2026 WNBA Prioritization

As was the case in the last CBA, the WNBA has rules in their newest CBA that govern which players are not eligible to play in the league during a given season. There was some thought that prioritization would not be in play this season given that the potential labor dispute might leave players needing to make decisions that guaranteed them money. The season did end up starting on time though and the agreement included rules timing that was similar to previous seasons. Next year, the rules will come into effect sooner, which will affect more players.

CBA Language

The language in the latest CBA is pretty similar to the last CBA, which means that there was not too much clarifying language for some of the situations that seemed unresolved previously. May 1st is the key date for 2026 and then April 15th is the key date for future seasons, depending on whether training camp opens before or after then. As was the case under the previous CBA, these rules apply to players whether or not they have an existing contract. There was no change to the number of years of service at which these rules apply, so only players with 3 or more years of service are affected. The In-Season Departures rules still exist, but it seems extremely unlikely that any player would intentionally violate them and get the two-season ban from the league that is the punishment.

2026 World Cup

A large amount of text was added to the paragraph on exceptions in order to account for the World Cup happening in the middle of the regular season this year instead of after the season is over. While it provides a date of August 26th as the last day of games that players must be available for before they can leave for their national teams, it also does not clarify an additional issue that came up in the past. In particular, it is unclear whether this applies to all players in the league or only players with 3 or more years of service. In 2023, Marine Johannes wanted to report to the New York Liberty and then join France’s national team, but the argument was that she could only leave within the two-week window before the tournament even though she had not accrued enough years of service to exceed the total in the listed exceptions. As a result, the French federation decided not to give her a chance to earn a spot on the roster due to the uncertainty of the timing of her arrival. In 2025, Leila Lacan showed that there were no issues for players who did not report to their WNBA team first as she did not join the Connecticut Sun until after EuroBasket even though she had signed her rookie contract.

There was significant clarifying language elsewhere in the CBA though as the definition for years of service was updated to take into account national team play. Days that a player misses for national team play no longer count towards towards the limit of days of withholding playing services that result in a year of service not being awarded. The text in the definition now is below:

Notwithstanding the above, a player will not receive credit for a Year of Service for any year in which she: (i) withholds playing services called for by a Player Contract for more than twenty-one (21) days after the Season begins (provided that, for purposes of this provision, days of the Season missed by a player pursuant to an exception to the WNBA prioritization rules in accordance with Article XIV, Section 4(c) shall not be considered days for which the player has withheld playing services called for by her Player Contract)

Tracker

This tracker will be separated into two categories this year as one of the hoped for clarifications never happened with the new CBA. The first tracker will be players who are definitely banned as they were under contract with another team in April and dressed in a game in May or later. The second tracker will contain players who did not dress in a game with a team until May or later. It is important to know what the rules are as more leagues try to become developmental leagues, which affects whether they can actually sign WNBA veterans who hope to sign with a WNBA team that year. The only player who was known to have attempted to sign a WNBA contract and been blocked by a league ruling is Imani McGee-Stafford, whose contract in Lebanon extended after May 1st last year. This tracker will be updated as often as possible with new players joining teams during the summer, but there are many leagues in the world and we could always miss a player who has begun playing somewhere, so feel free to let us know in the comments. There is always the possibility that the WNBA decides differently on a year of service for a player based on the interpretations of their definitions, but we will try to apply the rules by the most clear interpretation that we can make.

Pre-May 1st

Player	Team
Farhiya Abdi	Grindavik (Iceland)
Cierra Burdick	Angers (France)
Danielle Adams	Adelitas de Chihuahua (Mexico)
Yvonne Turner	Adelitas de Chihuahua (Mexico)
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis	Panteras de Aguascalientes (Mexico)
Sasha Goodlett	Istanbul Genclik (Turkey)

Post-May 1st

Player	Team
AD Durr	Charlotte Crown (UPSHOT)
Adut Bulgak	Jacksonville Waves (UPSHOT)
Haley Peters	Dandenong Rangers (Australia)
Kristine Anigwe	Homenetmen (Lebanon)
Alexis Prince	Homenetmen (Lebanon)
Amber Harris	Alameda Wolves (WPBA)
Erica McCall	Bay Area Phoenix (WPBA)