WNBA free agency and trade tracker: Latest deals and news

Ever since the buzzer sounded on October's thrilling WNBA Finals, anticipation has been building about what 2025 might have in store. On Sunday, a blockbuster three-team trade started the wheels spinning.

For the first time in WNBA history, a trade involving multiple No. 1 draft picks is sending Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces and Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Seattle Storm received multiple draft picks as well as forward Li Yueru from the Sparks.

It's the first of what is expected to be many moves this offseason.

From Jan. 11-20, teams were allowed to extend reserved, restricted and core qualifying offers to players. Some notable stars -- Plum, the New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart, Indiana Fever's Kelsey Mitchell, Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas, Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally and Seattle Storm's Gabby Williams -- received a core qualifying offer, what is often referred to as "being cored."

Negotiations officially opened last Tuesday, and players can sign contracts starting Feb. 1. With a new CBA featuring massive salary bumps expected to come into effect in 2026, expect to see players sign only one-year deals.

Loyd isn't a free agent but requested a trade from the Storm. And earlier this month Sabally announced she had played her last game for the Wings and is working to find a new home. Because she has been cored, that would have to come via trade.

Other big-name free agents to watch include Sun teammates DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones, who are both unrestricted free agents, as are the Storm's Nneka Ogwumike, Phoenix Mercury's Brittney Griner and the Liberty's Courtney Vandersloot. And questions still surround the future of WNBA legend Diana Taurasi, who indicated toward the end of the 2024 season that it could be her last in the league. There's also uncertainty surrounding the future of Elena Delle Donne, who is technically an unrestricted free agent yet hasn't appeared in the league since 2023.

Keep it here all offseason long for the latest buzz, news and reports surrounding the WNBA. The 2025 season -- the league's 29th -- will tip off May 16.

Trade grades | Top free agents | Predictions | Core designation | Offseason guides

Jan. 26 update

8:21 p.m. ET: In the first trade in league history involving multiple former No. 1 draft picks, the Las Vegas Aces acquired Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd while sending Aces guard Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania, Alexa Philippou, Ramona Shelburne and Kendra Andrews.

In the three-team trade, the Storm are also acquiring the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft and forward Li Yueru from the Sparks, as well as Las Vegas' 2026 first-round pick, sources told ESPN. Los Angeles receives the 2025 No. 9 pick and a 2026 second-round pick from Seattle. The Aces receive the 2025 No. 13 pick from the Sparks.

The deal will be made official Feb. 1, sources said.

MORE: WNBA trade grades: How Plum-Loyd blockbuster shakes up three teams -- and possibly the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes

Blockbuster WNBA deal: The Seattle Storm are trading six-time All-Star Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces in a multi-team move that sends three-time All-Star Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks, sources tell me, @ramonashelburne, @alexaphilippou, @kendra__andrews. pic.twitter.com/OlRb37RKIA

Jan. 20 update

Brittney Griner, who has spent 11 seasons in Phoenix since the Mercury drafted her No. 1 in 2013, is testing the free agent market for the first time in her career, according to The Associated Press. The center is meeting with multiple teams while in Miami competing for Unrivaled, according to Griner's agent.

Jan. 17 update

The Connecticut Sun extended a core qualifying offer to Alyssa Thomas.

Jan. 16 update

The Indiana Fever extended a core qualifying offer to Kelsey Mitchell.

Jan. 14 update

The Seattle Storm designated Gabby Williams as their core player, meaning she will not become an unrestricted free agent, ESPN's Kevin Pelton reported.

Williams joins Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Satou Sabally (Dallas Wings) and Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty) as players with the core designation, which allows them to sign the one-year qualifying offer at the WNBA's highest possible salary ($249,244) but prevents them from signing with another team as a free agent.

Jan. 9 update

Unrestricted free agent Satou Sabally will be moving on from the Dallas Wings after spending the first five years of her career there, she told reporters Thursday from Miami.

"I'm working with (the Wings) and finding a next home for me," Sabally said. "I've already played my last game in Dallas."

What is the WNBA's core system?

The WNBA's core player designation is akin to the NFL franchise tag. A team can "core" a player to prevent them from becoming an unrestricted free agent by retaining their exclusive rights.

A core qualifying offer is a guaranteed one-year contract at the supermax, but the team and player can negotiate different terms to a deal. Each team can core only one player, and the 2020 CBA reduced the number of times players can be cored in their career gradually from four to three and, as of 2022, to two, a major change that opened up free agency movement throughout the league.

Six players -- Sabally, Plum, Stewart, Mitchell, Thomas and Williams -- have been cored so far in 2025, the most in one offseason under this current CBA. But that doesn't mean those players will return to the teams that cored them. Sabally has already said she's moving on from Dallas. With the Wings coring her -- which they likely did to ensure they'd get some return for Sabally leaving -- the only way for her to change teams is via trade.

According to tracking via Across the Timeline, the last time multiple players were cored and traded in one offseason was 2020 (Tina Charles and Skylar Diggins-Smith), but expect other big names to join Sabally in departing their franchises this free agency via that mechanism. And that doesn't even include a trade that's suspected to come when Seattle parts with Loyd, as the star requested out in December. -- Alexa Philippou