Report: Free-agent superstar Stewart met with Liberty owners, staff
WNBA great Breanna Stewart could be set to make a league-altering offseason move.
The free-agent superstar met with a significant swath of the New York Liberty's brain trust in Los Angeles this week, sources told Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.
The Liberty entourage reportedly included owners Joe and Clara Tsai, the entire front-office staff, business leads, and newly named head coach Sandy Brondello.
Stewart, a native of Syracuse, is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in her career. The Seattle Storm used their core player designation to maintain exclusive negotiation rights with Jewell Loyd instead of the perennial All-Star.
Free agents were able to begin contract negotiations Jan. 15 but can't officially sign new deals until Feb. 1.
The Storm can still offer the 27-year-old the largest contract in WNBA history: a four-year pact worth more than $950,000. The most Stewart can sign for with another team is a three-year deal worth just over $600,000, Her Hoop Stats' Richard Cohen notes.
Stewart is a two-time champion, four-time All-WNBA selection, and she was voted the MVP in 2018. Despite her relatively short tenure in the league, Stewart was named to the WNBA's 25th anniversary roster this past summer as one of the greatest players in league history.
In her five seasons since being selected first overall out of UConn in 2016, Stewart has averaged 20 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game with an effective field-goal rate of 52.8%.
Though Stewart missed the end of the 2021 season due to injury, she expressed a desire to remain with the team, citing unfinished business.
"Seattle has always been my (WNBA) home," Stewart said in September, according to ESPN's Mechelle Voepel. "It's where I've grown up, it's where my career has continued to blossom.
"So, I plan on being back unless something crazy happens. We have more things to do here."