The WNBA offseason has arrived, and this edition will be far less chaotic than the last. No expansion teams will join the league this season, and we will not have a contentious labor battle or the largest free agent class in league history. 

But that does not mean that everyone is just going to sit around for the next six months. Ahead of the 2027 WNBA Draft Lottery, which is set for Nov. 15 and is the first big item on the offseason agenda, let's take a look at the biggest offseason questions. 

Who will replace Cathy Engelbert as commissioner?

In September, Cathy Engelbert announced that she would retire at the end of 2026 after a seven-year reign as the first commissioner in WNBA history. The league has not yet named her replacement, and it's unclear when such an announcement will come. 

Engelbert faced significant criticism in recent years over her poor personal relationships with the players. Notably, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said after the 2025 season that the WNBA had the "worst leadership in the world." In her last public act as commissioner – presenting the championship trophy to the Valkyries – Engelbert was booed loudly. 

While it was time for Engelbert to go, she was tremendously successful in many regards and helped the league make tremendous strides both on and off the court. Viewership, attendance and salaries soared under her leadership, and the league added three expansion teams, including the Valkyries, with three more to come by 2030. 

Engelbert has left the league in a much, much better place than she found it, and her efforts will give the next commissioner the freedom to be more of a people person than a business person. But who will it be?

Bethany Donaphin, the WNBA's Head of League Operations, is reportedly one of the leading contenders, while NBA deputy commissioner Marc Tatum has also been mentioned as a way to maintain continuity and synergy between the NBA and WNBA. ESPN reported that two team executives, New York Liberty CEO Keia Clarke and Valkyries president Jess Smith, have been considered, as have Hall of Famer Swin Cash and Nike exec Tanya Hvizdak, but also noted that the league is going through the process with an "open mind." 

Which team will win the Draft Lottery?

The first big item on the offseason agenda is the 2027 WNBA Draft Lottery, which is set for Nov. 15 and will determine which team has the No. 1 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft. 

Late last month, the league finally revealed the official odds for the new seven-team lottery, which has been expanded due to the addition of the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire last season. The Tempo, who went 2-24 to close 2026, will split the best odds with the Houston Comets. 

The WNBA uses two-year aggregate records to determine lottery odds, but for the expansion teams, only their 2026 record was considered. The Tempo finished 11-33, while the Comets (as the Sun) went 22-66 over the last two seasons. Thus, the teams had identical .250 winning percentages. 

USC star JuJu Watkins is the prohibitive favorite to go No. 1, assuming she declares. A 6-foot-2, do-it-all wing, Watkins missed all of last season with a torn ACL, which makes her eligible to return to school for the 2027-28 season. Watkins told CBS Sports that she has not yet made up her mind. 

"I think I'll know when the time is right," Watkins said. "Like I said, just really locked in on what we're doing here, and my goal is getting to that championship this year, and we'll see what happens after that."

Where will the four biggest free agents sign?

Last offseason featured the biggest free agent class in league history. This year's class is nowhere near as deep, but there is serious star power at the top. Napheesa Collier, Jackie Young, Kelsey Mitchell and Kelsey Plum are all unrestricted free agents. Together they have a combined 19 All-Star appearances and 10 All-WNBA honors, and their decisions will alter the future for numerous teams and the league. 

What makes this group particularly interesting is that Collier, Young and Mitchell have all spent their entire careers with their current clubs, the Lynx, Aces and Fever, respectively. And on the other hand, Plum has only played five games with the Mercury, who traded for her at the deadline despite knowing she would be a free agent. 

For an in-depth look at this quartet, read our ranking of the top-10 free agents:

Who will the Fever hire as their new general manager?

Late last month, the Fever announced in short succession that president Kelly Krauskopf had stepped down and general manager Amber Cox had been fired. Krauskopf will not be replaced. Instead, Mel Raines, the president and CEO of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, will oversee the Fever's business operations. 

Cox will be replaced, though, and the Fever have contracted Excel Search & Advisory to lead the search for a new GM. That's notable because Excel Search & Advisory is owned by Excel Sports Management, which represents Caitlin Clark. What that means for Clark's involvement in the process is unclear, but whoever the Fever hire will have the remit to convince Clark to sign an EPIC extension that will keep her in Indiana long-term. 

An even more pressing matter for the new GM will be convincing Mitchell to re-sign in Indiana. Mitchell is coming off the best scoring season ever by a guard and has signaled that she's thinking about leaving the Fever. 

"I have to be selfish," Mitchell said at her exit interview. "I think that's where I am in my career ... what I probably need and what's probably best for me. So I have to be selfish in that room.

"But I think, ultimately, being on the Fever and being a part of an organization that does come with a lot of ups and downs, what factors in and what is important for me is, obviously, having a good chemistry on and off the floor. I've only been with one team my entire career, so it's all kind of like figuring this out. It's hard, man."

