WNBA: What’s the deal with free agency?

Is WNBA free agency about to happen?

No. But even though the WNBA and WNBPA have not agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), free agency could have commenced on Sunday, January 11.

The lack of a CBA means the league and union have entered a “status quo” period, where both sides abide by the stipulations of the previous CBA as they continue to negotiate. Per the old CBA, it was time for the WNBA’s free agency period to begin.

However, no signings, trades or player movement chaos is about to ensue because the WNBA and WNBPA agreed to a moratorium that pauses league business. The league first proposed the moratorium late on Friday, just before the extended CBA negotiation deadline expired. The union reviewed the proposal, and on Monday afternoon announced that they had accepted.

The moratorium allows teams NOT to go through free agency formalities—issuing qualifying offers and core designations—for essentially no reason, as it is unlikely that players would be inclined to sign contracts before a new CBA is finalized.

The locus of last season’s free agency frenzy—Unrivaled—thus has not again become ground zero for recruiting pitches. As Rose BC’s and the Phoenix Mercury’s Kahleah Copper recently told Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports:

It’s really not recruiting. Yesterday after practice we just sat in the locker room and talked general free agency, where we thought people would go, what teams we thought would break up, what people are chasing, what are you looking for. … We all kind of play GM with each other.

On the Good Game with Sarah Spain podcast, Breanna Stewart, a WNBPA vice president who plays for Mist BC and the New York Liberty, similarly indicated that players are trying to imagine what might happen while in “Tamper Bay.” Stewie additionally cited February 1 as her hoped-for date for a new, finalized CBA. Speaking from Unrivaled, she suggested that the continued delay, while not ideal, would not pose insurmountable challenges, saying:

Things are going to be late because we’re just stuck. But is it going to be so late that many people don’t make moves? Maybe people sign one-year deals, and then they’ll do free agency the following year because it’s not as fresh.

Speaking to Costabile, Copper further communicated players’ recognition that free agency likely will be different this year, whenever it happens. Copper said, “You won’t be able to go places and visit. You’ll have to make a decision like that. For me, I feel like it’ll be rushed. I wouldn’t want to make a rushed decision.”

Dearica Hamby, of Vinyl BC and the Los Angeles Sparks, expressed more excitement about a likely compacted free agency timeline, telling Costabile, “Obviously as it gets closer, I think it just speeds everything up which actually might be more fun. Free agency will move a lot faster, the expansion draft will happen first.”

For now, free agency is on hold and negotiations will (hopefully) progress.

With the expiration of the CBA, either side could now initiate a work stoppage—a lockout from the league or a strike from the players—without advance notice. No such action is anticipated, as both sides have indicated a commitment to continue to negotiate in good faith.