January 20, 2023

The Next’s 2023 free agency projections, part 2: Unrestricted free agents

Where will Stewie sign? Our team predicts it all.

Seattle Storm big wing Breanna Stewart stands with her hands on her hips, photographed from a side angle.

Seattle Storm big wing Breanna Stewart in a game against the Minnesota Lynx at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on May 6, 2022. (Photo credit: Lydia Ely | The Next)

Welcome back to free agency! Once again, we here at The Next are bringing fun, original, informative resources, continuing our second-annual free agency predictions with the 2023 crop of unrestricted free agents. In case you missed Part I, 15 of our reporters, analysts and contributors each submitted their thoughts on how the 2023 WNBA free agent market would play out. We looked at recent markets, team cap sheets and league trends to help set some expectations for impending offseason moves across the league. You can check out our predictions for restricted free agency here.

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Listed below are the top 48 unrestricted free agents, sorted by total projected contract value. Their average contract projections and team predictions are visible. And a visual breakdown of our predictions can be seen by clicking “See more detail.” There you have a graph of our responses for contract length and a histogram to show the distribution of average annual values (AAV, i.e. salaries).

Please note that news has broken since our staff was surveyed. Relevant additional information, such as our Howard Megdal’s report of negotiations between Courtney Vandersloot and the Liberty, is noted below.

(Note to email subscribers: click through to see all the fancy charts and graphs!)

Note: There are 195 charts and graphs in this article — it will take slightly longer than usual to load! It is recommended that you hit “Show less detail” when done with a given player.

Unrestricted free agents

1. Breanna Stewart, big wing, 28 years old

2. Brionna Jones, center, 27 years old

Jones has been cored by Connecticut, and cannot negotiate with any other teams.

3. Azurá Stevens, big, 27 years old

Our Howard Megdal reported that Stevens has drawn heavy interest from Chicago, Connecticut, Indiana, Los Angeles and Minnesota. Seattle and Atlanta have been speculatively connected as well.

4. Nneka Ogwumike, big, 32 years old

6. Brittney Griner, center, 32 years old

7. Isabelle Harrison, big, 29 years old

8. Monique Billings, big, 27 years old

9. Alysha Clark, off-ball guard, 35 years old

10. Brittney Sykes, off-ball guard, 29 years old

11. Diana Taurasi, combo guard, 41 years old

12. Candace Parker, big, 37 years old

13. Courtney Vandersloot, point guard, 34 years old

Our Howard Megdal reported Vandersloot’s biggest suitors are Minnesota, New York, Seattle and Chicago.

14. Emma Meesseman, big, 30 years old

15. Kia Nurse, combo forward, 27 years old

16. Stephanie Talbot, combo forward, 29 years old

17. Erica Wheeler, combo guard, 32 years old

18. Allie Quigley, off-ball guard, 37 years old

19. Kristi Toliver, combo guard, 36 years old

20. Sami Whitcomb, combo guard, 34 years old

21. Astou Ndour-Fall, big, 28 years old

22. Nia Coffey, combo forward, 28 years old

23. Moriah Jefferson, pointg guard, 29 years old

24. Tiffany Mitchell, off-ball guard, 28 years old

25. Courtney Williams, combo guard, 29 years old

26. Epiphanny Prince, combo guard, 35 years old

27. Tina Charles, center, 34 years old

28. Chiney Ogwumike, center, 31 years old

29. Kiah Stokes, center, 30 years old

30. Elizabeth Williams, center, 30 years old

31. Damiris Dantas, combo forward, 30 years old

32. Jordin Canada, point guard, 27 years old

33. Jantel Lavender, big, 34 years old

34. Lexie Brown, off-ball guard, 28 years old

35. Rachel Banham, combo guard, 29 years old

36. Lindsay Allen, point guard, 28 years old

37. Bria Hartley, combo guard, 30 years old

38. Odyssey Sims, point guard, 30 years old

39. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, combo guard, 28 years old

40. Maya Caldwell, wing, 24 years old

41. Kennedy Burke, combo forward, 26 years old

42. Reshanda Gray, big, 30 years old

43. Theresa Plaisance, big, 32 years old

44. Kaela Davis, wing, 28 years old

45. Sydney Colson, point guard, 33 years old

46. Tianna Hawkins, big, 32 years old

47. Nikolina Milić, center, 29 years old

48. Jennie Simms, off-ball guard, 29 years old

49. Liz Cambage, center, 31 years old

Written by Em Adler

Em Adler (she/they) covers the WNBA at large and college basketball for The Next, with a focus on player development and the game behind the game.

1 Comment

RM Williams on January 20, 2023 at 9:05 pm

The Lynx would be foolish not to re-sign Milić. Nina impacts the game immediately. And with Dantas’ history of injury, Milić would be great off the bench. And Banham, well, as I’ve said before, if you want inconsistency, then re-sign. If not, look around some more. Depending on who is signed through free agency, the Lynx could and probably should look very different, especially if they sign people for the long term. Good luck with Stewie and Azurá. Wouldn’t that be nice.

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