The WNBA and the WNBPA have agreed to a moratorium for league business, multiple sources reported Monday, which essentially means free agency and the expansion drafts for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo are on pause until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is signed. The news was shared by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne via X.
"The WNBA and WNBPA have reached an agreement on a moratorium for league business, sources tell ESPN," Shelburne wrote. "This is necessary because the sides had failed to reach an agreement on a new CBA agreement or an extension by the January 9 deadline."
As Shelburne also explained, the moratorium is a pretty natural part of the process, since so many aspects of free agency (such as qualifying offers and conversations about coring players) are so directly related to what agreement is place. While elements of the 2020 CBA are still the overarching guidance for the league, both parties are pushing for changes.
What "status quo" means in the WNBA
The WNBA is also in a period of status quo since the latest CBA extension deadline lapsed on January 9. This broadly means that there are specific procedural elements that will need to continue as they have been written and previously agreed upon. Up until Monday's announcement, it was believed that would include the procedures associated with free agency.
As was reported last week, the WNBA called the teams in the league and explained they should each be prepared to move ahead with free agency as planned. Under the prior terms, free agency would have began January 11 with qualifying offers and core designations on the table, but it's since been decided that carrying out league business without a new CBA — which will likely include different salary cap amounts and a new salary structure — would render such negotiations difficult to navigate, per the New York Times.
Players have advocated for removing core designations, which typically give a team another two years to govern unrestricted agents, entirely. The league has insisted on keeping core designations in any new CBA and has argued that they contribute to overall team building goals. The Times also noted that core classification changes could impact the Tempo and Fire. If an expansion draft was held under the 2020 CBA rules, both teams would be limited to drafting only one unrestricted free agent. It's not immediately clear how the rules may end up changing, but any change would certainly have an impact on that part of league operations.