Liberty re-sign Breanna Stewart with intriguing contract wrinkles
Breanna Stewar🐎t is back with the Liberty, and she left money on the table to make it happen.
The question now, as the Liberty prepare to make another run at dethroning the two-time defending champion Aces and cla♌iming the first WNBA title in franchise history, is: What is the leftover money for?
Do the Liberty have one more move in store?
The Libe⭕rty re-signed Stewart, the league’s reigning MVP, on Mon♎day to a one-year contract.
“It’s a monumental da𝐆y in New York as we are thrilled to we♔lcome back the MVP, Breanna Stewart,” Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said in a statement. “Stewie’s return marks our unwavering commitment to excellence and our collective drive to bring a championship to New York. Welcome back, Stewie!”
The terms of Stewart’s deal reportedly include two important pℱrovisos.
One: Stewart ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚtook below-market money. the deal is worth $205,000, a significant discount on the WNBA supermax salary she could have co𓆉mmanded.
After re-sign🌠ing fellow free agent and starting center Jonquel Jones earlier this offseason, the Liberty had $513,803 remai🎐ning for five roster spots, .
They made a failed run at free agent ♛Nneka Ogwumike, who signed with Seattle𝔉.
After penciling in , minimum deals for projected reserves Leonie♊ Fiebich and Ivana Dojkic and the first-year salary for the Liberty’s No. 11 overall pick in April’s WNBA draft, that left $235,521 — give or take a few shekels — for Stewart.
She signed for much less.
The second notable detail: Stewart’s deal is “nonguaranteed,” preserving the final of the Lღiberty’s six guaranteed veteran 🐭salary slots.
That woul🅺d allow the Liberty to take on a player on a guaranteed contract — read: an established player — in a trade.
The Athletic, which Stewart’s agreement,❀ said the one-year deal gives Stewart and the Liberty “tremendous flexibili🌌ty in future negotiations.”
Earlier this offseason, the Liberty put the core designation on Stewart as she reached unrestriꦍcted free agency to preserve exclusive negotiating rights with the 29-year-old forward, who averaged 23 points and 9.3 rebounds in her first season with the team.
As a cored player, Stewart was entitled to sign a one-year deal fo🌄r the WNBAꦇ supermax salary of $241,984.
“It’s my first time being cored. Not surprising,” Stewart said in the days after the Liberty’s four-game Finals loss to th💛e Aces. “I’m excited for what we’re doing here in New York and with the Liberty. … I’m looking f𝔉orward to it for many years to come.
“It’s a little bit different because I know my team. I know I’m going to be here. Just making sure my teammates feel the same way that I do. That I love and appreciate being around them. That I love and appreciate sharing the court with them. We felt like we were doing something special and yeah, we didn’t complete our ultimate goal but we can taste it. We can feel it and now it’s getting back t🍷o that point and actually making it happen.”