Now that the WNBA and its players have finally agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA community can turn its attention to the busiest offseason the league has ever seen. While I can’t wait to discuss the upcoming two-team expansion draft, if we ever learn exactly what the rules will be, I am equally excited for free agency. As we have mentioned throughout the offseason, nearly every veteran player is an unrestricted free agent.

If you want a ranking of the available free agents, I highly recommend that of our own EJ Arocho. I enjoyed those quite a bit, even if I think he is way too low on Alyssa Thomas. The problem with even the best rankings is that they can’t capture the fit with a potential team. Dearica Hamby very well may be the 15th-best free agent in this class, but she won’t be 15th on every team’s board. She wouldn’t, for instance, fit with the Chicago Sky, barring a trade of Angel Reese. So for that reason, I wanted to look at the best landing spots for nine of the top free agents in this class.

You may notice that these are not the nine best available free agents. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I think most of the top players fit anywhere. Short of joining the Monstars, you could not find a bad fit for Breanna Stewart, so I don’t think trying to identify her best landing spot would be particularly interesting. Secondly, I believe most of the top players, including Stewart, will return to where they played last season. While that is interesting in a few of those cases, most of them are not. Some of them, like Kelsey Plum and Gabby Williams, are discussed in the context of the free agents that I want to see join those teams.

Let me know what you think on Instagram. What fits did I get wrong? Who should I have discussed? And why was it Alanna Smith?

Napheesa Collier - Minnesota Lynx

Any team Collier plays for is basically guaranteed to make the playoffs, and realistically, that team will be an instant title contender. That being said, Collier isn’t going to find a better coach than Cheryl Reeve, or an organization with a more proven track record of identifying talent to fit around her. The Lynx may have to remake their roster around Collier with seven other players hitting unrestricted free agency, but they are well-positioned to do so with the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming draft, along with cheap rotation players in Maria Kliundikova, Dorka Juhasz and Anastasiia Olairi Kosu. Last season ended in disappointment with Collier going down with an injury in the playoffs, but I hope she gets at least one more shot at a title in Minnesota.

Kelsey Mitchell - Washington Mystics

My prediction is that Kelsey Mitchell is the best free agent to change teams in the offseason. Maybe someone else will get traded, but the only free agents who are clearly better are Collier and Alyssa Thomas, and I suspect they will stay put. Breanna Stewart has already stated she intends to return to the Liberty, and I bet Sabrina Ionescu returns as well.

Mitchell’s best shot at a WNBA title would almost certainly be to return to the Fever, but that would likely require a one-year deal or a trade to another team before the 2027 season. Mitchell proved without a doubt last season that she can be the offensive engine on a contender, and as such, her services will be highly coveted.

The Washington Mystics were in the thick of the playoff race last season before they traded Brittney Sykes to Seattle and plummeted down the standings. Sykes did an admirable job driving the offense before the trade, but Mitchell would certainly be an upgrade.  Mitchell had a .536 effective field goal percentage on 27.6% usage, compared to Sykes’s .415 eFG% on 25.1% usage.

On top of that, Washington has the number four, nine, and 11 picks in the upcoming WNBA draft. They will add last year’s sixth overall pick, Georgia Amoore, who missed the entire season with an ACL injury, to rookie All-Stars Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron. With Shakira Austin likely returning as a restricted free agent, plus any other signings with their remaining cap space, Washington would almost certainly make the playoffs. In an ideal world, Washington would find sign someone younger who matches the timeline of their young talent, but outside of 28-year-old Sabrina Ionescu, I’m not sure that player exists. Washington’s young players showed enough last season that I think they can accelerate their timeline, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than with Kelsey Mitchell.

Arike Ogunbowale - Chicago Sky

I saw some speculation earlier in the offseason that Dallas would protect Ogunbowale, but unless they could find someone willing to trade for her, I think that would be a huge mistake. I think Ogunbowale’s best role is as a bench scorer, but I highly doubt she would be willing to accept that role at this point in her career. I think Ogunbowale could make sense as a tank commander for the Portland Fire, as a player who could soak up usage while making sure the players they select in the expansion and WNBA Drafts would not be asked to do too much. I just don’t think it would make sense for Portland to throw a ton of money, or any sort of trade asset, at someone to fill that role. They could like get someone like Aari McDonald much cheaper.

So who would be willing to overpay for a high-usage, low-efficiency shooting guard who doesn’t play much defense? My Chicago Sky. The Sky asked way too much of Ariel Atkins last season, who proved she is much better in a complementary role. They probably can’t count on 37-year-old Courtney Vandersloot coming off a torn ACL, and Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese weren’t ready to lead the offense last season. I was disappointed Ogunbowale didn’t do better next to Paige Bueckers last season, but I wouldn’t be totally shocked if a change of scenery brought out her best basketball. Chicago isn’t going to have a league-average defense unless Cardoso and Reese improve significantly, so they may as well try to improve their offense. I would like this significantly better than their stated goal of running it back with essentially the same team as last season.

