Breanna Stewart says she plans to re-sign with Liberty when WNBA free agency opens: 'We're solid here'

Sabrina Ionescu also said Wednesday that she will return to New York

Two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart announced Wednesday that she will return to the New York Liberty when free agency opens later this month. 

Here are Stewart's full comments on her podcast, "Game Recognize Game," which she hosts with Milwaukee Bucks big man Myles Turner:

"I'm gonna just set the record straight here: I will be staying in New York. I'm not planning on taking any free agency meetings even though I am an unrestricted free agent. My family is set up here, we're solid here. I'm gonna be back in New York and that's all there is too it. So good luck to everybody else in free agency, but I'm not a part of that."

No one should be surprised that Stewart is planning to re-sign with the Liberty. She grew up in Syracuse, her family is happy in New York -- her wife, former WNBA player Marta Xargay, is from Spain, so being on the east coast is important to them -- and she's enjoyed tremendous success with the Liberty, including a championship in 2024. 

Stewart had previously expressed her desire to return, and Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said during his exit interview after the 2025 season that he had the "utmost confidence" that Stewart, as well as Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones, would be back. 

On that front, Ionescu said Wednesday at Team USA training camp in Phoenix that she also plans to return to the Liberty once free agency opens. 

"I'm where I'm supposed to be," Ionescu told reporters. "Never thought anything different. And so, excited to kind of be able to sign and get started. It's coming up really quickly. So kind of excited to get all this, you know, behind us and just be able to start our season and get going in New York."

The Liberty already had to turn in their list of protected players for this week's double expansion draft, but it's safe to assume that Stewart had previously communicated her plan to the team and was left off that list. She is ineligible to be cored, so the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo would have no reason to select her as their lone unrestricted free agent choice when they have no hope of signing her. 

Ionescu, on the other hand, was almost certainly protected because she is eligible to be cored. If the Liberty left her unprotected, the Fire or Tempo could select her and core her, giving them exclusive negotiating rights. Still, being able to leave Stewart off the protected list would be a vital spot for the Liberty, who had some extremely difficult decisions to make given their deep roster. 

Stewart and Ionescu will both be eligible for a supermax contract when free agency opens, which will be worth a record-breaking $1.4 million this year thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement. Historically, though, both have been willing to take a discount to help build a title-contending roster. The Liberty will likely hope the duo will do the same this time around as the front office tries to figure out a way to re-sign both of them and Jones and put a deep supporting cast around them. 

This is set to be the busiest and most expensive free agency period in league history, and Stewart and Ionescu are not the only superstars on the market. Aside from Kalani Brown and Lexie Brown, every single player not on a rookie scale contract made sure they would be a free agent this offseason to coincide with the new CBA. Thus, the likes of Jones, A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Alyssa Thomas, Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Mitchell and Allisha Gray are all free agents, just to name a few. 

With more than 100 players on the market, including dozens of unrestricted free agents, there will be plenty of movement around the league, but don't expect the biggest names to change teams. Wilson (Aces), Collier (Lynx) and Thomas (Mercury) are all expected to return to their respective teams, where, like Stewart, they are entrenched as the franchise player and can command a supermax deal.