Free Agency Is Expected to Bloom in WNBA
When the WNBA introduced free agency last year, the league’s efforts seemed scattershot at best.
That was because of, in part, drawn-out labor negotiations between the league owners and the players’ union. The collective bargaining agreement was finally signed April 25 -- the morning of the college draft. Training camps opened May 1, and the regular season began May 22, meaning general managers had only a month to digest the new working agreement and salary cap, learn who was eligible under the new rules and put rosters together.
As a result, few players moved. Jennifer Gillom was the biggest name, leaving the Phoenix Mercury to join the Sparks
It should be different this year. The 2004 list of restricted and unrestricted players came out Thursday, and there are plenty of players who could be wearing new uniforms for the 2004 season.
Thursday was also the first day teams could start negotiating with players or agents, but no contracts can be signed before Feb. 1.
“I predict that, after last year, things will loosen up,” said Bill Laimbeer, coach and general manager of the WNBA champion Detroit Shock. “More people will want to do something. With the salary cap in place and the talent level improving dramatically, I suspect there will be a lot of player movement in trades and free agents. Some movement early, a lot just before the [April] draft and a lot after the draft.”
Seth Sulka, Phoenix’s general manager, agrees. “Last year there wasn’t much movement, because of the timing involved. This year there will be more players available, and next year the floodgates really open because so many more players will fit in both categories.”
On Thursday, the better known (and perhaps more highly valued) players were on the restricted list, including Cynthia Cooper (Houston), Tari Phillips (New York), Chasity Melvin (Washington), Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Connecticut) and Tully Bevilaqua (Seattle).
Cleveland’s Merlakia Jones and New York’s Elena Baranova highlight the unrestricted list.
The Sparks had five players -- Gillom, Nicky McCrimmon, Vanessa Nygaard, Lynn Pride and Sophia Witherspoon -- on the unrestricted list.
According to the labor agreement, players with five years of service are considered restricted free agents and can sign an offer sheet with any team. If that player receives an offer from a new team she wants to take, details of the contract proposal must be made to the player’s old team, which has 10 days to match the offer.
An unsigned player with six years of service is an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team. The only difference: The player’s previous team can designate that person a “core player” on its roster. If that happens, the previous team maintains the player’s rights but has to pay the maximum salary under the agreement.
Two players per team can be designated core players.
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WNBA FREE AGENTS
RESTRICTED
Unsigned players with up to five years of experience, whose current teams have the right to match any offer sheet the player signs:
*--* Player Team Yrs. Pos. Hgt. Age Jennifer Azzi San Antonio 5 G 5-8 35 Lucienne Berthieu Houston 2 F-C 6-0 25 Tully Bevilaqua Seattle 5 G 5-7 31 Debbie Black Connecticut 5 G 5-3 37 Keisha Brown Washington 2 G 5-10 25 Alisa Burras Seattle 5 C 6-3 28 Edna Campbell Sacramento 5 G 5-8 35 Dominique Canty Houston 5 G-F 5-9 26 Cynthia Cooper Houston 5 G 5-10 40 Shalonda Enis Charlotte 5 F-C 6-1 29 La’Keshia Frett Sacramento 5 F 6-3 28 Linda Frohlich New York 2 F-C 6-2 24 Adrienne Goodson San Antonio 5 F 6-0 37 Becky Hammon New York 5 G 5-6 26 Kristi Harrower Minnesota 5 G 5-4 28 Kedra Holland-Corn Detroit 5 G 5-8 29 Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough Houston 5 C 6-3 28 Tiffani Johnson Houston 5 C 6-4 28 Hamchetou Maiga Sacramento 2 G-F 5-8 25 Taj McWilliams-Franklin Connecticut 5 F-C 6-2 33 Chasity Melvin Washington 5 C-F 6-3 27 Tamara Moore Phoenix 2 G-F 5-11 23 Astou Ndiaye-Diatta Detroit 5 F-C 6-3 30 Tari Phillips New York 5 C-F 6-1 34 Elaine Powell Detroit 5 G 5-9 28 Jennifer Rizzotti Detroit 5 G 5-6 27 Crystal Robinson New York 5 F 5-11 29 Olympia Scott-Richardson Indiana 6 F 6-2 27 Charlotte Smith-Taylor Charlotte 5 F 6-0 30 Dawn Staley Charlotte 5 G 5-6 33 Maria Stepanova Phoenix 6 C 6-8 24 Michele Van Gorp Minnesota 5 C 6-6 26 Ayana Walker Detroit 2 F 6-3 24 Tamika Whitmore New York 5 F 6-2 26
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UNRESTRICTED
Unsigned players with at least six years of having their rights owned by league teams, or who have been released outright
*--* Player Team Yrs. Pos. Hgt. Age Janeth Arcain Houston 7 G 5-11 34 Elena Baranova New York 7 F 6-5 31 Adia Barnes Seattle 6 F 5-11 26 Nina Bjedov Cleveland 5 C 6-4 32 Ruthie Bolton Sacramento 7 G 5-9 36 Rushia Brown Charlotte 7 F 6-2 31 Vicky Bullett Washington 7 F 6-3 36 Ukari Figgs Houston 5 G 5-9 26 Jennifer Gillom Sparks 7 C-F 6-3 39 Tracy Henderson Cleveland 5 F-C 6-3 29 Sonja Henning Indiana 5 G 5-7 34 Jessie Hicks Connecticut 7 C-F 6-2 32 LaTonya Johnson San Antonio 6 F 6-1 28 Merlakia Jones Cleveland 7 F-G 5-9 30 Rebecca Lobo Connecticut 7 F 6-4 30 Nikki McCray Indiana 6 G 5-11 32 Nicky McCrimmon Sparks 4 G 5-8 31 Tausha Mills San Antonio 4 C 6-3 27 Eva Nemcova Cleveland 7 F 6-3 31 Vanessa Nygaard Sparks 5 F 6-1 28 Wendy Palmer Connecticut 7 F 6-2 29 Bridget Pettis Indiana 7 G 5-9 32 Lynn Pride Sparks 4 F-G 6-2 25 Coquese Washington Indiana 6 G 5-6 32 Teresa Weatherspoon New York 7 G 5-8 38 Rita Williams Seattle 6 G 5-6 27 Sophia Witherspoon Sparks 7 G 5-10 34
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