Who's Left? WNBA Rosters Ranked By Players Under Contract (West Edition)

With the WNBA’s free agency storm looming, which Western Conference team is best-situated with its women under contract?

A certain hullabaloo has arisen about WNBA signatures in recent weeks. Certain players on the league ledgers perhaps wonder what all the fuss was about.

With the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement in place, just in time for the landmark 30th season to commence without interruption, the WNBA is set to embark on a transactional frenzy: with the prior CBA set to expire, many players either signed one-year deals last season or had their long-term contracts’ expirations coincide with the new one’s arrival.

A handful of players, however, will watch the chaos as spectators, their status assured mostly by rookie contracts that keep them aboard for three or four years. With that in mind, Ballislife opts to rank the WNBA rosters constructed amidst the calm before the storm, going by conference. Part two turns to the seven out west…

(Note: expansion teams Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will obviously be exempt from these lists)

2026 WNBA Offseason: Free Agency Tracker | Collective Bargaining Agreement Deal | Angel Reese Traded to Atlanta Dream | WNBA Expansion Draft | Player Contracts (East)

WNBA News: Connecticut Sun to Relocate to Houston | Key Dates

Photo courtesy of Shawn Mclurkin | Ballislife

1. Dallas Wings

Paige Bueckers
Aziaha James
Diamond Miller
JJ Quinerly
Maddy Siegrist

Potential defines Dallas as currently constructed, as the Wings have situated themselves well for the future. Paige Bueckers‘ presence speaks for itself, Maddy Siegrist finally got some uninterrupted work on the Unrivaled circuit, and Diamond Miller is in line for a wider, full-season opportunity now that she’s out of the veteran-heavy surroundings of Minnesota.

It was hard for JJ Quinerly to make any offseason headway after knee surgery, but Aziaha James got some work done in Unrivaled’s developmental pool. That’s four first-round picks, three of the lottery variety, while the outlier, Quinerly, made a case for staying power during her debut as a third-round choice last season.

Alas for North Texas, that potential has yet to produce any noticeable difference in the win column. Part of that is the impossible extermination of the injury bug (which has unfairly targeted Siegrist excessively), but the Wings certainly hope that the right personnel have been brought in to lead the way. Head coach Chris Koclanes never found a rhythm at the helm, leading to the hire of former South Florida boss Jose Fernandez.

Dominique Malonga Seattle Storm
Getty Images

2. Seattle Storm

Lexie Brown
Dominique Malonga
Jordan Horston

The all-too-roaring 20s have been a decade of goodbyes for the Storm, who have already made tribute videos for Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart while sending walking papers to Noelle Quinn after her ascension to head coach following Dan Hughes’s departure in 2020. Skylar Diggins could be next once the free agency frenzy tips off.

Still, they’ve managed to generate some good from the situation, and new management headlined by head coach Sonia Raman got off fairly easy in the expansion draft proceedings: contracted project Nika Mühl (now with Portland) could well be a prospect worth waiting for, but Seattle could no longer be patient with the defensive standout out of UConn, whose professional endeavors have been medically interrupted.

They have enough of that unintentional, unfortunate drama in Lexie Brown and Jordan Horston: the latter’s solid defensive antics were lost to a torn ACL last season, while Brown’s continued comeback from Crohn’s disease was partly interrupted by the arrival of Brittney Sykes.

Headlining the leftovers is the interior threat Dominique Malonga, who began to cash in on her No. 2 pick potential at the end of last season, especially in the testy opening round playoff set against eventual champion Las Vegas. While the Aces cut that progress short, Malonga continued to flourish with her fellow potential packers on Breeze BC in Unrivaled, notably notching a near double-double on the three-on-three level.

Photo by Jineen Williams/Ballislife

3. Los Angeles Sparks

Cameron Brink
Sania Feagin
Rickea Jackson

Like Dallas, Los Angeles has stocked up on youth for the road ahead. The SoCal potential is currently headlined by Rickea Jackson, who hung around with Caitlin Clark during her rookie season before enduring a slight sophomore slump.

