Two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne will not sign a supermax offer with the Washington Mystics and intends to take time away from basketball, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne on Wednesday. If she does not play this season, what does it mean for Delle Donne’s future and that of the Mystics?
Delle Donne received the core designation from the Mystics last month. A core player loses her unrestricted free agent status, giving her team exclusive negotiating rights. The player is automatically offered a one-year supermax deal (that is $241,984 for 2024); her only other option to play elsewhere that season is via trade.
Delle Donne was drafted by the Chicago Sky in 2013 and pushed for a trade to Washington after the 2016 season. Her time with the Mystics, who she has played for since 2017, hit a zenith with the 2019 WNBA championship.
But Delle Donne, who played the 2019 Finals with three herniated discs, didn’t play in the 2020 season in the COVID-19 bubble in Bradenton, Florida. She was limited to three games by back issues in 2021, then played 25 games in 2022 and 23 in 2023.
Delle Donne turned 34 in September. If she doesn’t play this WNBA season, will we see her again in the league? And what does it say about the Mystics that Delle Donne, once their signature player, apparently…