Brittney Griner - Toronto Tempo

Reuniting Griner with her longtime coach with the Mercury, Sandy Brondello, seems like a no-brainer. Griner would immediately become the face of the franchise, and if she wants to get back to playing 30ish minutes per game, it seems like she needs to go to an expansion team or maybe Connecticut as their Tina Charles replacement. If Griner really has fallen off the cliff at 35 years old, Toronto should be able to move on pretty easily. If it turns out Karl Smesko’s system was just a bad fit, and Griner still has gas in the tank, Brondello should be able to get it out of her. If Griner is just a bench player now, she could fit in Indiana next to Aliyah Boston or in Seattle as a mentor/backup to Dominique Malonga, but I think her best chance at a bounce-back is in Toronto, and they should be willing to take that chance.

Satou Sabally - Atlanta Dream

Atlanta appears to be set in the backcourt with Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Maya Caldwell, and Te-Hina Paopao. Even if they bring back Brionna Jones and Naz Hillmon, they will need more help in the frontcourt. Sabally took 7.2 threes per 36 minutes last season, so she would fit right in on the team that attempted the second-most threes per game in 2025. Her size and athleticism would give Atlanta an element they didn’t have last season, when they finished tied with the Aces for the second-best record but lost unceremoniously to Indiana in the first round of the playoffs. Sabally’s health and decision-making are huge question marks, but she is a three-time All-Star who made the All-WNBA First Team in 2023. As loaded as this free agent class is, not many players have that kind of upside, especially in the frontcourt. Atlanta could be poised to take a big swing after last season’s first-round exit, and signing Sabally would certainly be that.

Brittney Sykes - Connecticut Sun and Marina Mabrey - Seattle Storm

I combined these two because they would not only be swapping teams, but they would essentially be swapping roles. I feel bad for Mabrey. She was miscast as the offensive engine in Connecticut, finishing the season with her highest usage since 2021 and her lowest true shooting percentage since her rookie season in 2019. Then, after Napheesa Collier’s injury, Mabrey found herself in the same situation as the Lunar Owls in Unrivaled. While that led to Mabrey scoring an Unrivaled record 47 points in a game, it also led to the Lunar Owls tying for the worst record in the league and missing the playoffs.

In this scenario, Sykes would take over that role with the young Connecticut team, reprising the role she starred in for Washington before the trade. While this swap wouldn’t help Connecticut’s floor spacing, it would ensure that Leila Lacan, Saniya Rivers, and Connecticut’s two 2026 first-round draft picks don’t have to shoulder too much of the offensive load next season.

I thought Seattle’s biggest problem last season was the redundancy of Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams on offense, and they tripled down on that by trading for a third perimeter player who needed the ball in her hands and didn’t space the floor. I’m hoping Seattle will core Gabby Williams and move on from (or at least move to the bench) Skylar Diggins. So long as at least one of them is on the roster, they will need someone who can space the floor and attack a closeout in the starting lineup and who can run the offense with the second unit. That is the perfect role for Mabrey, which is why Chicago and then Connecticut initially traded for her before both pivoted to rebuilds. I could argue Seattle should pivot to a rebuild around 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga and the No. 3 overall pick in 2026, but if that was a possibility, they shouldn’t have traded for Sykes to chase the eighth seed in the playoffs. If Seattle wants to make the playoffs in 2026, Mabrey is a perfect fit for the team that was ninth in three-point attempts per game last season.

DeWanna Bonner - Las Vegas Aces

The Aces have had a revolving door of forwards next to A’ja Wilson, many of them at the end of their careers, like Angel McCoughtry and Candace Parker. Bonner would fit that same mold, and she would fit even if Las Vegas brings back NaLyssa Smith and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus.

I give Jewell Loyd a ton of credit for moving to the bench midway through last season, a move that sparked the Aces’ long winning streak and led to them winning the WNBA title. Loyd’s 19 games off the bench during the regular season were more than in her 10 years in Seattle combined. Even so, I didn’t think Loyd was a perfect fit in a bench role, and the Aces could really use a true wing player after playing three guards for basically their entire existence since moving from San Antonio. After a rough start with Indiana, Bonner was great providing floor spacing and secondary scoring off the bench for Phoenix. While she could do that for the Mercury again this season, I think those skills are even more needed in Las Vegas.

DiJonai Carrington - Los Angeles Sparks

The Sparks were disappointing in Kelsey Plum’s first season, but I still think they have to bring her back. She played the most minutes and had the second-highest usage of her career, and her true shooting percentage was still above her career average. Plum was fourth in the league in points per game and sixth in assists.

If Kelsey Plum is coming back, the Sparks need someone to guard the other team’s best perimeter player while also being able to shoulder some of the offensive load when Plum is off the floor. Ideally, that player would also space the floor, but beggars can’t be choosers. Between adding Carrington and getting a full season of Cameron Brink, I think the Sparks could get to league-average on defense while remaining in the top half of the league on offense. That should be enough to get them back to the playoffs.