A year ago, free agency created two superteams. In 2024, it delivered challengers to those contenders. These players have had the biggest impact.
Seattle duo Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith have helped the Storm contend for a top-four seed in the WNBA playoffs. , who went on to meet in both the Commissioner's Cup final and the WNBA Finals .
weren't as heralded at the time, the players have proved to be key pieces as Minnesota has climbed the standings from sixth to third, resulting in a Commissioner's Cup triumph over the Liberty. Let's break down the biggest moves from free agency last winter, which also feature a pair of players who have reestablished their careers after spending all of 2023 out of the league. We're looking only at players who changed teams as free agents, rather than those who re-signed, and not those who moved via trade. With that in mind, here are my top five impact free agents -- plus a few honorable mentions who just missed the cut.It's impossible to separate Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike in terms of their transformative impact on a Storm franchise building a new identity around holdoverafter Sue Bird's retirement and Stewart's departure for New York. With Diggins-Smith starting all 29 games at point guard and averaging a career-high 6.4 assists and Ogwumike earning a ninth All-Star appearance, Seattle matched last year's total of 11 wins in just 17 games.Ogwumike, who is averaging 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds while closing on a career high in made 3-pointers, was the only All-Star to change teams in free agency last offseason. Meanwhile, Diggins-Smith has filled an enormous hole for the Storm at point guard and is a key factor in Seattle improving from the WNBA's second-highest turnover rate a year ago to third-lowest so far this season. Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike are key parts of one of the league's top starting lineups. The Storm's current starting group withlineup in terms of raw plus-minus this season . No other lineup has outscored opponents by triple digits. Though Williams has stabilized Minnesota's point guard position after Cheryl Reeve cycled through options in recent campaigns, Smith has been the biggest reason the Lynx have elevated into the title chase. Alanna Smith is averaging 11.0 points and 3.3 assists this season, while shooting 43.5% on 3-pointers in 2024. After Smith went from a career reserve -- she'd started just one game in her first four WNBA campaigns -- to full-time starter for the, finishing third in Most Improved Player voting, there was understandably some question whether she could maintain that level. Instead, she has improved on it, averaging career highs in points , assists and blocks per game in Minnesota. That could make Smith a candidate for Most Improved Player again this season. Making a career-high 43.5% of her 3-point attempts, Smith has become the rare WNBA frontcourt player capable of both stretching the floor on offense and protecting the rim on defense. She's the only player in the league's 40/40 club of blocks and 3s, which just 11 players in league history had accomplished prior to this season, Since averaging 17.4 points per game as a rookie in the 2020 Wubble and finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting, Carter had made more headlines off the court than on it, playing just 35 games combined in 2021 and 2022 before spending all of 2023 out of the WNBA.Brought back to the league by new Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon, Carter has thrived, playing the best basketball of her career. An early contender for the Sixth Player Award, Carter has averaged 21.1 points per game since moving into the starting lineup, and has particularly thrived with With Chicago in the midst of a post-Olympic slide, having gone 1-4 since the break, Carter's play might not translate into a playoff spot this season. But the 25-year-old, who will be a restricted free agent next offseason, gives the Sky a foundational piece on the perimeter to go with rookie frontcourt startersLike Carter, Charles spent the 2023 season on the sideline after short-lived stints with the Phoenix Mercury and Storm ended unhappily. Signed by Atlanta, Charles is back racking up double-doubles -- her 12 rank sixth in the WNBA, and every other player with at least 10 was an All-Star. Her 14.4 points per game rank third on the Dream. After injuries derailed Atlanta's first half of the season, the Dream are 3-1 since the break and pushing for the last WNBA playoff spot. And Charles continues to make history. Having entered the season fourth in career scoring, she passed Tamika Catchings and most recently Tina Thompson to move into second on the leaderboard behind Limited to just four games before the Olympic break by a pair of injuries, Canada is back healthy and showing why Atlanta tradedas a core player during free agency. Canada has averaged 11.2 points, 6.4 assists and 2.2 steals since the break. Cloud has been everything the Mercury expected, averaging 6.8 assists per game to rank third in the WNBA while defending multiple positions at the other end. Phoenix's defensive rating is 7.0 points per 100 possessions lower After serving as a reserve last season in New York, Dolson has started all 29 games, averaging 10.0 points -- her most since her lone All-Star appearance in 2017 -- and 2.9 assists while nearly doubling her career high with 59 3-pointers.Having emerged as a point guard last season in Chicago, Williams continues to play a setup role for the Lynx, leading the team with 5.5 assists per game. Williams' career-best 47 3-pointers with the Sky, however, have not carried over. She has made just 19 3s thus far.
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