The Las Vegas Aces have a wild few months looming now that the WNBA and its players’ union have agreed to a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.
After eight days of marathon negotiations in New York, both parties reportedly celebrated their handshake deal with a champagne toast early Wednesday.
It’s been 17 months since players opted out of the previous CBA in Oct. 2024. The league and the union agreed to a moratorium on league business in January, causing a pause on free agency that will remain in place until everything is official.
Now, the Aces’ front office will continue to operate in speculation until the new CBA goes into effect.
Before that can happen, the term sheet needs to be finalized. Once that takes place, the agreement will be ratified via vote by the players and the WNBA board of Governors — a process that should be complete in the next few weeks.
Here’s everything you need to know as the delayed offseason approaches:
What is the Aces’ top offseason priority?
Sources said that the Aces’ top offseason priority will be signing four-time MVP A’ja Wilson to the league’s new supermax, which will increase from $249,000 in 2025 to $1.4 million in 2026.
Wilson has taken team-friendly deals in leading the Aces to three titles in the past four years. She signed a two-year, $200,000 per year extension in 2023 and is set to become a free agent.
Wilson wasn’t the only player to refrain from signing past 2025 in anticipation for a new CBA. About 80 percent of the players did the same, including everyone on the Aces’ roster from their 2025 championship run other than rookie Aaliyah Nye.
What are the key offseason dates?
A list of dates was sent to teams in February but is subject to change, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. An official timeline will be announced in a few days.
The WNBA set expansion drafts for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo as the first order of business, estimating they will take place sometime from April 1 to 6. The expansion drafts will allow the teams to build their rosters from those of existing teams.
Sources said the Aces have dedicated much of the paused offseason to preparing for how those expansion drafts might impact their roster. That has been a difficult process because they don’t know how many players they can protect or what the rules will be until those details are announced.
The league estimated April 7 to 18 for free agency, with a period for qualifying offers, including core designations (April 7 and 8), followed by negotiations (April 9 to 11) and a signing window (April 12 to 18).
Is the season delayed?
The league released the 2026 schedule in January despite having made little progress on CBA negotiations.
The WNBA told players a handshake deal would need to be met by March 10 to avoid delays to the season, but the May 8 tipoff date won’t be impacted despite a deal not being reached until Wednesday, a source said.
The same is true for the April 19 start of training camps, the source said.
The Aces’ season opener is scheduled for May 9 against the Phoenix Mercury at T-Mobile Arena. A source said that game will be the team’s ring night.
The Aces will raise their championship banner May 23 at Michelob Ultra Arena against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Which CBA developments are most notable for the Aces?
Potentially the biggest benefit of the agreement is the new salary cap.
With the cap starting at $7 million, an increase from $1.5 million in 2025, the Aces should have more flexibility to build their roster. Of course, that accounts for an increase in salaries overall. The average salary is set to reach $600,000, up from $120,000 in 2025. Most notably, the minimum salary will be north of $300,000. That number was $66,079 in 2025.
Along with their salaries, players will benefit from a new revenue sharing model, the largest point of contention in negotiations.
Under the 2020 CBA, the salary cap went up by 3 percent every year along with a revenue-sharing system that only allowed players to have a percentage of extra revenue once a target was reached. That target went up 20 percent every year.
The revenue-sharing target was reportedly reached for the first time in 2025. It triggered $8 million to be shared with all 13 teams and distributed to players.
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.
