WNBA offseason 2026: Guides for every eliminated team

The 2026 WNBA season resumes Sept. 17 after the FIBA World Cup. Every team has four regular-season games remaining. But as of Aug. 25, all eight playoff berths were decided. Between Sept. 17 and the regular-season finales on Sept. 24, all eight postseason seeds will be determined.

So there’s still plenty on the line. That said, with seven teams already eliminated, we’re breaking down potential moves for each WNBA franchise, including a look at the state of each roster, team needs and priorities for each front office this coming offseason.

Movement during WNBA free agency in 2027 could be more active than ever before given the short turnaround between the new collective bargaining agreement and the start of 2026 training camps.

The draft lottery, typically held in November or December, will determine which team will get the No. 1 pick in the 2027 draft. After three expansion teams joined the WNBA the past two seasons, the league will stick with 15 teams for 2027, but the Connecticut Sun will relocate to Houston.

All stats for teams eliminated in the regular season are through Aug. 30, when the FIBA break started.

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: Karlie Samuelson (unrestricted), Emily Englster (restricted), Nika Muhl (club option)
2027 draft capital: Own first- and second-round picks

Season recap: The Fire were eliminated from playoff contention with six games left on their schedule but have had a solid inaugural season. Portland put together signature wins against Indiana, New York and Dallas, but growing pains were still evident. The Fire couldn’t string together more than three wins in a row (in May), suffered a four-game losing streak in June and a five-game skid in July. Following coach Alex Sarama’s Constraints-Led Approach, the Fire have a clear identity built on instinct and offensive fluidity, and they produced the eighth-best offense in the league. But their defense ranks second to last. Bridget Carleton, Sarah Ashlee Barker and Carla Leite — who were all selected in the expansion draft — had breakout seasons, giving Portland a solid future to build on.

State of the roster: Portland should return next season with several players who were key contributors to its inaugural year in Carleton, Megan DiLeo and Leite, and the hope is that Barker makes a full recovery from a torn ACL suffered in July. It all gives the Fire great continuity to build upon their success heading into Year 2 — exactly what an expansion franchise wants.

Top front office priority: An elite shot creator and go-to bucket getter. Portland emphasizes the development of players already on its roster, but that shouldn’t hold it back from adding that kind of player. Leite has been the Fire’s leading scorer this season, averaging 15.9 points per game, with an incredible ability to drive to the bucket and finish. Carleton and Barker have shot decently from distance, but if they want to take their quick-paced offense to the next level, the Fire should add a veteran scorer. Portland would also benefit in adding a true center to help down low.

Biggest offseason question: Can Portland improve enough in Year 2 to make the postseason? Perhaps Golden State set unfair standards for what should be expected from a current-day expansion franchise — making the playoffs in both of its first two seasons. The Fire can choose to run it back with the same group, but they could benefit from taking a swing for a big signing. — Kendra Andrews

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Bridget Carleton knocks down the 3-pointer

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: DiJonai Carrington (unrestricted), Natasha Cloud (unrestricted), Rachel Banham (unrestricted), Sydney Taylor (reserved)
2027 draft capital: Own two first-round picks (including one via Atlanta), but Washington owns swap rights for one; third-round pick

Season recap: There was all the optimism in the world after a 3-1 start with wins over Golden State and Minnesota. Everything changed when 2024 No. 4 draft pick Rickea Jackson — traded from the Sparks for Ariel Atkins — was lost to a torn ACL in the fourth game of the season after she averaged career highs in points (18.0), rebounds (4.8), assists (2.0) and blocks (1.8). The Sky were never the same afterward as they lost 11 of the next 12 games. Jackson wasn’t the only injury as Chicago leads the league with 127 games missed, according to The IX Sports injury tracker. Azura Stevens, Carrington, Courtney Vandersloot, Skylar Diggins, Gabriela Jaquez, Cloud and Taylor all missed time. Diggins never returned after July 3.

After that 1-12 stretch, the Sky hovered just below .500 the rest of the way as Taylor developed into one of the top rookie scorers in the league despite going undrafted. Cloud is having a career shooting year and Kamilla Cardoso continues her incremental growth. They weren’t an easy out as of late June, but struggled with defense and consistency.

State of the roster: Diggins, Stevens, Vandersloot, Cardoso, Jackson, Elizabeth Williams, Jacy Sheldon and Jaquez are all signed through 2027. That’s the core that general manager Jeff Pagliocca was excited about heading into 2026. Carrington, Cloud and Banham are unrestricted free agents. The salary cap was $7 million in 2026 and is able to move up or down by no more than 13% in 2027. As of now, and if the cap remains the same, Chicago would have about $1.8 million in cap space with eight players currently under contract.

