The 2027 WNBA offseason has begun for the Washington Mystics after getting eliminated from the playoffs last week. By all accounts, the 2026 season for them was a success. They were widely expected to be a lottery team though probably not the worst team in the league. But despite having the youngest roster in the league if not league history, Washington went 28-16 and had the No. 5 seed in the 2026 WNBA Playoffs. Shakira Austin finished second in Most Improved Player voting and Sydney Johnson also
received votes for Coach of the Year.
How do the Mystics pick up on that momentum? First, they’re going to need to make a decision on what to do with their 2027 first round draft pick. Then, they will have to quickly learn how to become a free agent destination. The second part will be harder than the first.
The 2027 draft pick
Washington will swap 2027 first round draft picks with the Chicago Sky, who missed the 2026 playoffs. Based on Chicago’s record the last two years, they have the third best odds of getting the No. 1 pick which will go the Mystics due to a previous trade. Should the Mystics (via the Sky) get the top pick in the draft, they will likely select USC (Southern Cal) guard Juju Watkins, the consensus top pick of the 2027 class.
If the Mystics don’t get the top pick, Washington could select and keep her. However, Washington already has a bumper crop of players entering their second or third seasons. They could use players outside of Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Austin to engineer a trade for an established All-Star.
But that leads to the second pont.
The Mystics must become a team older players want to play for in the Michael Winger Era
Sure, the Mystics were one of the top regular season teams in 2026. But this team was clearly engineered to tank this past season if the season started off on the wrong foot. A large reason why was because the Mystics have been quiet to a fault in free agency in each of the last two seasons. They made little attempt to sign any All-Star free agents in 2025 and 2026 that we know of. Missing out on the 2026 free agency period also makes things more difficult for Washington given that many top players signed multi-year deals and won’t be available (unless they are traded before 2027).
Washington finished the 2026 season paying atotal team salary of approximately $5,563,361, which is a bit under the minimum team salary of $5.95 million, or 85 percent of the $7 million salary cap. The Mystics’ roster will receive a shortfall payment of the difference between their salary cap hit and the minimum team salary.
For 2027, the cap will be $8.25 million and Washington has 10 roster spots filled (though not all on guaranteed contracts) for a team salary of over $3.3 million. Sure, some of this salary will be paid to the 2027 first round pick, but Washington still has room to sign an unrestricted or restricted free agent. The question is whether they would be in the running to woo available All-Stars.
There are three veteran All-Stars available as unrestricted free agents: Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell and Phoenix Mercury guard Kelsey Plum. Mitchell’s role would overlap too much with Citron. Collier would presumably be the starting small forward, and is reportedly considering moving to another team, though it appears to be New York for now. Plum would be intriguing because she is a point guard, which is also Washington’s weakest position.
Still, would Plum or Collier want to play for a team that hasn’t attracted many long-term veterans by choice over the last two years? Or do they see themselves as missing pieces for a hypothetical Mystics championship team in the next couple of seasons?
If there’s one part of the Mystics that I have reservations about, it’s no longer about the talent of the starters. It’s there. It’s not about whether Sydney Johnson is a great motivator for his team. He is.
It’s whether Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger and Johnson can be stewards of the front office who can build a championship team by outright signing a veteran piece in free agency to build around their young core? Hopefully, that answer is yes.
