Seattle can't core both Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd, so one of them will be an unrestricted free agent with the ability to look elsewhere. Sue Bird is one of six rotation players out of contract.
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Which teams have the ability to make the most moves when the free agency opens?
The top 20 free agents were projected last week. It's time to consider the team side of things. Which team has the most cap space to sign a star player, like the Chicago Sky or the Phoenix Mercury?
We take a look at available cap space and key players hitting free agency when we go team by team through the league. We will look at which teams still have decisions to make on whether to use the core designation, which would allow a player out of unrestricted free agency to sign a one-year deal for the league's supermax salary.
Friday is the deadline for teams to make qualified offers to restricted free agents, as well as reserved players who can only negotiate with their current team, and for teams to match any offer sheet from another team.
Let's break down how teams enter free agency.
Atlanta dream.
The cap space is $836,241.
Key free agents are: Tiffany Hayes, Elizabeth Williams, and Odyssey Sims.
The Dream have a new team president, general manager and coach who were hired in October after new ownership took over. Atlanta said it wouldn't bring back Williams after she made light of an altercation in May that she and teammate Crystal Bradford had been involved in. She was the leader of the Dream last season in points, assists, and Rebounds.
Chennedy Carter played just 11 games of her second season in the league and was on suspension for the rest of the year, so her status is unclear. Dan Padover, the new GM of the Dream, was a two-time executive of the year while in Las Vegas.
Chicago Sky.
The cap space is $908 million.
Key free agents are: Diamond DeShields.
Sky has more cap space than Seattle. "We have a lot of free agents and decisions that need to be made," said Vandersloot, who has spent her entire 11-season career with the Sky. James Wade has to decide how much of the band he wants to keep with just four players under contract.
The group won the first title. The Sky finished the regular season with a 16-16 record. One would think that the spouses of the two players would want to stay on the same team. Will the Sky keep all three, or will they look for a new face or two? Will either Copper or Vandersloot get the core designation? It's worth noting that by the start of the season, all of them will be in their 30s.
Connecticut Sun.
The cap space is $505,484.
Briann January is a key free agent.
Jonquel Jones, who got the core qualifying offer of $228,094 on Monday, is likely to get a big chunk of the cap. We'll see if she wants to negotiate a multiyear deal.
She made $121,500 last season, but she has not seemed to slow down in terms of her defensive capabilities. It's part of Miller's decision-making to determine if something was missing in the playoffs that caused the Sun to fall in the semifinals, or if it was just a case of running into a team of destiny.
Connecticut has come close to a championship, getting to Game 5 of the playoffs, and a very similar group to last year, which could be the winning formula finally.
The Dallas Wings.
The cap space is 78,146.
None of the key free agents are present.
The youthful Wings are in an unusual situation this year, because all 12 players from last year's playoff team return, meaning Dallas had to waive their second-round pick to have any meaningful cap space. The Wings have two picks in the top half of the first round of the NBA draft. Dallas' roster crunch would be alleviated if the team combined players and picks for a veteran upgrade via trade or a free agent in a sign-and-trade deal.
The movie Indiana Fever.
The cap space is $431,669.
Key free agents are Jessica Breland, Lindsay Allen, and Julie Allemand.
The franchise that was in the playoffs for a long time has gone from being unsure of how it will move forward to being unsure of what it will do next. The impact of the player who retired in 2016 is still being tried to replace by the general manager.
Breland will be 34 by the start of the season, but he has been a dependable veteran forward for a long time. The lottery picks the past couple of years haven't worked out so well for Indiana, but with the No. 2 draft pick, they might get a top college forward.
If a franchise needs a pick-me-up free-agent signing and/or trade, it's the Fever, but that's going to take some front-office vitality that we haven't seen in a while.
The Las Vegas Aces.
The cap space is $724,968.
Key free agents are A'ja Wilson and Liz Cambage.
The team that Bill Laimbeer led to a league-best 42-12 record over the past two seasons might not look the same as the one that new coach Becky Hammon takes over. Wilson should be back, but her anticipated raise from making $70,040 in the final season of her rookies contract to a maximum of $196,267 will make it difficult for Las Vegas to bring back all of the team's veteran free agents.
