Breanna Stewart, others call on WNBA to roster more players amid crunch

SEATTLE — As WNBA fans watched recent high draft picks and big names like 2020 Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield and 2017 All-Star Layshia Clarendon get waived this week when teams set their final rosters, a Twitter thread by two-time Finals MVP Breanna Stewart on Wednesday struck a chord.

«I hate seeing so many great players being cut from WNBA teams,» Stewart wrote in part. «Salaries went up, but a very restrictive hard cap has put teams in a bind. We need to soften it to allow of our league to grow. The WNBA needs to adjust ASAP (before the next CBA) to allow teams more flexibility to keep rookies contract players on the roster.

»Call them practice players and make sure they don't hit the cap. We need to be developing young talent and taking advantage of the momentum newly drafted players bring from the college game."

I hate seeing so many great players being cut from WNBA teams. Salaries went up, but a very restrictive hard cap has put teams in a bind. We need to soften it to allow of our league to grow. The WNBA needs to adjust ASAP (before the next CBA).

Chiney Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks had a similar message talking to reporters on Tuesday, advocating for a developmental league similar to the NBA's G League.

«In no circumstance should we have a league where top draft picks aren't on a roster,» Ogwumike said.

On Thursday, Stewart expanded on her thoughts exclusively to ESPN.

«I think it really resonated this year because this is year three with the new CBA,» Stewart said. «Now as those contracts are being negotiated, being renegotiated, everybody's getting a little more expensive, I guess I would say. That creates fewer roster spots and fewer spots in the league in general.»

Stewart's own team is an