Top front office priority: Pagliocca does not believe in tearing things down to the studs to rebuild. So, despite missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, don’t expect a youth movement to start over. The biggest acquisition is likely to be the return of Jackson. Shooting was a minus this season as the Sky rank No. 13 in 3-point percentage (29.2%) and No. 10 in field goal percentage (44.1%). They also need more stops after ranking No. 11 in the league in scoring defense (89.7). With Diggins out, Taylor was often the only player able to create her own quality looks late in the shot clock or games.

Biggest offseason question: The health of Jackson and the mindset of Diggins. Jackson was looking like the league’s most improved player before the injury. When will she be ready and how long will it take to return to that level of play? The other question is where Diggins stands mentally with the team. She talked about the team’s “loser mentality” in early June and also pointed to coach Tyler Marsh when questioned about the struggling half-court offense. Diggins acknowledged “an extremely frustrating experience.” On July 6, the seven-time All-Star took to social media to announce that she’d been benched. She never played another game after July 3, officially due to a knee injury. However, Diggins confirmed that she hasn’t asked for nor is looking for a trade. She sounded committed to the team despite the previous frustrations, which included the practice facility not being completed in 2026. — Kareem Copeland

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Sydney Taylor hits tying and winning 3s for Sky in final minute

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: Rae Burrell (restricted), Emma Cannon (unrestricted)
2027 draft capital: Own two first-round picks (including via Phoenix), two second-round picks (including via Storm) and third-round pick

Season recap: The Sparks were confident this would be the year they finally broke the five-year playoff drought. But currently sitting in 11th place in the standings, Los Angeles missed the postseason for the sixth year in a row as it struggled to find consistency. The positive early on: Kelsey Plum was playing at an MVP level and led the league in scoring. But an injury sidelined her for over a month, and then the Sparks sent her to Phoenix at the trade deadline. The Sparks also played without Cameron Brink for nine games. L.A. suffered six consecutive losses in mid-July, and another six-game skid in August, leading to the firing of former general manager Raegan Pebley.

State of the roster: The Sparks have five players under contract heading into the 2027 season: Ariel Atkins, Dearica Hamby, Erica Wheeler, Brink and Monique Akoa Makani. Nneka Ogwumike announced her plans to retire after this season, leaving a massive hole.

Top front office priority: Pick a direction. The Sparks split ways with Pebley after yet another underwhelming season. Pebley’s tenure with Los Angeles was defined by win-now moves in an effort to bring back the historical dominance that the Sparks are tied to, but each fell short. With Pebley gone, Ogwumike retiring and Plum traded, the Sparks’ front office — Ariana Andonian, a former general manager and vice president of player personnel for the Philadelphia 76ers‘ G League affiliate, was named Sparks GM on Friday — has to decide if the organization still wants to make moves it believes will help the team win immediately — or if it is time for a major shake-up from top to bottom.

Biggest offseason question: Can they sign another coveted free agent? The Sparks have a good track record of landing some of the best players on the market — most recently signing Plum in 2025 — but with the recent turbulence the franchise has faced, and the now six-year playoff drought, can they do it again? If the Sparks choose the “win-now” direction mentioned above, they will have to figure out how they can get premier talent to fill out the roster. But it’s not certain whether Los Angeles is still seen as a desirable location. — Andrews

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Seattle Storm vs. Los Angeles Sparks – Game Highlights

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: Kelsey Plum (unrestricted). Valeriane Ayayi (reserved), Kyara Linskens (reserved), Noemie Brochant (reserved), Jovana Nogic (reserved), Lexi Held (reserved), Marta Suarez (reserved), Maddy Westbeld (reserved)
2027 draft capital: Own second- and third-round picks

Season recap: The 2026 season was an absolute disaster coming off a trip to the Finals in 2025. Satou Sabally — the team’s leading scorer with 16.3 points per game in 2025 — left in free agency and the Mercury didn’t add a prolific third running mate for Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper until getting Plum at the trade deadline. Then Plum played only five games due to injury. Sami Whitcomb, who was one of the best reserves in the league in 2025, played less than half the season. DeWanna Bonner moved into the starting lineup, but that wasn’t enough. The team ended up buying out Bonner in August to allow her to join a playoff team, which ended up being Atlanta. Nearly every metric measures the Mercury as a below-average offense, and things aren’t better defensively, as they are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. The defense is allowing seven more points per game from 2025 to 2026.

