Apr 07, 2026
3 min read
In her first season with Atlanta, Reese will get paid more than four times the salary she earned in each of her two seasons in Chicago.
How WNBA's New CBA Affects Atlanta Dream's Angel Reese Contract
The WNBA free agency period began with a sensational trade on April 6, when the Atlanta Dream acquired Angel Reese from the Chicago Sky in exchange for two first-round draft picks, in a move that could have significant financial consequences for both teams.
The deal allows the Sky to avoid paying Reyes a higher salary this season under the terms of the WNBA's new collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the players' union and the league last month, which includes big league salary increases.
Reese, Chicago's seventh overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, is entering the third season of a four-year, rookie-range contract initially worth a total of $324,383.However, the salaries of Reese and 37 other players from previous deals will be adjusted according to the updated rookie scale established in the new CBA.will increase to $350,692, Spotrac reports.
Reese's contract has a team option for the 2027 season. If exercised, she would earn $396,282 — unless she earns all-WNBA honors this season, in which case she would be eligible next season for a maximum contract of up to $1.4 million.
That's no surprise to Reese, a two-time WNBA All-Star who led the league in scoring in her first two games and was named to the 2024 All-Rookie team.
While the Reese trade is essentially a short-term salary bump for Chicago, which had the seventh-highest player salary in the league last season, it could be beneficial for Atlanta to keep Reese under contract for at least one more season as player salaries continue to rise.
In 2026, the average salary in the WNBA is expected to be $583,000 and the minimum salary is expected to be between $270,000 and $300,000 depending on years of service.Reese's salary is on the low side at 5% of a $7 million salary, giving Dream flexibility in building teams and managing the rest of free agency.
