Liberty’s Future with Star Players Uncertain but Hopeful
Amid uncertainties surrounding a new collective bargaining agreement, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb expressed last September that he has “extreme confidence” that Brianna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones will return in 2026.
Now that an interim CBA is established, the situation might be tricky for retaining this star trio, but it’s not completely off the table.
Each player is eligible for a $1.4 million supermax contract, which complicates things significantly due to the WNBA’s hard salary cap. In fact, securing even one supermax contract is a challenge for many teams.
The recently ratified collective bargaining agreement, supported by 90% of the National Women’s Basketball Players Association, still needs to be approved by the WNBA Board of Governors. One of the hurdles is that the supermax amount surpasses the overall salary cap.
This puts pressure on mid-tier salaries, making it essential for teams to be inventive about how they distribute their budgets. Signing extensions for these three players could provide them with long-term security, and sources indicate a strong likelihood of a multi-year deal for top free agents.
The 2026 salary cap is set at $7 million, a notable jump from last year’s $1.5 million. Currently, the supermax salary accounts for 20 percent of the cap, a significant increase from the previous CBA, where it was around 16.5 percent.
Moreover, teams need to comprise 12 players, excluding two development slots, which will not affect the cap.
In the NBA, a supermax contract is often a mark of prestige. Will it carry the same weight in the WNBA? Or is being labeled a “million-dollar player” sufficient?
Last year, Stewart signed for $208,400, amounting to about 13.8 percent of the Liberty’s salary cap. If her cap hit remains the same in 2026, she would earn around $967,951. In 2025, she signed for $40,844 less than the supermax amount, and in 2026, she would hypothetically give up $432,049.
Given Stewart’s prominence in the league and her role in shaping this new CBA, earning below a million dollars seems a bit absurd. It’s reasonable to think that Ionescu and Jones could also command multi-million salaries.
If all three were to earn $1 million, they would represent about 42.9 percent of the Liberty’s salary cap in 2026, which could leave room for a starting five with a combined cap percentage of 55-60 percent. This seems plausible, especially with Leoni Fievic still on his rookie contract.
The salaries for Fijevic and Nyara Sabally, the only Liberty players secured for 2026, are governed by the CBA, and details on those amounts aren’t immediately available.
Additionally, the new CBA entails fresh minimum commitment limits.
As for minimum salaries, in 2025, a veteran player with less than two years of service made $66,079, while a three-year veteran earned $78,831. Under the new framework, those figures will range from $277,500 for players with less than three years to $300,000 for those with ten or more years.
In 2026, all contracts will carry a 3.96 percent cap hit, regardless of experience. This creates a shared dilemma among WNBA general managers: how to make the most of limited financial space?
Meanwhile, players also face a personal decision about what their worth truly is.
In the end, Kolb seems to be well-suited for navigating these complexities.