State of the roster: With only Copper, Thomas, Whitcomb and Natasha Mack under contract for 2027, Phoenix has the flexibility to retool the roster. Coach Nate Tibbetts will be going into his fourth season and coming off his worst since he was hired as the highest-paid coach in league history. Going from the Finals to the lottery is the wrong direction, though he didn’t have as talented of a roster in 2026. With all of the recent investments into the organization, the leash might not be particularly long for anyone if the Mercury aren’t back in the playoffs in 2027. Thomas remains one of the elite players in the league, but she’ll turn 35 in April, and the end of her career is much closer than the beginning. Time is of the essence for the organization to return to the pinnacle with Thomas still playing at this level.

Top front office priority: Keeping Plum is the first, second and third priority. Everything hinges on getting Plum to sign after giving up a first- and second-round pick and Monique Akoa Makani. That’s a lottery pick gone in what’s expected to be a quality draft. Losing that for five games of sub-100% Plum would be a horrible trade and set the franchise back for the future. Acquiring Plum probably enhances the opportunity of signing other talent looking to make a run at a championship. The five-time All-Star has two championship rings with the Aces. Her decision will go a long way to determine the Mercury’s offseason success. The Mercury took a big swing and are still waiting to find out the results.

Biggest offseason question: Can the Mercury return to championship contention? The biggest factor to answering that question is another: Will Plum return? This is an organization with a win-now mindset, and hovering near the bottom of the standings was unacceptable. The hiring of Tibbetts, the finished practice facility, trading for Thomas and Copper before the 2025 season and trading for Plum were all moves aimed at winning a title. Can general manager Nick U’Ren keep Plum, tweak the roster and quickly return to contention? Plum’s decision will likely have the biggest impact on such. — Copeland

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Phoenix Mercury vs. Toronto Tempo – Game Highlights

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: Temi Fagbenle (unrestricted), Isabelle Harrison (unrestricted), Kia Nurse (unrestricted), Nyara Sabally (restricted), Maria Conde (reserved), Laura Juskaite (reserved)
2027 draft capital: Own first-, second- and third-round picks

Season recap: The Tempo were a .500 team and rolling along before Brittney Sykes was lost for most of the season with a plantar fascia injury. Sykes and Marina Mabrey combined to form one of the highest-scoring backcourts in the league as both were in the midst of career years. Including the game when Sykes went down, Toronto went 4-21 from that point, including a 12-game losing streak. A Grade 2 left ankle sprain suffered by rookie Kiki Rice kept the team’s third-leading scorer off the floor for nearly two months. Sabally and Harrison also missed stretches due to injury. The Tempo added a young big in 2025 No. 7 draft pick Aneesah Morrow in a trade with the Sun for Maria Kliundikova and a 2028 second-round pick. As a group, the team seemed ahead of expectations under two-time championship-winning coach Sandy Brondello, but the losses piled up without Sykes and as other injuries depleted the roster.

State of the roster: The combination of Mabrey, Sykes and Rice on the perimeter is a strong foundation on which to build. There’s plenty of flexibility between expiring deals and cap room to continue to tweak the roster. Julie Allemand, Morrow and Teonni Key are all under contract for 2027. Rice looks like a budding franchise cornerstone and will certainly be an All-Rookie selection.

Top front office priority: Depth and talent in the frontcourt. Harrison is an unrestricted free agent with injury history. Sabally is restricted, and has been injury-prone throughout her career and, again, missed nearly half the season in 2026. However, the 2022 No. 5 draft pick put together a career year with 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game when she was on the floor. Sabally also has a coach who believes in her in Brondello, who was at the helm of the Liberty when the team drafted her. So, there are some decisions to be made in terms of their own free agents and how to build out the rest of the roster. The Tempo are one of four teams that have had at least 100 games missed due to injury, so that added another challenge to evaluating the organization’s inaugural year.

Biggest offseason question: There are few expectations on an expansion franchise in the early years. The biggest question: Was the fast start to 2026 a fluke or a sign of what could be when healthy? As Kendra wrote above, the Valkyries put pressure on all the following expansion teams after reaching the playoffs in their first year and becoming a contender in Year No. 2. The 2026 season didn’t quite show the entire vision for how the Tempo want to look on the floor. — Copeland

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Kiki Rice fights off defender for and-1

The franchise will relocate to the Houston Comets in the offseason.

