WNBA Free Agency: New York Liberty makes major move with Breanna Stewart amid potential $249,244 supermax deal

After winning the 2024 WNBA finals, the New York Liberty gave Breanna Stewart a core player designation. With the WNBA qualifying offer period upon us, teams around the league are handing out core player designations in preparation for the 2025 season.

According to iHeartRadio's Khristina Williams, on Tuesday, the Liberty extended a core qualifying offer to Stewart, who would have been an unrestricted free agent.

With the core player designation and qualifying offer, the Liberty can lock Stewart into a one-year, fully guaranteed supermax contract. While this could give them the ability to facilitate a sign-and-trade, all indications are that the team plans to keep Stewart and match any offers if need be.

As WNBA reporter Jackie Powell wrote in a separate post on X, formerly known as Twitter, this is the second and final time that Stewart can be cored. However, with the WNBA players already opting out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in advance, the next CBA could see changes to the coring process.

What's next for Breanna Stewart after receiving core player designation from New York Liberty?

While the WNBA season won't tip off until May, Breanna Stewart and the rest of the women are set to compete in the inaugural season of the Unrivaled. The 3x3 league is set to tip off on Friday on TNT.

Throughout the season, more and more free agency news surrounding the WNBA is likely to continue to surface. In the case of Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty, after handing Stewie a core player designation, the team can cross their first to-do from their offseason checklist.

The WNBA Player's Association has opted out of the current CBA, which will expire at the end of 2025. Given this, players and the league will have to come together to figure out a new agreement before the league faces a potential lockout.

Assuming a deal does get done, Stewart will join a number of other WNBA stars in what is sure to be a wild free-agency period next year. Given the likelihood that a deal gets finalized, players hitting free agency this offseason are looking for one-year deals to ensure they can sign bigger deals next year.

Because of that, we could very well see the landscape of the league change after the 2025 season. However, for Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty, their sights are set on repeating as WNBA champs.