Breanna Stewart: WNBA’s superstar free agent returns to Seattle Storm on one-year supermax deal

WNBA superstar free agent Breanna Stewart has agreed to return to the Seattle Storm on a one-year supermax deal, according to a report by Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.

WNBA free agent superstar Breanna Stewart has reached an agreement on a one-year supermax deal to return to the Seattle Storm, the franchise that drafted her No. 1 overall in 2016 and where she won two titles, league sources tell @YahooSports.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 1, 2022

This comes after the former two-time WNBA Champion received interest from the New York Liberty during the ongoing free agency, including an in-person meeting.

What is Breanna Stewart’s history with the Storm? 

The Storm drafted Stewart No. 1 overall in the 2016 WNBA Draft. In the six years since, the franchise has won two WNBA championships with the 6-foot-4 forward winning Finals MVP on both occasions (2018, 2020). 

In 2018, she also won her lone regular-season WNBA MVP award with averages of 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists while playing all of the 34 games. 

In addition, she won Rookie of the Year in 2016 and earned three All-Star selections (2017, 2018, 2021) and four All-WNBA Teams (3x First; 1x Second). This past season, she was also named to the WNBA’s 25th Anniversary Team. 

The reported one-year supermax deal is the third that Stewart will sign with the Storm after she signed her second contract in 2020, a two-year $375,500 deal.

How much is a supermax deal worth in the WNBA? 

For the 2022 WNBA season, the league’s salary cap is set at $1,379,200. Stewart’s “supermax” salary is reportedly worth $228,094.

Prior to signing the superstar forward, the Storm only had five players signed on for the 2022 season. Signing Stewart should get the dominoes falling not just for the Seattle franchise but possibly also for the WNBA.