3 questions for Aces after initial free agent flurry

After falling short of winning three straight WNBA championships, the Aces were quickly confronted with a period of uncertainty.

The major unknowns included the future of all four of the team’s unrestricted free agents; which player they’d lose in the expansion draft; whom coach Becky Hammon would turn to for the two vacancies on her staff; and how the front office would navigate free agency without a general manager.

Now that it’s been three weeks since the window opened for free agents to sign with teams, all of those questions have been replaced with new ones.

Here are a few questions as free agency action appears to be slowing down:

All done?

Guard Kelsey Plum’s future was arguably the largest question mark facing the Aces this offseason.

The unrestricted free agent requested a trade after the Aces gave her the core designation, which led to the blockbuster three-team deal that sent Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for former Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd.

That move got the ball rolling in free agency around the league. Other teams signed major additions, some of which the Aces pursued and didn’t land. Veteran center Brittney Griner left the Phoenix Mercury and opted to sign with the Atlanta Dream despite interest from the Aces, for example.

From that point, the Aces shifted their focus toward retaining their remaining unrestricted free agent veterans and signing forward Cheyenne Parker-Tyus.

They secured Parker-Tyus, but lost all three of their mainstay reserves. Sydney Colson opted to sign with the Indiana Fever, and Alysha Clark returned to the Storm.

Tiffany Hayes committed to return to the Aces, but changed her mind at the last minute, sources said. She decided to join the expansion Golden State Valkyries, essentially doubling her salary.

The decision meant the Aces ceded two players to the new organization, as the team also lost fan favorite rookie Kate Martin in the expansion draft.

After those losses, the Aces signed 2024 draftee Elizabeth Kitley, who sat out last season with an injury. To rebound from the reserve guard losses, they traded with the Chicago Sky for guard Dana Evans and signed Connecticut Sun free agent Tiffany Mitchell.

Aside from more training camp invitations, it’s unclear if the Aces will do much else. Salary cap math indicates that a major move might not be possible without waiving some players, and Aces president Nikki Fargas sounded content with the roster during a radio interview with team play-by-play voice TC Martin on Tuesday.

“We feel very, very good about our potential to play as deep as we can, as long as we can, to try to bring that third championship to the city of Las Vegas,” Fargas said

New starting five better?

ESPN recently projected A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Loyd and Parker-Tyus as the Aces’ 2025 starters.

Gray, who missed the Aces’ first 12 games last season as she recovered from a foot injury, might be an entirely new player this season.

She struggled in her return and never looked fully recovered last season, but she’s averaging 18.3 points per game in the Unrivaled offseason women’s basketball league. She’s looked like her old self recently, recording 26-point performances in the past two games. That kind of production would be huge for the Aces.

Whether Loyd will be an improvement over Plum has yet to be seen, but Loyd is a top scorer who is just as versatile as Plum, if not more. Loyd is also two inches taller than Plum and could potentially provide more of a defensive edge.

Parker-Tyus notably signed an nonguaranteed contract for the veteran minimum. It would be significant if the Aces found another starter for such a steal.

But center Kiah Stokes started 29 of the Aces’ 40 games last season, and she’ll work hard in training camp to hold onto that spot.

It also seems like there’s a real possibility Kitley could find her way into the starting lineup if she competes well in training camp and all continues to go well in her recovery from the ACL injury that allowed her to drop far enough in the draft for the Aces to select her at No. 24 overall.

Who makes the team?

Considering all of these possibilities, it’s likely the Aces will need to decide between keeping Stokes or center Megan Gustafson, as the salaries of both frontcourt options are nonguaranteed.

And that’s not the only decision the front office will face before the season.

As it stands now, the Aces’ only “protected,” or guaranteed, contracts belong to Wilson, Gray, Young, Loyd, Evans and forward Kierstan Bell.

The Aces signed center Queen Egbo, guard Elena Tsineke and guard/forward Crystal Bradford to training camp contracts — and there’s nothing to stop the team from adding more. A WNBA team can sign as many as 18 players to training camp contracts in an offseason.

Before the season begins, the Aces will need to size their roster down to the league maximum 12 players or minimum 11.

The Aces also acquired the No. 13 overall pick in the 2025 draft in the trade for Loyd, which could create even more competition when training camp begins April 27.

It stands out that the Aces seemed to mostly pursue players with something to prove, as the team often complained it lacked an edge last season.

If nothing else, the stiff competition to make the team should add the fire the Aces were missing in training camp last season.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.