Free Agency Primer: Storm’s Future Both Murky, Exciting
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Entering an uncertain offseason, the Seattle Storm have just four players under contract in 2026. But they might be exactly the nucleus the team needs as it enters a true rebuild. Credit: John Mac [/caption]
The WNBA and the corresponding player’s association have until Nov. 30 to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. If a new agreement is not made before that date, the league risks a delay to free agency negotiations and the draft, among other things.
This current offseason for the league and the Seattle Storm remains very much up in the air. There are some certainties, however, in who the Storm has under contract for 2026.
Before looking at the players whom the team has locked up, let’s take a look at Seattle’s reserved and unrestricted free agents.
Unrestricted free agents
F Nneka Ogwumike
G Skylar Diggins
G/F Gabby Williams
G Brittney Sykes
C Ezi Magbegor
F Katie Lou Samuelson
G Erica Wheeler
G Tiffany Mitchell
The players on this list accounted for 83.5 percent of the Storm’s total points scored in 2025. They also have a combined 51 seasons of WNBA experience, but five are over 30 years old.
Simply put: These are all of the valuable veterans that the team relied on this past season. The only player who played a major role in the Storm’s lineup that isn’t an unrestricted free agent was rookie Dominique Malonga.
Seattle isn’t unlike other WNBA teams, as the majority of the league are free agents this offseason. But for a team entering a major transition in personnel and coaching staff, most of these players likely will not return in 2026.
Reserved free agents
F/C Mackenzie Holmes
G Zia Cooke
This is a much smaller list, as reserved free agents are players with three or fewer years of WNBA experience whose contracts have expired.
Assuming the timeline remains the same, the Storm will have until Feb. 1 to extend qualifying offers to these players. If the team chooses not to extend an offer, Holmes and Cooke will become unrestricted free agents.
Holmes is a potential candidate to return after being a 2024 third-round pick by the Storm. She was away from the team that season while recovering from knee surgery, but was brought back in 2025. Holmes appeared in 10 games and averaged 1.0 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 5.8 minutes per game.
Under contract in 2026
F/C Dominique Malonga
G Nika Mühl
F Jordan Horston
G Lexie Brown
Malonga is the clear-cut future of the franchise after a powerful finish to her rookie season. She was one of five players selected to the WNBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.7 blocks per game. She also converted 55.1 percent of her shots — the highest on the team.
Mühl and Horston will also be key pieces, assuming they can remain healthy. Both are coming off of season-ending knee injuries suffered in international play before the 2025 season.
That trio has the potential to be a legitimate nucleus moving forward. Mühl wasn’t a huge factor as a rookie in 2024, but she has a much higher ceiling than we’ve seen so far in the WNBA. If Diggins doesn’t return, Mühl could be the point guard of the future for Seattle.
Horston, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 draft, has averaged at least 6.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals in each of her first two seasons in the league. She’s a positional matchup nightmare for opposing teams and has a well-rounded skill set. That is exactly what the Storm need as they build a roster from the ground up.
Brown is the big question mark. She played in just 24 games this past season and averaged just 9.5 minutes per game. That led to averages of 2.1 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
In her exit interview, Brown, who has battled health issues in 2023-24, asserted that she was healthy but wasn’t given enough of an opportunity by the former Storm coaching staff. That could lead to her being traded this offseason, or the new coaching staff may present a fresh start for the 31-year-old.
Regardless, the Storm have at least three players whom they can begin to build around. That’s a plus, even though the majority of the 2025 roster core may not return. Seattle has to be looking beyond 2026 as it begins a rebuild of the franchise.
