WNBA thread… 28.5 ain’t your pay cut

[dixiehack]

If a poster here can shirt on Roberta Flack's career in Flack's RIP thread, then I can read that list of accomplishments and say on her retirement that Diana Taurasi never moved the needle for me one iota.

I wasn't trying to shirt on her! I said her producer did her dirty.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Gotta click the top panel to get the punchline.

 

[Della9250]

WNBA's got a problem

LSU star Johnson to skip WNBA draft, source says

LSU star guard Flau'Jae Johnson is opting to skip the 2025 WNBA draft and will return to college basketball for her senior season, a source told ESPN on Thursday.

www.espn.com

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

WNBA's got a problem

LSU star Johnson to skip WNBA draft, source says

LSU star guard Flau'Jae Johnson is opting to skip the 2025 WNBA draft and will return to college basketball for her senior season, a source told ESPN on Thursday.

www.espn.com

The NIL, I get, but is Unrivaled offering more pay than the WNBA? You're right, the league is in trouble.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

The NIL, I get, but is Unrivaled offering more pay than the WNBA? You're right, the league is in trouble.

It's an NIL deal with equity, which she's not going to get from the WNBA … plus, she was a third-team All-American. Not first team, not second team … third team. She has a chance to improve her draft standing and hopefully (for her) get a bigger bag down the road.

The WNBA is the NBA. It can bury Unrivaled if it wants to.

 

[Della9250]

The NIL, I get, but is Unrivaled offering more pay than the WNBA? You're right, the league is in trouble.

Unrivaled isn't an issue -- it takes place in the off-season and was essentially started so that the WNBA players didn't have to go overseas to make that extra money.

If the NIL becomes a trend.....

 

[Della9250]

It's an NIL deal with equity, which she's not going to get from the WNBA … plus, she was a third-team All-American. Not first team, not second team … third team. She has a chance to improve her draft standing and hopefully (for her) get a bigger bag down the road.

The WNBA is the NBA. It can bury Unrivaled if it wants to.

She may only be third-team All-American, but out of those 15 players, seven can't leave for the draft. So she's a top 10 eligible player by that metric.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Unrivaled isn't an issue -- it takes place in the off-season and was essentially started so that the WNBA players didn't have to go overseas to make that extra money.

If the NIL becomes a trend.....

I misread the Unrivaled thing in the article. Thanks

 

[Scout]

I can easily see NIL become a trend in college football at the QB position.

Would you rather be a fourth-round pick or get a couple million from Football State or Public Tech?

 

[dixiehack]

Letting your next potential star ripen in the national spotlight is the type of problem more up and coming leagues should aspire to have.

 

[sgreenwell]

It's absolutely already a thing in men's basketball that players are staying in college longer because the money is roughly equal anyway. Like, Atlantic 10 level teams are paying starters $50k to $250k. If you're getting that much, you're exhausting your eligibility vs. playing in Lithuania for a couple years, unless you're a guaranteed first round pick. And for the WNBA specifically, the CBA expires on Oct. 31. That contributes to players staying in college if they can, along with things like Stewart signing a one-year deal even though she certainly leverage to get as many years as she wants.

 

[BTExpress]

She has a chance to improve her draft standing and hopefully (for her) get a bigger bag down the road.

The difference (in 2025 rookie wage scale) in a top-4 pick and a second-round pick is . . . $9,564.

Over the first four years it's $42,241.