UCLA stars now have a better chance of sticking to WNBA rosters under new CBA

UCLA center Lauren Betts and teammates huddle during an NCAA tournament game against California Baptist on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) In less than two months, six UCLA women’s basketball players might be working out with WNBA teams. The draft is April 13, a week after the NCAA national championship game and the season starts less than a month later.

One of the most consequential pieces of the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement for current college players, including the UCLA super senior class, is expanded rosters. Not only are two new teams — Portland and Toronto — entering the WNBA this season and adding 24 roster spots, but the new CBA will allow each team to have 12 traditional roster spots and two developmental player spots. The new developmental players will get housing assistance and can practice and travel with their respective WNBA squads.

UCLA's Charlisse Leger-Walker, left, and Angela Dugalic, back, swarm California Baptist forward Grace Schmidt during an NCAA tournament game at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) Across the country during the NCAA tournament, players and coaches have noted how much the new WNBA CBA changes the future for the next generation of players. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley noted to reporters last week that it’s one of the first times many women’s basketball players will be able to accumulate generational wealth.

And they can do so without necessarily having to play in other leagues around the world during the WNBA offseason. “The WNBA will make you make a choice because you have to be on time in training camp. ” Staley said.