Getty Images

The 2023 WNBA free agency period delivered in a major way, as star free agents switched teams and ushered the league into a new superteam era. Candace Parker started the action by siging with the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, before both Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot joined up with the New York Liberty. Those two teams are now the heavy favorites to win it all this season. 

In other news, the Seattle Storm have re-signed Ezi Magbegor, brought back Sami Whitcomb and picked up Kia Nurse as they try to remain relevant following Stewart's departure; the Chicago Sky have tried to revamp their roster by bringing in Isabelle Harrison, Courtney Williams, and Elizabeth Williams; the Los Angeles Sparks have added Azura Stevens and Stephanie Talbot to the mix as they try to get back into the playoff picture. Diana Taurasi, meanwhile, has signed a multi-year deal to remain with the Phoenix Mercury.

Though the biggest names are now off the board, there's still plenty of moves to come. As the fun continues, here's everything you need to know about 2023 WNBA free agency:

When did free agency start?

Teams were allowed to start talking with players on Saturday, Jan. 21, but no deals could officially be signed until Feb. 1. While those rules are skirted to some extent -- much like in the NBA -- teams that are caught breaking them will get punished under the league's tampering rules. Just last year, the Seattle Storm were fined for announcing a new deal with Sue Bird prior to the official opening of free agency. 

How does WNBA free agency work?

In general, it works just like it does in the NBA. Once free agency begins, teams can start talking to players, who are grouped into different classifications based on their contracts. The majority of players will either be unrestricted, meaning they can talk to and sign with any team they want, or restricted, where the prior team has the ability to match any contract offer. 

There is also a reserved category for players who hit free agency but have fewer than three years of service in the league. Often, these are veterans who entered the WNBA later in their career, but they can also be young players who went undrafted or were not on a typical rookie scale contract. The prior team has exclusive negotiating rights with any reserved player.

Another unique situation is when a player's contract expires while they are suspended. Those players are technically found to be "withholding services" according to the CBA, as Her Hoops Stats' Richard Cohen points out, and are then listed as "suspended -- contract expired." In practice, these players are essentially reserved free agents, though the prior team does not need to extend a qualifying offer. 

One final designation to mention is "core players." Much like the franchise tag in the NFL, teams can decide to "core" a player, which gives that club exclusive negotiating rights, even if they were going to be an unrestricted free agent. Teams must use this maneuver wisely, however, as they are only allowed to use it once per free agency period and a player may only be "cored" three times in their career. 

2023 free agents

Here's a look at every player in free agency this winter, separated by classification. 

