With WNBA free agency set to begin this week, teams have to act fast to be ready for the start of the regular season. Following the completion of CBA talks, this off-season will be fast and furious as a three month process of the Draft, free agency, etc. will need to be completed in less than three weeks. It’s a lot to handle on short notice and will test the infrastructure of various teams around the WNBA. Fortunately for the New York Liberty, they’ll have some much needed continuity as we approach
the 2026 season.
On April 5, Jackie Powell of The IX Sports reported that Liberty center and 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones intends to re-sign with the team.
As one of the best players in basketball, Jones’ return gives New York a much needed interior presence and a big that can space the floor, create offense, and be a championship level game changer.
With Jones’ impending return, the Liberty Big 3 will all be back in seafoam. Breanna Stewart revealed on her podcast, Game Recognize Game with Stewie and Myles, that she will be re-signing with the Liberty. At Team USA training camp, Sabrina Ionescu also confirmed that she will also be re-signing with the Liberty.
With Jones, Stewart, and Ionescu in tow, the Liberty can begin the work of shoring up their roster. Although the team lost Nyara Sabally in the expansion draft, the team will be bringing Spanish center Raquel Carrera over to the WNBA (another story Powell broke.) Players such as Natasha Cloud and Kennedy Burke will be unrestricted free agents, so we’ll see what Jonathan Kolb and new head coach Chris DeMarco have in store. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is expected back following a year long absence following a knee injury she suffered in Unrivaled. Leonie Fiebich will also be back after a taxing season that saw her span the globe on multiple occasions. There’s even word out of China that Han Xu, the 6’11” former Liberty big, may return to the W. New York still holds her rights. She was defensive player of the year in Australia’s WNBL this year. If everything breaks right, New York could find themselves back in the WNBA Finals for the third time this decade.
One of the big questions DeMarco will have to answer is how will the team utilize Jones on offense. In 2025, Jones only attempted 20.6 percent of her field goals inside of three feet, the lowest percentage of her career. A lot of discussion centered around New York’s five out offense former head coach Sandy Brondello ran, so it will be exciting to see how DeMarco utilizes space to get good looks for the former Finals MVP.
When Jones was in the paint in 2025, it was business as usual. She shot above 60 percent inside the restricted area for the ninth consecutive season and when the Liberty actually took advantage of a mismatch and got JJ the ball, good things happened:
However, we didn’t get that level of consistency and excellence enough in 2025. From Lucas Kaplan’s Liberty vs. Phoenix Mercury series preview:
“In 22 games post All-Star break, Jonquel Jones is averaging 14/8/3 with just over a block per game on 50/42/82 shooting. In 2024, when she finished 10th in regular season MVP voting and then won Finals MVP, she averaged 14/9/3 with just over a block per game on 54/39/78 shooting splits.
The numbers don’t tell the full story: Having Jones in the lineup is much, much better than the alternative, but she hasn’t consistently brought it for a few weeks now…“
With good health, a new head coach, more playing time with her teammates, and a renewed sense of purpose following a disastrous end to her season, Jones should bounce back in a major way in 2026. Don’t be surprised if she’s named to the All Star and All WNBA teams in 2026.
2026 should be a big year for the Liberty. The team remains in title contention. Their roster building has helped prepare them for this new era. And with Jonquel Jones back, the nucleus of the team remains intact. It’s a long way to Opening Night, but so far, so good.