The first decision for the Aces is whether to use the core designation again on Cambage, who played last season on that contract. Much of Las Vegas' remaining cap space would be taken up by another supermax salary. The maximum amount of money the team can offer to retain either Williams or McCoughtry is about $113,000, if the team wants to roster their first-round pick. Las Vegas could prioritize depth over Cambage. We'll find out soon.
The Los Angeles Sparks.
There is a cap space of 157,000.
Key free agents are: Maria Vadeeva, Te'a Cooper, and Nia Coffey.
The key newcomer for the Sparks is forward Gabby Williams. Los Angeles has nine players under contract and limited cap space to add to that group after Williams extended her contract. The Sparks will likely try to bring back Coffey after she averaged a career-high 8.3 points per game in her first year with Los Angeles. Vadeeva will return to the Sparks for the first time in a long time if the team can offer a maximum of $97,000.
The Minnesota Lynx.
The cap space is $432,198.
Layshia Clarendon and Sylvia Fowles are free agents.
After last year's additions of Natalie Achonwa and Aerial Powers, it's likely that the Lynx will have a quieter off-season. The future of Fowles is the biggest question mark in Minnesota, as she could either retire at age 36 or head elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent. Fowles has already played three years on core contracts, so that's no longer an option for the Lynx.
If the reigning Defensive Player of the Year returns at a supermax salary, Minnesota would have about $135,000 available to re-sign Clarendon while rostering this year's first-round pick. The amount of leftover cap space would be used to add a 12th player to the mix.
New York Liberty.
The cap space is $196,560.
Rebecca Allen is a key free agent.
Sandy and Jonathan talked about how they like the players that the Liberty have. Despite limited cap space, New York will be active. Allen is familiar with Brondello from their Australian national team experience, so bringing him back could be a good move.
One of the biggest days of the off-season last year was when New York dealt the No. 1 pick and obtained forwardNatasha Howard. Betnijah Laney was signed by New York in February.
The Liberty had a playoff spot in 2021, but they aren't a championship-caliber roster yet.
The Phoenix Mercury.
The cap space is $246,938.
Shey Peddy is a key free agent.
The team has some space to maneuver this off-season, but it's before considering cap holds for the four open roster spots. The Mercury would have to waive a player with a non-guaranteed salary just to be able to make Nurse a qualifying offer and keep her restricted rights.
Nurse's free agency will be interesting to watch. She's unlikely to play during the regular season after tearing her anterior cruciateerin during the playoffs. Nurse is on the Mercury's roster and counting against the cap, so the Mercury would prefer to have her sit out next season to get healthy and re-sign her when available. Nurse could be offered a multiyear contract with an eye toward the future by another team.
The Seattle Storm.
The cap space is almost $1 million.
Key free agents are Sue Bird, Jordin Canada, Mercedes Russell, Breanna Stewart, and Stephanie Talbot.
The Storm enter free agency with six rotation players out of contract. Seattle can only use the core designation on one of the two, leaving the other unrestricted. The salary cap makes it difficult for other teams to upgrade their rosters.
Bird's announcement last week that she's coming back for a 19th season was the first domino for Seattle. Bird is willing to take less than the supermax if the Storm can get quick commitments from Loyd and Stewart. The Storm has to manage restricted free agency for starting center Russell and key reserves Canada and Talbot. Expect a busy few weeks in Seattle.
The Washington Mystics are a team.
The cap space is $456,900.
Key free agents are Tina Charles, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, and Myisha Hines-Allen.
Charles had another great season at the age of 32, but the Mystics fell short of the playoffs for the first time in three years. Elena Delle Donne missed the entire 2020 season due to back issues, but played three games before she was hurt again.
Emma Meesseman was a free agent last season but didn't play in the league and it's unclear if she will play in 2022. Meesseman's commitment to Belgium might make this season a no-go, since the World Cup starts in September.
Is there a chance we will see Charles, Delle Donne and Meesseman together? Maybe. Even if Charles, Delle Donne and Alysha Clark are not healthy, that will be a boost to Washington.
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