The Las Vegas Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 Finals, won their third title in four years, and locked down the two largest contracts in league history to keep the core together. A'ja Wilson signed a three-year, $5 million supermax, Jackie Young agreed to $1.19 million on the regular max, and the defending champions have never looked more secure.
They have also never been more vulnerable.
The new 2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement raised the WNBA salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million and created the first million-dollar supermax contracts in league history. For the Aces, the same deal that rewarded their stars has quietly trapped the rest of the roster. To keep Wilson, Young, Chelsea Gray, and Jewell Loyd together, Las Vegas has squeezed out the middle-class veteran, decreased its draft capital, and lost two promising young players to expansion drafts.
How the New WNBA CBA Created the Aces' Cap Squeeze
The 2026 cap jump is the single largest in WNBA history. Under the old collective bargaining agreement, a team could fill an entire roster for $1.5 million. Under the new CBA, a single supermax player costs $1.4 million on their own. Rookie and veteran minimums now range from $270,000 to $300,000 depending on years of service, meaning the cheapest roster spot on any team is larger than the supermax was last season.
When the minimum salary triples, the math changes for every contract between the max and the minimum. The mid-tier veteran who used to sign for $150,000 to $250,000 is gone. Under the new structure, a team that spends heavily at the top simply cannot afford to carry multiple veterans in the $400,000 to $600,000 range without running out of cap space before the roster is filled.
One league executive, speaking to NGSC Sports, put it plainly: "If I can get 70% of a veteran's production from a rookie at nearly half the cost, the cap almost dictates that I take the rookie." That is the new front-office math, and no team illustrates it more clearly than the Las Vegas Aces.
A'ja Wilson's Supermax and Jackie Young's Max: The Core That Ate the Cap
Wilson's three-year, $5 million contract is one of the largest in WNBA history. She earns $1.4 million in 2026, with annual raises tied to the league's new revenue-sharing model and a structure that allocates 20% of the team's cap to a single player. Young's $1.19 million regular max adds another 17% of the cap. Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd are both on multi-year deals. Loyd's is reportedly worth more than $2.2 million over three years, and NaLyssa Smith re-signed as a restricted free agent after the Aces acquired her at the 2025 trade deadline.
Those five contracts alone account for the majority of the Aces' $7 million 2026 salary cap.
Training Camp Minimums: The Aces' Veteran Role Players Take a Pay Cut
To keep the core together, Las Vegas has built its bench almost entirely on training camp contracts. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, Chennedy Carter, Brianna Turner, and Kierstan Bell are all on one-year, non-guaranteed deals at the applicable veteran minimum, which under the new CBA ranges from $277,500 to $300,000 depending on years of service. None of those contracts are protected. None of those players are guaranteed to make the final roster
Parker-Tyus, a 2023 All-Star who was once the highest-paid player on the Atlanta Dream, re-signed in Vegas on a veteran minimum deal that pays a fraction of what a player with her career could command on the open market. "I'm thankful," she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I want to win. And I know what it takes, I know it means sacrifice."
Depleted Draft Capital: No First-Round Picks Until 2028
The Aces haven't had a first-round pick in three straight years. Their 2025 first-rounder was rescinded by the league as part of the penalty from the 2023 impermissible benefits investigation. Their 2026 first-round pick went to Seattle in the Jewell Loyd trade. Their 2027 first-round pick went to Dallas for NaLyssa Smith. Las Vegas will not draft in the first round until 2028 at the earliest.
The problem with having no draft picks is that the roster depends on finding cheap young talent to fill the back end. Without first-round picks, the only way to do that is to nail second-round selections. The Aces have actually been good at this. The problem is that they keep losing the players they find.
The Expansion Draft Trap: How the Aces Lost Kate Martin and Aaliyah Nye
In 2024, second-round pick Kate Martin made the championship roster as a rookie. The Aces left her unprotected in the Golden State expansion draft. The Valkyries took her.
In 2025, second-round pick Aaliyah Nye made the championship roster as a rookie and led the team in three-point percentage at 39.1%. The Aces left her unprotected in the April 3, 2026 Toronto expansion draft. The Tempo took her.
The pattern is not a coincidence. Both players were under 25, cost-controlled, and were exactly the kind of cheap production the new CBA rewards; however, both were exposed because the Aces' cap structure forced them to use their limited protection slots on the expensive veterans they cannot afford to replace. Las Vegas virtually has no young players under 25 left on the roster, no first round draft picks to acquire young talent, and no cap room to protect the young players they do find.
The Paradox of the Defending Champion
At first glance, this team looks invincible. The Aces are the reigning WNBA champions, anchored by four-time MVP A'ja Wilson. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the 11 veterans in camp combine for exactly 20 WNBA titles, alongside eight Olympic gold medals shared among five players. On paper, they're the most decorated roster ever assembled. The ultimate question isn't whether their stars can win. It's whether a team with no draft picks, no way to protect young talent, and no way to retain its veterans past their contracts can remain a dynasty once the cap math stops cooperating.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does A'ja Wilson make in 2026?
A'ja Wilson signed a three-year, $5 million fully guaranteed supermax contract with the Las Vegas Aces in April 2026. She will earn $1.4 million in 2026, the largest single-season salary in WNBA history, with annual raises tied to the league's revenue-sharing model.
How much is Jackie Young's contract with the Aces?
Jackie Young re-signed with the Las Vegas Aces on a deal worth approximately $1.19 million in 2026, the standard maximum contract value under the new CBA. The deal keeps Young alongside A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray as part of the Aces' championship core.
Who did the Las Vegas Aces lose in the 2026 expansion draft?
The Las Vegas Aces lost second-year guard Aaliyah Nye to the Toronto Tempo in the April 3, 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft. Nye led the Aces in three-point percentage as a rookie in 2025 but was left unprotected because the Aces used their protection slots on higher-paid veterans. This followed the loss of Kate Martin to the Golden State Valkyries in the 2024 expansion draft.
The Athleap covers the business of women's basketball. For the league-wide cap structure, see our 2026 WNBA Salary Cap guide. For the full salary breakdown under the new CBA, read WNBA Salaries 2026: Max, Minimum & Average Pay. For how another contender is navigating the same cap squeeze, see Indiana Fever 2026 Salary Cap: Roster Outlook, Cap Space & Key Decisions. For the sign-and-trade and supermax rules that shape these deals, read our WNBA Core Designation 2026 explainer.