If the new GM is able to re-sign Mitchell and convince Clark to sign an extension, then the real work will begin: putting together a championship-level roster around Clark, Mitchell and Aliyah Boston while facing a major salary cap crunch. 

And if all that wasn't enough, the new GM will have to repair the organization's reputation around the league after another tumultuous season. 

Who will the Liberty hire as their new coach?

Chris DeMarco was a bold hire by Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb, especially as the replacement for Sandy Brondello, who had led the Liberty to their first championship in 2024. DeMarco had never worked in the WNBA, and his lone experience as a head coach was with the Jamaican men's national team. 

"We need to nail this," Kolb said at the time. "If we're going to make a bold decision like this, our players deserve to get the best."

DeMarco's tenure got off to a strange start when he admitted he didn't know much about the Liberty or the league, and he never really figured things out. The Liberty were beset by injuries once again, which certainly didn't help, but even into the playoffs he didn't seem to know his best lineups, and his timeout blunder at the end of Game 2 of the semifinals against the Atlanta Dream was a major sign of inexperience. 

After the Liberty were eliminated, their Big Three of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu did not publicly back DeMarco, who said he expected to be back for another season. That's "not our decision," Ionescu said. Jones added, "That's not our say. Our job is to go out there and play good basketball." Stewart sidestepped the question. 

As the calendar flipped to November, though, it seemed that the Liberty had decided to keep DeMarco. That changed early on Tuesday morning when ESPN reported that DeMarco had been fired. The Liberty confirmed his departure in a social media post, but have not yet released a statement. 

Now, Kolb and Co. will have to look for a third coach in as many years as they try to get back to a championship level. Since winning it all in 2024, the Liberty have gone 43-35 in the regular season and been eliminated in the first round and the semifinals. 

Stewart, Jones and Ionescu are under contract through 2028, while Satou Sabally and Leonie Fiebich are signed through 2027. The talent in New York, combined with the organization's resources, location and fan support, makes the Liberty job arguably the best one in the league. But, as DeMarco learned, it comes with a lot of pressure to win. 

Who will the Sparks hire as their new coach? 

The Sparks went bust last season after yet another attempt to go all-in, and it cost general manager Raegan Pebley and coach Lynne Roberts their jobs. Ariana Andonian has been hired as the new GM, but Roberts has not been replaced and the Sparks were the only team without a coach until the Liberty fired DeMarco on Tuesday. 

There's been little in the way of updates on the search. Andonian said during her introductory press conference in late September that the organization will "cast a wide net" and wants to "take our time with this process and make sure we get it right." 

This is a crucial hire for the Sparks, who have had four coaches in the last five seasons and haven't made the playoffs since the bubble in 2020, which is not only the longest postseason drought in franchise history, but the longest active one in the league. As they begin what figures to be a long-term rebuild around Cameron Brink and two lottery selections in the 2027 WNBA Draft, the Sparks have to bring in the right coach who can grow with this group.  

"We want an excellent leader, an excellent communicator, someone who is collaborative and willing to come to work in the W and work with all of us," Andonian said, adding that the new coach needs to be a "great developer of talent."

The Sparks still have a bit of time, but you'd expect a hire fairly soon. Overseas leagues started weeks ago, the 2026-27 NCAA women's season started Monday and the 2027 WNBA Draft Lottery is less than two weeks away on Nov. 15. But, to add another wrinkle to the saga, Bloomberg reported last month that owner Mark Walters is reportedly looking to sell the franchise.

Can the Comets become a free agent destination after their move to Houston?

No expansion franchises are joining the league this season, but we will have a "new" team in 2027. The Connecticut Sun are no more, and the Houston Comets have been reborn. This is the first time that a WNBA franchise has relocated since the San Antonio Stars moved to Las Vegas to become the Aces in 2018. Notably, there will be a lot of continuity between the Sun and Comets -- team president Jennifer Rizzotti, general manager Morgan Tuck and head coach Rachid Meziane will all be relocating with the players.

While the Sun had plenty of success in their two-plus decades in Connecticut, the franchise had fallen behind the times, and the league had outgrown Uncasville. Since a mass exodus after the 2024 season, the Sun had struggled to attract free agents and went a combined 22-66 in 2025 and 2026. 

The Comets announced in May that the Toyota Center – which is also home to the NBA's Houston Rockets – will undergo renovations to provide "expanded and modernized practice and training facilities, elite medical, recovery, and nutrition resources, and locker room facilities designed to provide a world-class player experience."

The franchise has not only moved to a much bigger city, but has become part of a much bigger organization with much bigger resources. How will that affect its ability to attract and retain players? In theory, free agents would be more interested in playing in Houston with brand new facilities. And the Comets, who may wind up with the No. 1 pick, have plenty of cap space this winter. 

This offseason may be too early to attract the biggest names in free agency given the team's lack of success in recent seasons, but we should get some insight into how players and agents view Houston compared to Uncasville. If Houston becomes a destination, that would not only be a major boost for the Comets' future, it would force every other team to work that much harder.