After the 2025 season, most veterans in the WNBA will be free agents. This is largely due to the new CBA, and not every free agent will even consider leaving their current team. Nevertheless, we could see a lot of player movement and even some stars changing teams.
Caitlin Clark already made an attempt to recruit one of the biggest free agents in 2026. New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu will be a free agent after the season. Clark, who was a team captain but had to miss the All-Star Game due to an injury, made Ionescu her second pick in the draft after her Fever teammate Aliyah Boston. After the game, she left an interesting comment on Ionescu’s Instagram.
Ionescu posted a couple of photos from All-Star weekend, including one of her and Clark in the locker room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis—Clark’s home arena. Clark commented, “looking real natural in that locker room.”
With Clark and Boston, the Fever have a good chance to attract top talent
Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston are the best young duo in the WNBA. Both are younger than 25 but already multi-time All-Stars and some of the best players in their generation. Other stars will be interested in playing with them. Unlike most other top players in the league, Boston and Clark are also under contract for a few more years.
The Fever already demonstrated their pull on big-time free agents after Clark’s rookie season. They signed DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard, two of the best free agents available. Things didn’t work out between DeWanna Bonner and the Fever, but that doesn’t mean that the team should continue to pursue top-tier free agents in the future.
Sabrina Ionescu has shown no desire to leave New York yet
Sabrina Ionescu is one of many stars who will enter free agency next season. However, as mentioned, that doesn’t mean that she will want to leave New York. She will want to get a bigger contract under the new CBA—just like any other veteran—but might very well get that from the Liberty.
Ionescu was an integral part of the Liberty’s title run and is one of the keys to the team’s chances of winning another title. It is hard to imagine that the Liberty will just let her walk in free agency or that she will want to leave unless her star teammates decide to sign elsewhere and the team falls apart just like the Sun did this past offseason. As long as Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones are all with the Liberty, New York will be a title favorite. Plus, Ionescu told the New York Post earlier this season that she didn’t want to play for another team.
Nevertheless, it can’t hurt that Clark is trying to “recruit” her. Having a star who has a great relationship with other stars is always beneficial.