Big offseason questions loom after Liberty's historic WNBA title

The Liberty will need some time to celebrate the franchise's groundbreaking first WNBA title, which they won in a hard-fought Game 5 on Sunday night, capping a classic finale.

Then it’s back to business for the team’s brain trust. A busy off-season awaits you.

The question will be to what extent general manager Jonathan Kolb wants or is forced to change the core of the super team he has put together.

And the typical maintenance of a championship squad is complicated by the introduction of the Golden State Valkyries expansion for the 2025 season.

The WNBA will conduct an expansion draft on December 6 to place the Valkyries' roster. Each of the existing 12 WNBA teams is allowed to protect six players from its expanded roster – perhaps not a big problem for the league's bottom teams, but a serious problem for an overloaded team like the Liberty.

Expect the Liberty to protect every member of their postseason starting five, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Leonie Fiebich, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones. The intrigue revolves around this sixth protected location.

Will the Liberty use it on veteran backup forward Kayla Thornton, who is committed through 2025? Or about young reserve Nyara Sabally, whose contributions were invaluable in the Game 5 win?

Maybe they'll instead opt to protect a big-name player who wasn't on the 2024 roster but whose rights they still own: exciting French defender Marine Johannès or developing Chinese center Han Xu.

Another long-term option would be protecting the rights to point guard Marine Farthoux, a 2021 draft pick who played for Team France at the past Summer Olympics.

Following the expansion draft, the collective focus of the WNBA front offices will shift to free agency. The main name is Stewart, the superstar who has no contract beyond 2024 as she is content to work on one-year deals.

But the Liberty aren't really in danger of losing Stewart, who has signaled her desire to return. You can keep them from unrestricted free agency via the core designation — a one-year offer of supermax salary equivalent to the NFL's franchise tag — as they did after the 2023 season (players can be cored up to two times , so theoretically it's in Stewart's interests to burn her second core label).

The Liberty's other notable free agent is Courtney Vandersloot. The veteran point guard, who turns 36 next season, is coming off her least productive season in a decade, punctuated by a midseason vacation due to the death of her mother. She would likely have to take a pay cut of around $195,000 from her 2024 salary to stay.

Prominent outside WNBA free agents include: Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally (Ionescu's college teammate and Nyara's sister), Las Vegas Aces forward Kelsey Plum, Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike, and the Connecticut Sun trio Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones.

What's notable here is that the WNBA players withdrew from the current collective bargaining agreement on Monday, and a new CBA would come into effect after the 2025 season. Players have avoided signing contracts that extend beyond 2025 in anticipation of the salary cap exploding in 2026 as new media and sponsorship revenue comes in.

Finally, the Liberty will have to look out for what is expected to be a crowded 2025 WNBA draft.

The Liberty own trade rights with the Phoenix Mercury from a previous smart trade, meaning they'll likely move up to the seventh pick in the first round, in a worst-case scenario in position to add a rotation player.