This past week in the WNBA was defined by some standout performances by some of the league’s brightest stars. Angel Reese picked up her first-ever triple-double in the Sky’s 78-66 win over the Sun on Sunday, and last week featured a multitudinous amount of 30-pieces put up by eight different players. Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier, Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jackie Young all scored 30 or more points for their respective teams.
But before I dive into the games to pay attention to, which include games of consequence for the Commissioner’s Cup Final, I want to provide an explanation of assorted contracts which include hardship and rest-of-season (ROS) contracts. These are types of contracts which have popped up frequently in the league since the month of June began as many more injuries and overseas commitments (namely the EuroBasket qualifiers) have impacted rosters throughout the league.
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It’s vital to understand what these contracts are especially when managing fantasy teams, and when players who didn’t begin the regular season on rosters begin playing games. From May 20 through June 17, WNBA teams have signed a total of 12 different assorted contracts.
Especially with three different assorted contracts signed on Tuesday including Grace Berger signing with the Sparks, and Haley Jones and Kaila Charles signing with the Wings, some of these players will see meaningful minutes.
What are hardship contracts?
Hardship contracts are the path that most teams take when players on roster are injured or otherwise unable to play for an extended period of time. In the WNBA there currently isn’t a mechanism like an injured reserve or injured list like in the NFL or MLB which allows for teams to open up additional roster spots.
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But what if a team doesn’t have enough salary cap or roster space to be able to sign a player to fill the gap?
Instead, the WNBA requires that teams have 10 healthy players able to play, and if a team does not, then a general manager or executive is able to sign a free agent player who can suit up so the team has at least 10 available players to play in a game. This is called an emergency hardship.
That was what happened in Indiana when Aari McDonald joined the Fever roster on an emergency hardship when both Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark weren’t available to play for around two weeks. Because of the amount of high paid veteran contracts that the Fever signed during the offseason, Indiana only began the season with 11 players on their roster. That made the Fever eligible for an emergency hardship since they only had nine available players and they went over the salary cap with the league’s assistance.
Once Cunningham and Clark were deemed available to play on Saturday, McDonald was required to be released from her emergency hardship contract, and she became a free agent. The Fever could re-sign her down the line, but they’d have to wait 10 days and waive one of their 11 players according to the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Also, they would have to hope that McDonald doesn’t decide to go elsewhere.
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Standard hardships are used when teams have two players out because of injury, illness or other personal reasons for at least three weeks, and the team doesn’t have enough salary cap space to be able to sign a hardship. A team can sign a standard hardship even when they have 10 players available.
Both the emergency and standard hardships primarily focus on teams that need salary cap relief to be allowed to sign these players. In cases where the team has the necessary salary cap but not the roster space, there is a roster hardship rule defined outside of the CBA.
A recent example of this was Haley Jones’ short stint for the Phoenix Mercury when Natasha Mack and Kahleah Copper were both unable to play for an extended period of time. This was in addition to an injury that Alyssa Thomas was working through. The Mercury had the space in the salary cap to sign a player, but they had the maximum of 12 players. Jones had to be waived right before Mack returned to play, even though Copper was still rehabbing.
The money that is paid for any hardship contract comes out of the team’s salary cap, and the salary the player receives is a prorated amount of their base salary dependent on when the contract is signed and the type of hardship signed.
What are rest of season (ROS) contracts?
A team that is also dealing with a lot of roster turnover is the Golden State Valkyries.
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They have signed a lot of new players since Cecilia Zandalasini, Temi Fagbenle, Janelle Salaün and Julie Vanloo all left for the EuroBasket continental championship tournament. These players aren’t on hardship contracts but instead are on ROS contracts.
The reason for this is because all of these players going to EuroBasket were temporarily suspended, which means they now do not count against Golden State’s 12-player roster. None of these players were injured to be clear, and as a result a lot of roster room opens up for a team where the salary cap is a distant concern. The Valkyries can just choose to sign players until Zandalasini, Fagbenle, Salaün and Vanloo return.
That’s exactly the reason for recently-signed WNBA veteran Aerial Powers, and previous Golden State training camp players Kaitlyn Chen and Chloe Bibby.
What future lies ahead for some of these players?
For players signed recently by Golden State, there probably won’t be many opportunities to…
