Former WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart is leaving the Seattle Storm to join the New York Liberty.
Stewart, 28, made the announcement on social media Wednesday, choosing to join her home state team and leave the franchise where she spent the last 7 years. The UConn alum won two titles with the Storm to go along with 4 All-WNBA First Team selections as well.
Originally selected 1st overall by Seattle in the 2016 WNBA draft, Stewart has averaged 20.3pts/8.6reb/2.9ast for her career. The Syracuse, NY native previously announced that she had narrowed her choice of teams down to the Storm and Liberty several days ago.
With Wednesday marking the first day that free agents could sign offer sheets and contracts, Stewart opted to join the upstart Liberty in one of the biggest media markets in the league.
The signing suddenly thrusts the Liberty square into the championship mix for 2023 as she’ll join former number 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu, and the recently acquired Jonquel Jones out east.
Adding a player of Stewart’s pedigree will help New York keep pace with the other newly formed “super team” in Las Vegas who, in addition to retaining most of their championship roster from last year, added former 2x WNBA MVP Candace Parker this offseason as well.
“Stewie’s free agency is the story of the WNBA at an inflection point: Players understand their value, the potential of the WNBA, and are eager partners in growing a business that has incredible momentum,” Stewart’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas of Wasserman, told ESPN in a statement Wednesday. “She owned the process and the responsibility that comes with power in ways that hopefully will impact how smart free agents of all genders approach similar opportunities.”
On the other side of the equation, the Storm are suddenly a team in flux. Not only have they now lost a perennial MVP candidate in Stewart, but franchise icon Sue Bird also retired in the offseason leaving the club with only two players under contract for 2023.
As a result, Jewell Lloyd and Mercedes Russell could be looking at a drastically different roster on opening night, than the one who finished 2nd in the Western Conference at 22-14 last year.
The announcement of Stewart’s decision could loom large in free agency as she was expected to be the first domino to fall in what’s shaping up to be a busy offseason for several franchises.
Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot previously announced that she was considering 4 teams to sign with in 2023: the Sky, Storm, Liberty, and Lynx. On Tuesday the veteran guard announced that she would not be returning to Chicago, narrowing her choices down to 3. With Seattle’s roster unknown at this point, it would be surprising to say the least if Vandersloot were to head out West.
That leaves the Lynx and the Liberty still in play. At the moment, Vandersloot and Stewart are both playing on the same team in Turkey, and had mentioned that they were keeping an eye on one another’s decisions in free agency.
If the 33 year old follows her current teammate to New York, it could form one of the most loaded rosters in league history.
Financial terms of Stewart’s deal were not made immediately available.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Lorie Shaull. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.