Top players on the New York Liberty appear to be taking pay cuts in order to fit their salaries under the WNBA salary cap.
In the past two days, two-time MVP Breanna Stewart, 2021 MVP and 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, four-time All-WNBA selection Sabrina Ionescu and three-time All-Star Satou Sabally all agreed to deals with the Liberty.
Like nearly every WNBA veteran, all four players were free agents, although Stewart and Ionescu signaled shortly after the new collective bargaining agreement was signed that they would stay in Brooklyn.
Sabally was on the Phoenix Mercury last year.
Stewart and Ionescu signed three-year, standard max contracts worth $1.19 million in 2026. Meanwhile, Sabally’s contract is worth $815,000 in 2026 and $855,750 in 2027.
These terms come despite both Stewart and Ionescu being eligible for a $1.4 million supermax contract, which players with at least five years of service can obtain from re-signing with their current team, and Sabally eligible for a standard max.
In a Friday press conference held by the Liberty, Sabally noted her ability to sign a max contract, but decided not to in pursuit of winning.
“I could be a superstar and single myself out on a different team and get that 1.2 or 1.4, but what I really wanted to do is win a championship,” Sabally said. “That’s missing on my resume. I know I’m a great player, but I do want that ring, and I want to do it alongside people that I trust and alongside people that I want to really compete with.”
Sabally, who lost in the 2025 WNBA finals with the Phoenix Mercury, said she chose New York because she wanted to be closer to her home in Germany (though she was born in New York City). She also was drawn to players like former Oregon teammate Ionescu and Stewart, who she played with overseas.
Newly-hired Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco also indicated that several Liberty stars were taking pay cuts.
“Satou, she’s just phenomenal. It just shows her selflessness,” DeMarco said of Sabally’s contract. “It also shows our stars here, their selflessness, being willing to take a little bit less and continue to build this thing.”
The Liberty also re-signed 2021 All-Star Betnijah Laney-Hamilton on a one-year, $400,000 deal, while signing Rebecca Allen to a $350,000 deal. Leonie Fiebich is being paid $293,510 in 2026 on her rookie deal. Those salaries alone, combined with those of Ionescu, Sabally, and Stewart combine for $4,228,510. The terms of Jones’s deal are not yet public, but Jones will likely also have to take a discount to fit her deal under the cap.
Under the new 2026 WNBA CBA agreement, each team has a salary cap of $7 million, compared to $1.5 million in 2025. However, a supermax is worth 20% of a 2026 cap compared to the roughly 17% it was in 2025. In other words, WNBA roster construction has become more challenging, essentially forcing star players to choose between playing together or maximizing their earnings.
That doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Liberty, which have seemingly convinced at least three star players to take less for pursuit of a championship in return. New York last won a title in 2024, its first and only one.
Meanwhile, stars across the league on other teams are signing full supermax contracts. Some of them include the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, and the Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell. Wilson’s contract is set to pay her $1.4 million this year and will rise with the salary cap over the next two years.
The Liberty’s regular season tips off on May 8 against the Connecticut Sun.
