Why Liberty will likely give Breanna Stewart core designation

One of the easiest decisions Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb will have to make this offseason involves Breanna Stewart.

The question shouldn’t be if the Liberty will designate Stewart as a core player, but when.

Teams can assign core designation to players beginning Saturday, and Stewart is one of the most obvious free-agent candidates to receive what’s essentially the WNBA’s equivalent to the NFL’s franchise tag.

Yes, Stewart has already made her intentions to stay in Brooklyn for one more season well known after helping the Liberty win the franchise’s first title in 2024.

So why burn a core designation if she plans to come back anyway?

In a lot of ways, it’s a win-win for both parties involved.

A player under the current collective bargaining agreement can have a core designation a maximum of twice.

Stewart was designated a core player in 2024 for the first time in her career.

Doing it again this season would make her ineligible of being cored in the future, which would give the 30-year-old more flexibility in the back end of her career to play where she wants.

From a team standpoint, the Liberty will maintain exclusive negotiating rights with Stewart.

The core designation would automatically put a supermax offer of a one-year, $249,244 deal on the table for Stewart — a massive pay raise for the two-time league MVP that would put the Liberty in a major cap crunch while still needing to flesh out their roster.

But should history repeat itself, then Stewart may take a discounted rate to offer the Liberty more financial flexibility to shore up a championship-caliber support cast around the six-time All-Star.

Over the past two seasons with the Liberty, Stewart has signed below her value for the betterment of the team.

In 2023, her first season in Brooklyn after spending her career with the Seattle Storm, Stewart received a base salary of $180,000, according to HerHoopStats.com.

Last season, the Liberty re-signed Stewart on a one-year deal reported to be worth $205,000, which was below the player maximum salary.

Stewart’s sacrifice paved the way for the Liberty to have one of the highest-paid starting lineups in the league last season as well as make a few additional deals in free agency to add depth.

As of now, the Liberty have six players under contract for 2025, including most of the postseason starting lineup.

Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fibich are among the lead players from last season’s team expected to be back.

Guard Rebekah Gardner, on the mend from an Achilles injury, could also make her Liberty debut this season.

Marine Johannes, recovering from an ankle injury suffered this offseason, could be in the mix for 2025, too, after sitting out last season for the Paris Olympics.

Courtney Vandersloot, who started all the regular-season games she appeared in but was moved to the bench during the postseason, is another unrestricted free agent.

But Stewart is the Liberty’s priority for obvious reasons.

Stewart has led the Liberty in scoring in each of her two seasons in Brooklyn.

In 2024, Stewart averaged 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

The Liberty are poised to run it back for 2025 before a league reset happens next year with a new collective bargaining agreement.