The WNBA just experienced its most chaotic free agency period since the implementation of the new collective bargaining agreement with multiple former MVPs changing squads. Even the teams that struck out on their primary targets in free agency still signed players to compete for roster spots during the preseason, as every team in the league has at least 12 players (a full roster) signed to protected or unprotected contracts heading into the start of the season.
But the offseason isn’t yet complete, as the draft has yet to take place. In the WNBA, no draft selections are given guaranteed contracts, and considering the number of players already on training camp deals, even first-round picks will have to beat out other players on training camp deals to make a final roster. The top of this draft class has obvious appeal (the reigning national player of the year and Final Four most outstanding player certainly makes an impression), but the league has implicitly expressed its lack of interest in the rest of the 2023 group by trading away multiple draft picks over the last two months. Since The Athletic’s last mock draft, three more teams (New York, Chicago and Connecticut) have traded out of the first round, joining Phoenix and Las Vegas as five teams without a pick in the top…
