After a free agency period that sent the league and its fan base into a frenzy, the WNBA hot stove has cooled.
Any general manager would tell you championships are built on the fringes of a compact WNBA roster. The limitations of the league's salary cap make every move even more important as teams envision what a path towards a title in late summer will look like by taking shots on certain free agents.
Amongst the avalanche of moves from this offseason are the ones that have been largely overshadowed. Here are three that we think can be game-changers for teams in 2023.
Indiana Fever: Maya Caldwell
Contract details: One-year, $68,000 (unprotected)
The Indiana Fever showed last season they have a clear direction for where the franchise is going after years of wandering between rebuilding and trying to be competitive. While the team's nucleus of young talent should be given breathing room to make mistakes, the Fever need to improve on what was the worst offense in the WNBA last season.
Enter Maya Caldwell.
In her short time with the Atlanta Dream last season, Caldwell showed she can be a valuable rotation player in this league. The former third round pick would immediately elevate an Indiana offense that couldn't score in the half court last year. Caldwell can play on and off the ball (she shot 53.1% on 32 catch and shoot attempts last year) which will benefit both Kelsey Mitchell and soon-to-be sophomore Destanni Henderson. Fever general manager Lin Dunn said last offseason she wanted the team to build an identity around tough defense which Caldwell brings to the table as a pesky one-on-one defender.
Soon to be No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston will certainly improve the team's offense but the Fever adding someone like Caldwell is low-risk, high-reward move that will help the team take its next step as a franchise if she makes the roster.
Seattle Storm: Ezi Magbegor
Contract: Two-years, $314,650, protected
All the talk around the Seattle Storm has been about what they were unable to do after seeing Breanna Stewart and Kent native Courtney Vandersloot choose the New York Liberty in free agency. Not included in that discourse was the team retaining Ezi Magbegor for the next two seasons.
Magbegor, who is only 23 years old, was having a defensive player of the year caliber type season in 2022 before the team signed Tina Charles. Magbegor's playing time waned after Charles was picked up but she still was fifth in the WNBA in blocks at the rim despite playing 350 minutes less than the four players above her on that list. Now that Mercedes Russell will be back with the team at the start of camp, her and Magbegor have a chance to be a dominant tandem in the front court. Both are locked up the next two years.
The price point of Magbegor's deal is also a win for the Storm. She will make $159,600 in the first year of her deal which isn't too hefty of a price when looking at what other bigs around the league received. Seattle won't be a contender in 2023 but giving Magbegor time to develop on the offensive end will be a positive for the team this summer.
Los Angeles Sparks: Lexie Brown
Contract details: Two-years, $158,340, unprotected
While the Sparks had a season to forget last year, Brown was one of the few bright spots for Los Angeles. The fifth-year guard took advantage of an expanded role out west in 2022 and was eighth in the league in three-point shooting among players who took at least 100 attempts from beyond the arc. For a Sparks team that was dead last in three-point percentage, bringing Brown back was a necessity as Los Angeles tries to create more space in the paint for Nneka Ogwumike.
The price to keep Brown in LA was not steep. For a player that can create for teammates when asked to run an offense while playing solid perimeter defense, the Sparks got a bargain for her services at $78,000. Los Angeles also just lost Stephanie Talbot for the season after it was announced this week she tore her ACL. Brown's role withe Sparks could be similar to what it was last year now that Talbot won't be eating up minutes at the two.