The CBA negotiations have dominated the offseason discourse around the WNBA. The current CBA was supposed to expire on October 31, but the league and WNBPA agreed to a 30-day extension to continue negotiations. Much of the conversation has centered around the league’s stars and their ability to finally make the money they deserve.
However, other groups may be even more impacted by a new CBA and the looming threat of a strike than the W’s stars. Most stars have lucrative endorsement deals and high salaries in Unrivaled, overseas leagues, or Project B once it kicks off in 2026. Players who are still fighting to secure a role in the WNBA usually don’t have that. A lockout or a strike would delay their next opportunity to make a WNBA roster, and their careers could depend on continued league and roster expansion. The latter can only happen if the new CBA changes the number of players a team can carry.
Deja Kelly is one of those players. She addressed the issue when she appeared on Good Follow with Ros Gold-Onwude.
“For a player like me, who is aspiring to be stamped in the league and have a consistent job, I don’t want a lockout. I’m scared,” Kelly said about the CBA negotiations.
She also added, “Obviously, the expansion teams are a no-brainer and are going to be very beneficial for players like me and for just players all around the league to be able to have different roles, see different faces, and continue to grow the league in different ways.”
Deja Kelly will play in Athletes Unlimited this winter
Kelly went undrafted in the 2025 draft after four seasons of college basketball in North Carolina and one in Oregon. She did get a training camp contract with a stacked Aces team, though. Kelly played well in two preseason games. In her debut, she scored nine points on 4-5 shooting in just seven minutes of playing time. She followed that up with a 15-point performance against the Phoenix Mercury, including the game-winning basket.
Nevertheless, she didn’t make the Aces’ roster, as the team was focused on proven veterans that could help bring another title to Las Vegas.
So, Kelly will get to play her first regular season of professional basketball in Nashville as a part of Athletes Unlimited. She will compete with and against established WNBA players like Ariel Atkins, Lexie Brown, Tina Charles, Alysha Clark, Sydney Colson, NaLyssa Smith, Isabelle Harrison, Kia Nurse, Odyssey Sims, Kiah Stokes, Shey Peddy, and Natasha Mack.
Athletes Unlimited will be an early audition for the WNBA for Kelly.
League expansion will create additional roster spots
One big issue in professional women’s basketball in the United States is that there is more talent than there are roster spots in the WNBA. So, every year, promising young players get waived before even getting a chance to play their first season, and older players lose jobs they had for years.
League expansion will create much-needed additional roster spots. The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will join the league for the next season, adding 24 roster spots. In 2028, a team in Cleveland will follow. Detroit will get a team in 2029, and Philadelphia will close out this round of expansion in 2030.
Adding teams to the league isn’t the only way to create more roster spots, though, and players have been adamant that the W needs to adjust roster sizes. Right now, teams can carry twelve players—sometimes only eleven, depending on their payroll. Just a few injuries can throw a team into complete disarray and force it to sign hardship players. That means bringing in players who often have no experience playing for the team and asking them to contribute on a moment’s notice. Allowing teams to have players on the roster who practice with the team and can be activated to fill in for an injured or sick player would make things much easier. It would also create additional opportunities for players like Deja Kelly.