Cored

Player Previous Team New Team Position Status

Brionna Jones

Connecticut Sun

Connecticut Sun

Center

Signed

Unrestricted

Player Previous Team New Team Position Status

Lindsay Allen

Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota Lynx

G

Signed

Yvonne Anderson

Connecticut Sun

G

Unsigned

Kristine Anigwe

Phoenix Mercury

Connecticut Sun

F/C

Signed training camp contract

Amy Atwell

Los Angeles Sparks

G

Unsigned

Monique Billings

Atlanta Dream

Atlanta Dream

F

Signed

Lexie Brown

Los Angeles Sparks

Los Angeles Sparks

G

Signed

Rachel Banham

Minnesota Lynx

G

Unsigned

Katie Benzan

Washington Mystics

G

Unsigned

Kennedy Burke

Seattle Storm

G/F

Unsigned

Maya Caldwell

Atlanta Dream

Indiana Fever

G

Signed

Liz Cambage

Los Angeles Sparks

C

Unsigned

Jordin Canada

Los Angeles Sparks

Los Angeles Sparks

G

Signed training camp contract

Kaila Charles

Atlanta Dream

Seattle Storm

G/F

Signed training camp contract

Tina Charles

Seattle Storm

F/C

Unsigned

Alysha Clark

Washington Mystics

Las Vegas Aces

F

Signed

Alaina Coates

Indiana Fever

C

Unsigned

Nia Coffey

Atlanta Dream

Atlanta Dream

F

Signed

Sydney Colson

Las Vegas Aces

Las Vegas Aces

G

Signed

Lorela Cubaj

New York Liberty

F/C

Unsigned

Elissa Cunane

Minnesota Lynx

C

Unsigned

Damiris Dantas

Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota Lynx

F

Signed training camp contract

Kaela Davis

Phoenix Mercury

F

Unsigned

Reshanda Gray

Phoenix Mercury

F

Unsigned

Brittney Griner

Phoenix Mercury

C

Unsigned

Isabelle Harrison

Dallas Wings

Chicago Sky

F

Signed

Bria Hartley

Connecticut Sun

G

Unsigned

Tianna Hawkins

Washington Mystics

Washington Mystics

F

Signed training camp contract

Moriah Jefferson

Minnesota Lynx

Phoenix Mercury

G

Signed

Stephanie Jones

Connecticut Sun

Washington Mystics

F

Signed training camp contract

Tina Krajisnik

Chicago Sky

F/C

Unsigned

Jantel Lavender

Seattle Storm

F

Unsigned

Rui Machida

Washington Mystics

G

Unsigned

Anneli Maley

Chicago Sky

F

Unsigned

Angel McCoughtry

Minnesota Lynx

F

Unsigned

Emma Meesseman

Chicago Sky

F

Unsigned

Nikolina Milic

Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota Lynx

F

Signed

Tiffany Mitchell

Indiana Fever

Minnesota Lynx

G

Signed

Astou Ndour-Fall

Chicago Sky

Chicago Sky

F/C

Signed training camp contract

Kia Nurse

Phoenix Mercury

Seattle Storm

G/F

Signed

Chiney Ogwumike

Los Angeles Sparks

F/C

Unsigned

Nneka Ogwumike

Los Angeles Sparks

F

Unsigned

JiSu Park

Las Vegas Aces

C

Unsigned

Candace Parker

Chicago Sky

Las Vegas Aces

F

Signed

Raina Perez

Seattle Storm

G

Unsigned

Theresa Plaisance

Las Vegas Aces

Seattle Storm

F/C

Signed

Epiphanny Prince

Seattle Storm

New York Liberty

G

Signed training camp contract

Allie Quigley

Chicago Sky

N/A

G

Reportedly sitting out season

Karlie Samuelson

Phoenix Mercury

G

Unsigned

Jennie Simms

Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

G

Signed training camp contract

Odyssey Sims

Connecticut Sun

G

Unsigned

Hannah Sjerven

Minnesota Lynx

F/C

Unsigned

Destiny Slocum

Atlanta Dream

G

Unsigned

Kamiah Smalls

Minnesota Lynx

G

Unsigned

Alanna Smith

Indiana Fever

Chicago Sky

F

Signed training camp contract

Azura Stevens

Chicago Sky

Los Angeles Sparks

F/C

Signed

Breanna Stewart

Seattle Storm

New York Liberty

F

Signed

Kiah Stokes

Las Vegas Aces

Las Vegas Aces

C

Signed

Brittney Sykes

Los Angeles Sparks

Washington Mystics

G

Signed

Stephanie Talbot

Seattle Storm

Los Angeles Sparks

F

Signed

Diana Taurasi

Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

G

Signed multi-year contract

Sparkle Taylor

Chicago Sky

G

Unsigned

Kristi Toliver

Los Angeles Sparks

Washington Mystics

G

Announced plans to sign with Mystics

Yvonne Turner

Phoenix Mercury

Seattle Storm

G

Signed training camp contract

Courtney Vandersloot

Chicago Sky

New York Liberty

G

Signed

Megan Walker

Atlanta Dream

F

Unsigned

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough

Washington Mystics

Washington Mystics

G

Signed

Erica Wheeler

Atlanta Dream

Indiana Fever

G

Signed

Sami Whitcomb

New York Liberty

Seattle Storm

G

Signed

Courtney Williams

Connecticut Sun

Chicago Sky

G

Signed

Elizabeth Williams

Atlanta Dream

Chicago Sky

C

Signed

Kiana Williams

Connecticut Sun

Minnesota Lynx

G

Signed training camp contract

Restricted

PlayerPrevious TeamNew TeamPositionStatus

Emma Cannon

Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever

F

Signed

Bridget Carleton

Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota Lynx

F

Signed

Sophie Cunningham

Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

G

Signed

Megan Gustafson

Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

C

Signed training camp contract

Natisha Hiedeman

Connecticut Sun

Connecticut Sun

G

Signed

Marina Mabrey

Dallas Wings

Chicago Sky

G

Signed

Teaira McCowan

Dallas Wings

Dallas Wings

C

Signed

Shey Peddy

Phoenix Mercury

G

Qualifying offer extended

Victoria Vivians

Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever

G

Signed

Gabby Williams

Seattle Storm

F

Qualifying offer extended

Reserved

PlayerPrevious TeamNew TeamPositionStatus

Anna Cruz

Minnesota Lynx

G

Qualifying offer extended

Crystal Dangerfield

New York Liberty

Dallas Wings

G

Signed

Rennia Davis

Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever

G/F

Signed training camp contract

AD Durr

Atlanta Dream

Atlanta Dream

G

Signed training camp contract

Temi Fagbenle

Indiana Fever

C

Qualifying offer extended

Rebekah Gardner

Chicago Sky

Chicago Sky

G

Signed

Joyner Holmes

Connecticut Sun

C

Signed training camp contract

Marine Johannes

New York Liberty

G

Qualifying offer extended

Jazmine Jones

Washington Mystics

G

Signed training camp contract

Ezi Magbegor

Seattle Storm

Seattle Storm

F/C

Signed

Beatrice Mompremier

Atlanta Dream

C

Qualifying offer extended

Khayla Pointer

Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever

G

Signed training camp contract

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe

New York Liberty

F/C

Kianna Smith

Los Angeles Sparks

G

Qualifying offer extended, rights traded to Sun

Sam Thomas

Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

G

Signed training camp contract

Evina Westbrook

Washington Mystics

G/F

Signed training camp contract

Han Xu

New York Liberty

C

Qualifying offer extended

Suspended -- contract expired

PlayerPrevious TeamNew TeamPositionStatus

Bernadett Hatar

Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever

C

Signed training camp contract

Tiffany Hayes

Atlanta Dream

Connecticut Sun

G

Signed

Chelsey Perry

Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever

F

Signed training camp contract

Kylee Shook

New York Liberty

F

Maria Vadeeva

Los Angeles Sparks

F/C

Amanda Zahui B.

Los Angeles Sparks

Washington Mystics

C

Signed training camp contract

Cecilia Zandalasini

Minnesota Lynx

F