Unrivaled’s Fingerprints Are All Over WNBA Free Agency

It was well understood in women’s basketball circles that Unrivaled would add an interesting spin to WNBA free agency, with many of the top players sequestered in South Florida, able to constantly discuss their options and potentially influence one another’s decisions in close quarters.

But watching it play out in real time has been nothing short of fascinating.

WNBA teams and free agents were allowed to begin negotiating Jan. 15, with any deals becoming official Feb. 1. Several star moves have been reported, many involving women who are down in Miami playing 3-on-3.

The first reported trade sent Unrivaled player Jewell Loyd from Seattle to Las Vegas, Kelsey Plum from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and Li Yueru from Los Angeles to Seattle. Also involved in the trade are draft picks: the No. 2 pick in 2025 and a 2026 first-round pick go to the Storm, the No. 9 pick in 2025 and second-round pick in 2026 to the Sparks, and the Aces get the No. 13 pick in 2025. Unrivaled’s Dearica Hamby of the Sparks posted a photo with her former Aces teammate Plum in response to the news Sunday.

The next big reported trade will send top free agent Alyssa Thomas from Connecticut to Phoenix along with Ty Harris in exchange for Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen, and the 2025 No. 12 pick. (Thomas was traded as a free agent because she was given a core designation by Connecticut, meaning she could only re-sign or get traded with her approval.) Thomas and Cloud are both at Unrivaled, the latter of whom will get early minutes with her new Sun teammate Marina Mabrey in Miami once she returns from injury.

Also on Cloud and Mabrey’s Phantom BC is Brittney Griner. The 10-time All-Star has made the most shocking move of WNBA free agency, from Phoenix to Atlanta, and she celebrated with her new teammates at … Unrivaled.

In announcing her decision to leave the WNBA team where she has spent her entire career, Griner posted a video fishing on a boat with the three Atlanta Dream players in Unrivaled: Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, and Jordin Canada. Two of them wore Unrivaled merchandise, and Howard lifted up her Unrivaled sweatshirt to reveal an Atlanta Dream shirt underneath.

Fans on social media have questioned whether that video, or Unrivaled in general, counts as tampering with WNBA free-agency rules. Some WNBA free agents at Unrivaled like Satou Sabally have been open about using the new environment to learn about potential landing spots, while others have been tight-lipped about the crossover.

“You don’t want to get in trouble for anything like that,” Thomas told Front Office Sports in Miami.

The WNBA collective bargaining agreement—which is in its final year—does not mention the word “tampering.” Conveniently, Unrivaled tipped off Jan. 17; the CBA allows free agents to begin negotiating with teams on Jan. 15. Players arrived in South Florida for training earlier in January, before free agency legally began. The CBA does prohibit “unauthorized agreements” outside of that period, and carries fines for teams up to a million dollars. 

Tampering rules are among the most difficult to enforce in all of sports, and the WNBA has rarely cracked down on teams for it. The league made an example out of the Seattle Storm in 2022 when the team posted about re-signing legend Sue Bird too early and had to pay an undisclosed fine.