. The other long-term building block for Washington is center Austin, who finally enjoyed a healthy season and averaged a career-high 12.7 PPG. A restricted free agent this offseason, the former No. 3 pick is still just 25 years old. With so many rookie contracts on the books, the Mystics have the option of being aggressive in free agency.

Top front office priority:Scouting the 2026 draft. Citron and Iriafen both ranked among our top 10 players under 25 last month, but Washington could still use another high-end prospect. Whether the Mystics move up in position to draft that player in the spring may go a long way toward determining their offseason strategy. If Washington comes out of the lottery with the No. 4 or No. 5 pick, the front office may aim to take another swing in 2027 when USC star JuJu Watkins could be available.

Biggest offseason question:How much can the Mystics expect from Georgia Amoore? The team’s third 2025 first-round pick, No. 6 overall, Moore suffered a season-ending ACL tear during training camp. Washington’s limited ballhandling options after the Sykes trade helped cause the late losing streak. If Amoore is a long-term starter at point guard, the Mystics can focus their resources on adding alongside Citron on the wing. Given the timing of Amoore’s injury, however, she may not play in a competitive game before the 2026 preseason. — Kevin Pelton

Season recap:It’s been a tough season for the Sun. They went 2-8 in their first 10 games and won 11 games overall — and yet, it was difficult to count them out late in the season. They played the Liberty close on Aug. 25, and beat the Mercury at home on Sept. 6. Through the losses, a young core emerged in Leila Lacan, Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers. The Sun traded for former UConn star Aaliyah Edwards prior to the deadline and also rostered rookie Rayah Marshall. This group of players was a much-needed bright spot, considering this year’s winning percentage (.256) was the lowest in franchise history.

State of the roster: The Sun have a clear core of young players and question marks everywhere else. They also have only the players on rookie deals under contract for next season: Lacan, Morrow, Rivers, Edwards and Marshall. Everyone else is a free agent of some sort. How those chips fall will dictate the next moves by the front office, but expect GM Morgan Tuck to take a run at keeping Nelson-Ododa, Charles and Mabrey.

Top front office priority: The Sun need to build around their young core through the draft, and look for value in free agency. Signing Charles ahead of the 2025 season is a good example of value paying off. And because Uncasville may not be an attractive destination for top-tier free agents, the Sun will have to be creative in wooing international prospects.

Biggest offseason question: What is the future of the franchise? The Sun are embroiled in conflict around a possible sale. It is not clear if it will happen, or to whom — or if the Sun will be in Connecticut, New England or somewhere else entirely. What is clear is that the Connecticut Sun will remain the Connecticut Sun and play in Uncasville for the 2026 season. Beyond next season, though, things are much more uncertain, which could further complicate signing talent in free agency. — Katie Barnes

Season recap:Under new coach Tyler Marsh, the Sky lost by 35 points in their season opener at Indiana — and things didn’t improve from there. Chicago never won more than two games in a row, doing that just twice, and missed the playoffs for the second year in a row. Longtime Sky point guard Vandersloot returned to the team after two years in New York but was lost for the season on June 7 with a knee injury. In early September,Angel Reese’s published remarks about the franchise needing “great” players also caused a stir with her teammates. She later apologized to them and was suspended for half a game. But what she said struck a chord with many frustrated fans.Due to a league suspension for getting her eighth technical foul, the team suspension and back issues, Reese did not play in the Sky’s last four games.

State of the roster:Reese and Kamilla Cardoso (the team’s leading scorers and rebounders), fellow post player Maddy Westbeld and guard Hailey Van Lith all remain on rookie contracts. Vandersloot turns 37 before the start of next season but said she intends to return after rehabbing her knee. With free agency more imperative than ever this offseason, the Sky don’t appear well-positioned to draw top players. But bringing back a similar team in 2026 won’t work. As Reese told the Chicago Tribune, “I’m not settling for the same s— we did this year.”

Top front office priority: Fix the relationship with Reese. Or figure out how to part ways without alienating the fan base — which would be a tall order. Perhaps Reese might have waited until after the season to make her remarks so as not to offend her current teammates, but the substance of what she said has merit.

Biggest offseason question: Is general manager Jeff Pagliocca on the hot seat? He was hired as the team’s first standalone GM in October 2023 (until that point, the Sky combined the GM and head coach roles). Known as a skill development guru, he had worked with the franchise in that capacity for four seasons before stepping into the GM role. But does that translate to mastering team construction? The Sky’s plummet the past two years, after five consecutive playoff appearances, is concerning. Teresa Weatherspoon was fired as coach after a 13-27 finish in 2024; Marsh’s record was worse. Pagliocca also traded the Sky’s No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft to Washington for veteran guard Atkins. She’s a very good player, but will turn 30 next July. Chicago could have instead kept the pick and drafted guard Sonia Citron, 21, from nearby Notre Dame, who ended up becoming an All-Star for the Mystics this season and is under a rookie contract. — Michael Voepel

Season recap: Dallas fired coach Latricia Trammell after going 9-31 in 2024, replacing her with first-year head coach Chris Koclanes and general manager Curt Miller, a longtime WNBA coach/GM. Then the Wings started this season 1-11, won just twice after July 30 and missed the playoffs for a second consecutive year. This year’s No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers delivered on her potential and is expected to be named Rookie of the Year. But injuries and offseason moves that didn’t work (such as bringing in DiJonai Carrington and NaLyssa Smith, both of whom were then traded midseason) doomed the Wings to finishing in the WNBA’s cellar.

State of the roster: Bueckers will enter the second season of her rookie deal, along with fellow guards Aziaha James and JJ Quinerly. All three provided much of the team’s heart this season. Forward Maddy Siegrist and guard Diamond Miller will enter the option (fourth) year of their rookie deals from 2023. Siegrist missed the second half of June and all of July with a knee injury but has played well since returning in August. Miller, the 2023 No. 2 pick, was acquired from Minnesota in an August trade and still hopes to find consistent minutes.

Top front office priority: Build the team around Bueckers, a franchise-changing player who has adjusted quickly to the pro game.