The best player in the WNBA has no desire to test free agency. A’ja Wilson will re-sign with the Las Vegas Aces, the four-time MVP told reporters Friday.
The news was expected, as Callie Fin of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in March that Wilson would sign a $1.4 million supermax deal with the team as soon as possible.
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Wilson essentially confirmed that report Friday, saying she was not going to explore the free-agent market because she’s “not leaving Vegas.”
Wilson has plenty of reasons to stick with the team that drafted her. She’s not only been incredibly successful with the franchise, winning four MVP awards and three WNBA championships in her first seven seasons, but she’s also eligible for a massive pay increase if she sticks with the Aces.
Under the WNBA’s new collective-bargaining agreement (CBA), Wilson is eligible to receive $1.4 million from the Aces after the league and its players agreed to revamp supermax contracts. That’s a massive increase over what Wilson made last season, when she took less money so the Aces could afford to surround her with more talent. Wilson’s $200,000 salary from last season did not rank within the top-25 highest-paid salaries in the WNBA.
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With both the WNBA salary cap and the supermax increasing thanks to the new CBA, Wilson can finally be paid like one of the best players in the league.
Wilson is far from the only big-name player who won’t test the market. Both Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu said they would re-sign with the New York Liberty instead of going to free agency.
There’s no better time for Wilson to get a big payday. Thanks to her excellence, the Aces won the 2025 WNBA championship. It marked the third time in the last four seasons the team has won the title. Wilson has played a massive role in the team’s success over that period. In addition to her sterling regular-season dominance, Wilson has also won the WNBA Finals MVP award in two of the team’s three championship wins.