The book on Cameron Brink, of course, is incomplete thanks to an ACL injury that bridged her rookie and sophomore seasons, but Sparks observers hope that success in threes transfers to fives: Jackson collaborated with Brink on the Unrivaled circuit down south, both repping the youth in revolt on Breeze BC next to Bueckers.

It’s also hard to get a read on Sania Feagin after she got swallowed up in the veteran fold, though each got extensive offseason work in the WNBL. LA also had Sarah Ashlee Barker under contract, but she was taken by Portland in the expansion draft.

While none of the leftovers have reached Bueckers’ levels of consistency quite yet, the Sparks appear to have their established leader in mind: Lynne Roberts is back for a second season, though she probably has one of the warmer seats among 2026 bosses, considering the recent trigger-happy nature of front offices.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

4. Golden State Valkyries

Kate Martin

After a plentiful poaching in its own expansion endeavors, Golden State lost some of its stockpiled talent to the newcomers, including Carla Leite. Originally chosen by Dallas, Leite was under contract before she heard her name called at an expansion draft for the second consecutive season.

While it hurts to lose a first-rounder in Leite, the only Valkyrie currently under contract is Kate Martin, who continues to stand as a fan favorite since she came over from Las Vegas just before Christmas 2024. It’ll be quite the adventure trying to keep all the contributors from the original output (Veronica Burton, fortunately for the Bay Area, is a restricted free agent), but having Martin stick around is a solid, cultural building block.

Kate Martin 4 point play pic.twitter.com/UHaoFa5RuO

— Shabazz (@ShowCaseShabazz) September 3, 2025

5. Minnesota Lynx

Dorka Juhász
Anastasiia Kosu

The Lynx are veteran-heavy, as their returnees played a total of 80 minutes last season.

All of those belonged to the Russian-born rookie Anastasiia Kosu, yet another early second-round choice. Dorka Juhász, another international find who made a name for herself at UConn, stayed overseas for what would’ve been her sophomore tour in the W (considering the early departure of Alissa Pili, that was probably for the best).

Again, don’t expect the Lynx to linger at the bottom of this list for long. It stands to reason, for example, that franchise face Napheesa Collier will reap the benefits of the CBA she helped form in Minneapolis, especially considering her active medical uncertainty. The fate of some rotational pieces could be a bit murkier, but Collier’s presence should lead to the return of other depth stars from last year’s regular-season champions.

We finally got extended Anastasiia Ola Kosu minutes. She did a lot more good than bad and flashes some stuff we know Cheryl likes

She gets cross matched on Lindsay Allen and runs in transition for two free throws. This is running slow for her pic.twitter.com/5zU1iirkXZ

— Manny (@whenigomissing) June 30, 2025

6. Phoenix Mercury

Kalani Brown

Defending finalist Phoenix is in a curious spot in the quiet before the storm.

Unlike most of the sisterhood, they don’t have any youth stockpiled thanks to so much wheeling and dealing that sent plenty of elite veteran talents to the desert, including Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, and Alyssa Thomas. All that’s left is the veteran Kalani Brown, one of the few experienced women to sign a contract that lasted beyond 2025. She proved to be a decent enough depth star behind Natasha Mack and could be relied upon if the (presumably returning) Sabally is still rehabbing.

Phoenix should be fine when the financial dust settles, especially considering the way it proved itself in year one of the post-Diana Taurasi era. Head coach Nate Tibbetts proved to be a solid leader in his takeover, and Mat Ishbia has been willing to make the foundational investments. It doesn’t do them much good on a list like this, but, fortunately for the Mercury, it’s meant to be a simple time-killer before the free agency frenzy.

7. Las Vegas Aces

None

Recent second-round pick Aaliyah Nye (who carved out a part-time rotational spot to the tune of just under 700 minutes) was the only player under contract for the defending champion Aces before she was chosen by the Toronto Tempo in the expansion proceedings.

Suffice to say, anyone even remotely associated with Vegas is perfectly fine with biding its time in the roster formation process. That’s the reward that comes with three championships over the past four seasons, and the cornerstone, MVP mainstay A’ja Wilson, has already pledged her continued allegiance to Sin City. That should shuffle several other Aces back into the deck before all’s said and done, a listing that also includes Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd, Jackie Young, and restricted women Kierstan Bell and NaLyssa Smith.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags