Breanna Stewart, With Core Designation, Will Return To Liberty
As the Liberty enhanced their formidable lineup, the two-time champion signed a one-year contract with them.
Breanna Stewart announced that she would join the New York Liberty helped the squad enter the title race this offseason. The 29-year-old seems destined to try again after narrowly failing to reach the mark in a defeat to the Las Vegas Aces.
Breanna Stewart will be cored entirely. General Manager of Liberty Jonathan Kolb informed the media at the team’s Friday departure interviews that she would not be an unrestricted free agency.
The NFL franchise tag is comparable to coring. Each year, a single senior free agent may be designated by an organization to solely engage in negotiations and sign a contract with them during the free agency period at the start of the league year. The league supermax, or $234,936 in 2023, is the value of the core qualifying offer, which is a fully guaranteed, one-year contract.
Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and A’ja Wilson, the Finals MVP, narrowly beat Stewart out for the WNBA MVP award following Stewart’s strong regular season performance, but she struggled with the title on the line.
In the 70-69 Game 4 defeat to the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday, she scored 10 points on 3-of-17 field goal attempts. In 38 minutes, she recorded 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and other contributions.
As her January arrival to the club occurred during a flurry of transactions, Stewart’s return to the Liberty on a core designation was expected as a result. Her announcement was swiftly followed by the signing of former Chicago Sky standout Courtney Vandersloot. Additionally, a month before, the group acquired Jonquel Jones, the 2021 MVP.
Stewart’s one-year agreement will now become a supermax contract with New York, similar to the one she previously held with the Seattle Storm during the previous campaign.
Breanna Stewart told The Athletic before the finals that she was “happy in New York” and that it was “almost guaranteed” that she would be cored. Unrestricted free agent Jones claimed she hadn’t given it much thought.
This season, the ex-Sun forward averaged 11.3 points and 8.4 rebounds. She shares the top spot in the league with 1.8 assists and 0.6 steals per game.
She has played two seasons on a core contract, so she wasn’t a contender to be cored.
The Liberty is something Jones indicated she is “definitely trending towards” doing on Friday.
