By Grady Andersen, Staff Writer

Coming off a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that saw an exponential growth of both players’ salaries and total revenue growth, the WNBA has had one of the more chaotic offseasons in its history. Between new expansion teams, a team announcing relocation and new TV deals, there are a lot of moving parts before a historic 2026 season.

Two new franchises are added in Portland and Toronto:

Another step was taken in the WNBA’s rapid expansion this year, as the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo are the 14th and 15th teams to be added, with plans to have 20 teams by 2030. Toronto’s roster emphasizes excellent guard play and shooting, with the big name being Marina Mabrey. Mabrey came off a down year behind the arc, shooting a paltry 27% with the Connecticut Sun, but averaged over 12 and a half points in her career. 

The first pick was awarded to Portland, who selected Iowa State alum Bridget Carleton. While Carleton isn’t a stat-sheet stuffer, she profiles as a versatile, strong forward who can provide excellent defensive ability in a weak forward class. 

Dallas Wings select UConn’s Azzi Fudd and add other key pieces:

The Wings added several key pieces to a team that has consistently struggled to escape the basement. The big headline was using the first overall selection to draft the University of Connecticut’s Azzi Fudd, reuniting her with former teammate Paige Bueckers. 

Fudd will slot in as another top-tier guard from the Huskies, as she averaged over 17 points per game with a highly efficient 48% from the field. However, there has been some scrutiny of their relationship, as Bueckers announced last year that the two were together. This came back into the spotlight in Fudd’s introductory press conference, as a reporter asked about their relationship. Wings PR Representatives quickly jumped in and stated that players would not speak about personal matters. 

They were also able to retain another former Husky in Arike Ogunbowale, signing a two-year core contract. The four-time All-Star came off a slight slump, only averaging 16 points a game. These three stars, combined with a duo signing of former Minnesota Lynx forwards Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smith, have set this team up with a great chance to bring a playoff atmosphere to Arlington. 

The Las Vegas Aces set a new record for two days:

As players are now eligible for salaries in the millions per year, the Aces saw it prudent to sign arguably one of the greatest players in WNBA history, A’ja Wilson. Wilson has won back-to-back MVPs to increase her total to four, averaging over 24 points per game the past three years. They inked her to a three-year, five-million-dollar supermax contract extension. This deal set the record for the largest WNBA contract on Wednesday, April 15th. Only two days later, the Indiana Fever would extend three-time All-Star Aliyah Boston to a four-year, 6.3 million extension, setting the largest WNBA salary to date. The six-foot-five co-star averaged 15 points per game last year on an extremely efficient 55% from the field. 

Connecticut Sun announces plans to relocate to Houston:

The Connecticut Sun has announced that they have been bought by Feritta Entertainment, which also owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and will relocate and rebrand to the Houston Comets. The Comets are one of the WNBA’s original franchises, and saw immediate success led by the trio of two-time MVP winner Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. 

They won the first four WNBA championships in the league’s history, but disbanded after the 2008 season. The Sun, while in the smallest market the league has, has been a very successful team. They appeared two times in the finals between 2019 and 2024, led by Jonquel Jones and Courtney Williams. They added Houston native Britney Griner through free agency and drafted the French forward Nell Angloma with the 12 overall pick.