It started the day after the New York Liberty won their first WNBA championship.
That’s when the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, in an expected move, opted out of the collective bargaining agreement two years early. In a time of unprecedented growth and star power, sparked in 2024 by rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, it sets the stage for fascinating negotiations that could determine the future direction of the league.
Within weeks, more than half of the league’s teams were looking for new head coaches.
In early December, the Golden State Valkyries — the WNBA’s first new team since 2008 — held their expansion draft.
And later this month, a new 3×3 league featuring high-profile WNBA stars and backed by A-list money, kicks off a must-see offseason experiment.
All of that is to say it has been a wild offseason for women’s professional basketball, and things are only getting started here in 2025.
ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel look at what the new year brings for the women’s pro game.
What should we expect in WNBA free agency?
After unprecedented player movement in WNBA free agency the past two years, the trade market might do more to change teams’ fortunes than free agency this year.
Several of the top potential free agents, including Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun, Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces, Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings and Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever, are eligible to receive the core designation from their teams before players can begin negotiating new contract starting Jan. 21. That would mean those players could only change teams via trade.
Add in Jewell Loyd’s request for a trade from the Seattle Storm and the market is ripe for blockbuster deals as teams prepare for 2026, when nearly all of the WNBA’s star players have the chance to become free agents and take advantage of an expected jump in the salary cap.
Although we might not see a league-changing move like Stewart leaving the Storm for New York in 2023, free agency could still have an impact on the title chase. Last year, the Minnesota Lynx flew under the radar when they signed starters Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams, who helped the Lynx take the Liberty the distance in the WNBA Finals.
Keep an eye on unrestricted free agents who could amplify star talent in a similar fashion, including Wings forward Natasha Howard, the Aces’ duo of Alysha Clark and Tiffany Hayes and the Storm’s Gabby Williams. — Pelton
Unrivaled’s inaugural season
When Unrivaled tips off Jan. 17 in Miami, it will mark the start of a new space in women’s basketball.
The 3×3 league, founded by WNBA players Stewart and Napheesa Collier, gives players a domestic alternative to playing overseas during the W offseason. This isn’t the first offseason option in the United States, but the caliber of players participating — and the compensation they are getting — sets this league apart.
According to Unrivaled, the 36 women who make up the six teams are paid six-figure salaries and are getting equity in their respective teams.
Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, Brittney Griner and Chelsea Gray are among some of the most notable players on this season’s rosters, with Cameron Brink committed to playing next year.
Unrivaled has received multiple notable investments from prominent sports figures, including NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, gold medalist Michael Phelps, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and USC star JuJu Watkins. The league also has a multiyear partnership with Turner, which will broadcast the games.
The games — which will be played on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays over a two-month span — will take place on a 70- by 50-foot compacted full court. The season has a round-robin schedule, after which the top four teams will advance to the playoffs. — Andrews
Expansion and the launch of the Golden State Valkyries
For the first time since the Atlanta Dream in 2008, the WNBA will debut a new expansion team this spring: the Golden State Valkyries. The franchise, which is led by GM Ohemaa Nyanin and head coach Natalie Nakase, took the first steps toward building its inaugural roster in an expansion draft last month. Their 11 selections included seven international players, WNBA veterans Monique Billings and Kayla Thornton, plus second-year fan-favorite Kate Martin.
But don’t be surprised if Golden State takes big swings in free agency this month. Owner Joe Lacob has adopted the same goal with the Valkyries that he did from when he first bought the Warriors: win a championship within five years. To do so, the organization must attract top talent, and ownership investment has been evident with the Valkyries playing at Chase Center and training at the Warriors’ former practice facility in Oakland.
The Valkyries, of the Western Conference, will host their inaugural game May 16 against the Los Angeles Sparks. The league will sit at 13 teams until 2026, when the Toronto Tempo and Portland WNBA team both launch (an expansion draft for those franchises is expected to be held later this year). Expectations are that the league will add a 16th franchise by 2028. — Philippou
Seven new WNBA coaches will impact the league
There have been many different hiring patterns for WNBA coaches in the past three decades. But this offseason presents perhaps the most eclectic group. They represent a vast array of backgrounds, another indication of how the WNBA is widening its footprint.
