The Dallas Wings released two players on Wednesday, the team announced. Monique Billings and Odyssey Sims were previously signed to hardship contracts as Dallas dealt with injury trouble. However, Satou Sabally, Maddy Siegrist and Jaelyn Brown are all expected to return within the first week following the Olympic break. As a result, the Wings released Billings and Sims per league policy.
Wings president and CEO Greg Bibb explained the situation in detail while speaking to reporters last Thursday.
“As a result of those injuries… we were forced into a hardship situation,” Bibb said. “We signed Monique really after the first week of the regular season and then subsequently we added Odyssey later. Those two long-term hardship contracts have essentially eaten the extra salary cap space that we have. So as we sit here today, we are capped out financially.
“Why does that matter? Here's why it matters… When the first injured player returns, we will be forced to release one of the two hardship contracts. That's either Monique or Odyssey. We don't have a choice, it has to be a hardship contract… One of those two must be released. When the second injured player returns, the second hardship contract must be released.”
Billings and Sims played well for the Wings. However, Dallas had to release both players, something they likely would not have done if they had another choice.
Can Wings re-sign Monique Billings, Odyssey Sims?
The Wings are excited for their injured players to return. With the being said, losing Billings and Sims is far from ideal. So can Dallas re-sign Billings and Sims in 2024 after releasing them?
“When we release them they become unrestricted free agents immediately and can sign with any team the next day with the exception of the team that released them from the hardship contract, us,” Bibb explained. “For us, in order for us to re-sign any one of those players coming off a hardship contract, we have a ten-day wait.”
So if Billings and Sims want to return to the Wings, couldn't they just wait ten days and then re-sign with Dallas? For the Wings, the situation is not that simple.
“The additional complication comes into effect here,” Bibb said. “Again, we are capped out in terms of space. Therefore, in order to re-sign both Odyssey and Monique or even one of the two, we would have to create cap space. Because we are in the second half of the season, all contracts have been guaranteed by this point. The only way that we create cap space is to trade a player to another team and not bring back a salary from that team. That is a complicated situation because much like us, almost every team in the WNBA is either at the cap or very close to the cap.”
Bibb later added that he is “working the phones everyday” and is “looking” for ways to help the team improve. Bibb also said that bringing Sims and Billings back is a “priority” but he is not sure if it can become a “reality.”
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