New York Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said that the franchise will “100 percent” core 2023 league MVP Breanna Stewart this offseason, taking her off the free agent market.
“She will not be an unrestricted free agent,” Kolb said during the team’s exit interviews.
Stewart had signed a one-year deal with the Liberty for less than the max last offseason and would have otherwise been the top WNBA player available in free agency. Applying the core player designation to Stewart gives the Liberty exclusive negotiating rights with the star forward this winter, and could allow New York to offer her a one-year super-max this offseason, if she wants it.
Stewart, who previously told The Athletic she could “almost guarantee” that she was going to be cored, had never received the designation before.
“I think that I’m excited for what we’re doing here in New York, and with the Liberty,” Stewart said. “I know it’s hard to talk about, especially being October and we’re not gonna start a season again until April, but the way we finished things, obviously it’s overshadowed by the disappointment and the loss, but as a whole, it’s been an extremely successful season.”
The Liberty’s season ended earlier this week, when the Las Vegas Aces defeated them in…
