Four-time WNBA champion Seattle announced deals Tuesday with guard Jewell Loyd and center Mercedes Russell on a busy first day of free agent signings in the WNBA.
Loyd, the Storm's No. 1 draft pick in 2015, and Russell were both part of the team's 2018 and 2020 league championship teams. Loyd received the core player designation in January, which more or less guaranteed her return.
Her Hoops Stats reported that the deal for Loyd is for two years at the supermax salary, which is $228,094 in 2022 and $234,936 in 2023, and that Russell is signed for three years at $480,000 total.
Loyd was rookie of the year in 2015 and was a member of the gold-winning U.S. Olympic team last summer. She has averaged 15.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists in her career. Russell, a second-round pick out of Tennessee in 2018, was drafted by New York but released early in her rookie year and has been with Seattle since, averaging 5.4 points and 4.5 rebounds.
A source confirmed to ESPN on Monday that 2018 MVP Breanna Stewart also would be returning to the Storm on a one-year supermax deal. Veteran Sue Bird announced on social media in January that she would be back for her 19th WNBA season.
The Phoenix Mercury announced they had re-signed guard Sophie Cunningham, a key reserve on their WNBA Finals team last season. Her Hoops Stats reported she got a one-year deal worth $75,000. ESPN's Holly Rowe reported Tuesday that the Mercury may also be adding 2012 MVP Tina Charles, who played last season for Washington.
The Atlanta Dream announced they are bringing back guard Tiffany Hayes for her 10th WNBA season, all with Atlanta, and bringing in forward Nia Coffey, who spent last season in Los Angeles. Coffey played for Atlanta previously in 2019.
Other big-name signings announced by teams on Tuesday included 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones by the Connecticut Sun, 2017 MVP Sylvia Fowles by the Minnesota Lynx and Myisha Hines-Allen and Elizabeth Williams by the Washington Mystics.
Another free agent is center Liz Cambage, who spent 2019 and 2021 with Las Vegas but did not play in the WNBA in 2020. Cambage indicated on Twitter that she won't be back with the Aces this season as she Tweeted out her displeasure with the salary that new coach Becky Hammon is making and the WNBA's travel accommodations.
Cambage's Tweet read: "ahhh yes the WNBA, where a head coach can get paid 4X the highest paid players super max contract. lmao and y'all think imma spend another season upgrading my seat on a flight to get to games out of my own pocket."
Player salaries and travel are both negotiated through collective bargaining between the league and the players' union, whereas coaching salaries are not. Las Vegas lured Hammon, who played for 16 seasons in the WNBA, from the NBA's Spurs, where she has been an assistant coach for eight years.
Cambage was the No. 2 overall draft pick by Tulsa in 2011, but played there just that season and 2013. The Australian didn't return to the WNBA until 2018 with Dallas, which was where the Tulsa franchise relocated. She requested a trade and went to Las Vegas in 2019.