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: Brittney Griner (unrestricted), Kennedy Burke (unrestricted), Diamond Miller (restricted), Raegan Beers (reserved), Ashlon Jackson (reserved)
2027 draft capital: Own first-, second- and third-round picks, plus additional third-round pick (via Portland)

Season recap: It was a weird season in Connecticut, the final for the Sun franchise. The team struggled early with a 2-15 start, not helped by uneven player availability. Standout point guard Leila Lacan missed time due to overseas commitments, while Griner dealt with injuries much of the season. Aneesah Morrow then fell out of the rotation and was traded at the deadline to Toronto for the rights to Maria Kliundikova and a 2028 second-round pick. The Sun were better later in the summer, but the reality of the franchise’s impending relocation put a damper on the atmosphere around Uncasville.

State of the roster: The Houston front office has plenty of young talent it can choose to build around between Lacan and Saniya Rivers, as well as Gianna Kneepkens, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Nell Angloma, who are all either rookies or second-year players. Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards are also under contract, and both took some positive steps forward in 2026. In all, that offers plenty of flexibility for the resurgent Houston franchise to construct its first roster.

Top front office priority: From the front office down to basketball operations, there’s little known so far about the Houston team’s identity and philosophy moving forward, including how many Sun personnel will move with the team. But presumably the biggest goal will be to build around the team’s upcoming lottery pick. The team will no doubt want to also put its best foot forward in talking to free agents this winter, whether that results in signing players for 2027 or laying the groundwork for the future.

Biggest offseason question: Will JuJu Watkins declare for the WNBA draft? Houston currently has the best odds of winning the No. 1 pick, so if the ping-pong balls fall in its favor, and the transcendent Watkins — who has additional eligibility beyond this upcoming college season — goes pro, that would be best-case scenario on and off the court as Houston returns to the WNBA. — Alexa Philippou

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Connecticut Sun vs. Chicago Sky – Game Highlights

2026 season: Eliminated from playoff race
Free agents: Stefanie Dolson (unrestricted), Zia Cooke (restricted), Jade Melbourne (restricted), Mackenzie Holmes (reserved), Jordan Horston (reserved), Taylor Thierry (reserved)
2027 draft capital: Own first- and third-round picks, plus additional third-round pick (via Dallas); also swap rights for Indiana’s third-round pick

Season recap: After Seattle came within one missed shot of upsetting eventual champion Las Vegas in the first round of the playoffs last season, a ton changed for the Storm. They parted ways with coach Noelle Quinn after five seasons and hired Sonia Raman. Their top five scorers, led by forward Nneka Ogwumike and guard Skylar Diggins, left in free agency. Seattle’s leading returning scorer, forward Ezi Magbegor, didn’t play until July 2 due to a foot injury. And the 2025 No. 2 draft pick, center Dominique Malonga, missed eight games early on due to concussion protocol.

Seattle ownership and fans knew that this would be a rebuilding season in which the Storm would get court time for a lot of young players, including center Awa Fam, the No. 3 draft pick, and guard Flau’jae Johnson, the No. 8 pick. The Storm’s lack of experience showed up most on offense, as they are near the bottom of the league in offensive rating (an estimate of points scored per 100 possessions). The Storm did a little better defensively, especially with inside enforcers such as Magbegor, Malonga and Fam, all of whom are 6-foot-4 or taller. Overall, though, there will be no surprise about Seattle’s final record. This season was about improving for the future.

State of the roster: If it’s healthy, a good core will return for Seattle. Guard Natisha Hiedeman, Magbegor, Malonga, Fam and Johnson are all signed for 2027. Hiedeman is the oldest of that group; she turns 30 in February 2027.

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Seattle Storm vs. Toronto Tempo – Game Highlights

Top front office priority: The franchise that was defined by point guard Sue Bird for two decades now needs a point guard. The Storm are near the top of the league in turnovers this season, while being near the bottom in assists. That’s a bad formula for seeking success. Seattle has the potential for a dominant front line, especially with Malonga and Fam being just 20 years old with vast potential. So either through free agency, a trade or the draft, Seattle could use an elite point guard who can maximize what the post players can do.

Biggest offseason question: Can the Storm get back to the playoffs in 2027? This is just the fourth time they have missed the postseason since 2004, when they won their first of four WNBA titles. If Seattle can get the right floor general and keep its best players healthy in 2027, the Storm have a chance to be back in the postseason mix where they are used to being. — Michael Voepel