WNBA: Expansion. Unrivaled, a new CBA and more changes to come in 2025

For as much happened in the WNBA and women’s professional basketball in 2024, 2025 loomed throughout the year, presaging intriguing possibilities that demanded attention.

In addition to hints of forthcoming WNBA chaos—from expansion to coaching changes to CBA negotiations to a frothy free agency period—Swish Appeal anticipated Unrivaled’s arrival, another eye-popping draft class and more.

Long-awaited expansion arrives

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The Tempo of WNBA expansion increased in 2024. The Golden State Valkyries went from idea to reality, culminating with the league’s first expansion draft since 2008.

Next up is the Toronto Tempo, ready to debut in 2026 along with the yet-to-be-branded Portland franchise.

Coaching carousel spins

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Urgency infected WNBA franchises in 2024, a reflection of how the league’s growth encouraged ownership groups to take bigger, bolder swings. Following the 2024 regular season, seven teams chose to make a head coach and/or general manger change, with all openings—finally—having been filled.

The Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks decided to short circuit expected slow builds for new voices and visions.

The Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings, hoping for more demonstrable progress from promising cores, moved on from coaches who had earned playoff berths in favor of more innovative offensive (Atlanta) or defensive (Dallas) minds.

The Indiana Fever’s eagerness to immediately contend resulted in another head coaching domino falling for the Connecticut Sun.

The Washington Mystics, however, seem to be seeking be bucking the trend, choosing to eschew a win-now approach for a deeper organizational revitalization.

A new CBA, a new (Un)rival

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Soon after the New York Liberty raised the 2024 WNBA championship trophy, the WNBPA announced that they were opting out of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), requiring the players union and league to negotiate a new CBA before Oct. 31, 2025.

Before then, a new, rival (?) league will launch in Jan. 2025, when Unrivaled, a professional 3×3 league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, will tip off in Miami.

What’s next?

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Sports culture almost always is infatuated with what’s next—and women’s basketball is no exception. That begins with WNBA free agency, when star-shifting moves are expected to shake the league.

Likewise, the impact of the 2024 WNBA rookie class did not satiate, with their successes only increasing the appetite for who’s up next. The Dallas Wings, winners of the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, hope it will be Paige Bueckers, but other promising prospects also are poised to join the W in 2025.