Chennedy Carter had a big 2024 season in the WNBA. Averaging 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals, she was the Chicago Sky’s leading scorer and main source of offense on the perimeter. Nevertheless, the Sky opted not to bring her back for the 2025 season, and Carter is still an unrestricted free agent.
After most stars on the market have already found their new WNBA homes or, in Diana Taurasi’s case, decided to retire, Carter is definitely one of the best free agents still available. Despite her talent, Carter has struggled to stick in the WNBA. Recent reporting pointed to locker room issues with the Sky, and Carter is in danger of being out of the league again. She already did not sign a contract for the 2023 season.
There is still some time for her to ink a new contract, though, and some teams should consider giving her a chance.
2. Golden State Valkyries
The Golden State Valkyries got some solid players for the 2025 season, like Tiffany Hayes, Kate Martin, Janelle Salaün, and Carla Leite. Nevertheless, they are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league and in line for a lottery pick.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. As a new franchise that has to build everything from scratch, winning a few high draft picks and future superstars is usually the way to go. But, on the other hand, deliberately tanking is not a good strategy to establish a team as a free-agent destination.
Players want to win or at least to play to the best of their abilities. From a purely on-court standpoint, signing a scorer like Carter would show players that the Valkyries want to try to be competitive, even as they are still building for the future.
1. Connecticut Sun
This offseason has been disastrous for the Connecticut Sun. They lost all of their starters from last season, and Marina Mabrey wants to be traded. The Sun did not grant that request, holding on to Mabrey and Natasha Cloud in a desperate attempt to avoid a rebuild.
If they wanted to rebuild, they would have traded Mabrey and Cloud for draft assets and young players. However, even with Mabrey, Cloud, Tina Charles, and Diamond DeShields, the Sun do not look like one of the more competitive teams in the league. As currently constructed, the Sun are not better than the Liberty, Lynx, Aces, Storm, Fever, and Mercury
Signing Chennedy Carter would help the Sun look a lot more competitive, at least offensively. She just put together another massive game in China. That kind of production could make the difference in a bunch of games for the Sun.