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2023 WNBA Free Agency: New York Liberty seek Breanna Stewart, Sloot

2023 WNBA Free Agency: New York Liberty seek Breanna Stewart, Sloot

The New York Liberty have been thinking big ever since drafting Sabrina Ionescu No. 1 overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft. They knew they were getting a special player, even among No. 1 picks, in the NCAA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles. Ionescu is the piece they knew they needed to build around.

So they formed a big three by bringing in Natasha Howard and Betnijah Laney and some people, like me, were high on the idea that that trio could lead a contender. And they did shock the Chicago Sky by taking a game in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but ultimately ended up with two first-round exits in the trio’s time together.

So the Liberty set their sights higher. Now they have Swish Appeal’s No. 1 WNBA player Jonquel Jones, a considerable upgrade over Howard. And they didn’t have to give up Laney in the deal.

Jones and Ionescu finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in MVP voting last year, with Jones winning the award in 2021. Based the 2022 MVP results, they are now the third-best 1-2 punch in the league behind A’ja Wilson/Kelsey Plum and Brittney Griner/Skylar Diggins-Smith, assuming Griner would have finished in the Top 8 in MVP voting (Diggins-Smith was sixth, Wilson was first, Plum was third).

But the Liberty aren’t done yet. And we all know why.


By the numbers*

Free agents (type) (2022 average salary)

  • Sami Whitcomb (unrestricted) ($150,350)
  • Han Xu (reserved) ($60,471)
  • Marine Johannès (reserved) ($40,713)

Total average salary of free agents: $251,534

Total team salary: $993,701

Cap space: $426,799

Analysis

The elephant in the room is that Breanna Stewart is likely seriously considering going to New York. Nobody can seem to figure out what the tweet below meant, but she met with the Liberty last offseason and is from Syracuse, New York.

There is also the news reported by Howard Megdal of The Next that the point guard with the highest assist average in WNBA history, Courtney Vandersloot, is also interested in the Liberty. To hear Megdal and Jackie Powell’s take on everything related to Liberty free agency, you can watch the video below:

Based on what Megdal and Powell have to say, it seems like this is one possible scenario for the final result of the Liberty’s offseason:

  • Breanna Stewart, starting PF ($234,936)
  • Jonquel Jones, starting C ($211,150)
  • Sabrina Ionescu, starting SG ($86,701)
  • Courtney Vandersloot, starting PG ($112,306)
  • Betnijah Laney, starting…

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