Stephanie White, who returns to the Indiana Fever, is the most experienced WNBA coach in a new position this year. She previously led that franchise from 2015-2016, then spent five years coaching women’s college basketball at Vanderbilt and two with the Connecticut Sun. None of the other hires this offseason have been head coaches in the WNBA before.
Karl Smesko left Florida Gulf Coast for Atlanta and Lynne Roberts left Utah for Los Angeles. Other coaches have moved from college to the WNBA, but the timing for these two — after they already had started their college seasons — stood out. The job security and pay for many college coaches have long been considered barriers for WNBA teams trying to lure them. But the pro game has become more appealing than it once was, as the college game – with the advent of NIL and the transfer portal — has become more challenging for some.
Golden State’s Natalie Nakase, the Chicago Sky’s Tyler Marsh and the Dallas Wings’ Chris Koclanes: All were successful WNBA assistant coaches. Nakase and Marsh won two titles in Las Vegas with head coach Becky Hammon. Koclanes was an assistant to Curt Miller at Connecticut and Los Angeles, and now will work in Dallas for Miller, who is general manager of the Wings. Koclanes shares something in common with Smesko and Roberts: He was most recently a USC women’s assistant, and left the Trojans midseason.
Connecticut’s Rachid Meziane: This is his first job in the United States, and the first time a European coach has been hired to take over a WNBA team. Former Chicago coach James Wade is an American who also had French citizenship and mostly coached in Europe before coming to the WNBA. Emre Vatansever, from Turkey, filled in on an interim basis when Wade left the Sky during the 2023 season to go to the NBA’s Raptors. But Meziane is a French native, a longtime pro coach in France and has guided the Belgian women’s national team. He is from a pool that previously has not been tapped into.
The Washington Mystics’ Sydney Johnson: The Mystics hired Johnson and their new GM (former WNBA player Jamila Wideman) at the same time, rather than bring the GM aboard to help with the coach hiring. Johnson spent last season as a WNBA assistant with Chicago, and has also coached USA Basketball 3×3 teams. But the bulk of his coaching experience is in the men’s college game, including eight years as head coach at Fairfield and four at Princeton. — Voepel
2:37
How could Paige Bueckers fit on the Dallas Wings?
Andraya Carter and Carolyn Peck discuss how Paige Bueckers could impact the Dallas Wings if she is selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
WNBA schedule and playoff changes
The WNBA moves to a 44-game regular season in 2025, up from 40 the past two seasons. Despite the increase, going to full-time charter travel last year has actually made the schedule less onerous for players, and this year, there is no major international event (the Olympics or FIBA Women’s World Cup) to accommodate. It remains to be seen how a 44-game schedule — which opens May 16 — will work when one of those events comes into play.
The league also is expanding its playoff format with the WNBA Finals, going from best-of-five (the setup since 2005) to best-of-seven. The new series will have a 2-2-1-1-1 structure; the higher seed would host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, and its opponent would host Games 3, 4 and 6.
The format of the best-of-three first round is also changing, guaranteeing all teams a home game. The new 1-1-1 schedule changes from the most recent setup, where the first two games were played at the home of the higher seed. The new setup is more travel, but gives each team some reward for making the postseason. — Voepel
League, players work toward new CBA
Shortly after the WNBA Finals concluded, the WNBPA announced what most around the game expected: The union opted out of its current collective bargaining agreement two years early. The deal was set to expire in 2027, but now will only remain in effect through 2025.
The current CBA was considered a huge step in the right direction for the league and players when it was signed in January 2020. But that was before this era of unprecedented growth for the WNBA and women’s basketball, highlighted last season by historic attendance numbers, TV ratings and a new $2.2 billion media deal.
What might the next CBA have in store? “Whenever negotiations are next, it’s not groundbreaking or landmark that we’re aiming for,” WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told ESPN this summer. “We’re aiming for transformational.” In their opt-out announcement, the players specifically referenced fighting for an equity-based “business model that reflects their true value, encompassing higher salaries, enhanced professional working conditions, expanded health benefits, and crucial investments needed for long-term growth.”
The league and PA announced in December they met for “preliminary conversations” and had a “constructive dialogue.” Both sides will aim to come to an agreement sometime this year, well before the 2026 campaign gears up. But sources told ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike in October that players are prepared to negotiate for as long as it takes, even if it necessitates a work stoppage. — Philippou
