The WNBA’s midseason cutdown date is fast approaching, and free agent forwards DeWanna Bonner and Emma Meesseman will factor in decisions for several teams.
All 13 WNBA teams have until July 13, 24 hours before the midpoint of the season, to waive any players on unprotected contracts—which come with no guaranteed money, meaning a team can waive them at any point without penalty. After that date those contracts become fully guaranteed.
According to multiple league sources, the interest in Meeseman—who is considering a return to the WNBA but has not definitively made up her mind—extends across the league but contenders like the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and even the Phoenix Mercury have the best shot at landing the 2019 Finals MVP. There was an expectation around the league that Bonner would end up in Phoenix, according to multiple sources, but at this point discussions around signing the two-time WNBA champion include multiple teams.
Bonner is a two-time WNBA champion and six time All-Star, but she’s at the tail end of her career. Meesseman, meanwhile, is a Finals MVP fresh off a EuroBasket title run during which she averaged 19.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
It’s unusual for two high-level WNBA players to be available as unrestricted free agents at this point in the season.
Bonner signed a one-year, $200,000 unprotected contract with the Fever in February, but after nine games—and a benching—she determined it wasn’t a fit. The team designated her unavailable due to “personal reasons” for a stretch of five games from June 10 to June 24 before waiving her on June 25. After a 48-hour period, Bonner cleared the waiver wire, making her an unrestricted free agent.
Meesseman, meanwhile, never signed with a team during free agency. She hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2022, when she signed with the Sky for one year valued at $185,000. She has been vocal about her issues with the WNBA’s prioritization rule, which forces veterans like herself to prioritize the league over their international commitments. The rule requires players with more than two years of WNBA experience to report to their respective WNBA teams by training camp or May 1—whichever date is later—or face a full season suspension.
Every year presents unique challenges for players depending on the international schedule. This year, WNBA teams had a number of players deciding whether or not to compete with their national teams in EuroBasket from June 18 to June 29 and other tournaments like the AmeriCup and the Asia Cup.
The New York Liberty, for example, temporarily suspended forward Leonie Fiebich for a seven-game stretch as she competed with Germany in EuroBasket. The Golden State Valkyries took this same approach with forwards Temi Fágbénlé, Cecilia Zandalasini and Janelle Salaün who competed for their respective national teams in EuroBasket. The same goes for the Los Angeles Sparks and guard Julie Allemand. (The prioritization rule didn’t apply to them because they either arrived to training camp on time or have less than two years of WNBA experience.)
The WNBA allows teams to sign players to varied replacement contracts throughout the season when active players are unavailable or injured. But as those players return—in this case from EuroBasket—replacement players must be waived. EuroBasket officially ended Sunday which is why the WNBA transaction page has been active with players being waived as others return from international competition.
As the July 13th cut down date gets closer, players waived could be an indicator of a more significant move by teams to sign Bonner or Meesseman.
The Lynx currently have the least amount of cap space with $6,354 available according to HerHoopStats.com. The Liberty are working with $119,394 and the Mercury have $69,779 worth of cap space.
Both Meesseman and Bonner could sign for the veteran minimum which is valued at $78,831 for one season. But that would also require the team signing them to be under the league maximum of 12-rostered players. All three aforementioned teams are at capacity in terms of roster spots.
If Meesseman is seriously considering a return to the WNBA then the sweepstakes to sign her could interfere with a team—including the Mercury—signing Bonner first.
