​Elena Delle Donne Explains Why She had to Force Her Way Out of Chicago

Elena Delle Donne, newest member of the Washington Mystics, caught more than a little flack in many quarters for successfully pushing her way out of Chicago, where she'd played her entire career for the Sky.

Delle Donne expressed her desire to pick a new team in a December interview, acknowledging a willingness to sit out the season if the Sky didn't agree. Ultimately, the Sky moved quickly and officially announced the deal with the Mystics Thursday morning.

"The career of a professional athlete is short," Delle Donne said in a conference call with reporters Thursday evening. "And I want to make every single season count. In order to address the situation, I had very open and honest conversations with [Sky coach/GM] Amber [Stocks] and [Sky owner] Michael [Alter]. And luckily, they were receptive as well. And luckily, with that dialogue, both parties are happy, and we're excited for what the future holds. For me, it worked out."

Some wondered why Delle Donne didn't simply wait until she reached unrestricted free agency. But the reality of the WNBA's collective bargaining agreement meant that would require quite a bit of patience. It's why Sylvia Fowles and Tina Charles have taken this course previously as well.

Delle Donne's rookie contract ended on February 1, making her a restricted free agent after four years in the league. If she'd signed a one-year deal in Chicago and played out 2017, she'd have become an unrestricted free agent next year.

Ah, but unrestricted does not, in this case, mean unrestricted. Teams have the right to designate one player as a "core player." They can do this, a season at a time, to the same player four times. And surely the Sky would have done so if Delle Donne hadn't exercised her leverage by threatening to sit out, meaning the real first year Delle Donne could have been a free agent was… 2022, the year she turns 33.

"I definitely do think there should be a little more freedom and movement," Delle Donne said, echoing a common complaint among WNBA players. "If a player spends some solid years at a program, and decides it's time to go elsewhere, they should be able to go somewhere else. So I do feel like it would be nice for players to have a little more freedom and movement. But that can't be addressed for, I think, three more years, when the CBA comes up."

It's even longer than that—the new CBA doesn't end until October 31, 2021.

What's fascinating here is that player movement isn't just an advantage for players. The league has seen unprecedented levels of offseason publicity out of the Delle Donne sweepstakes, a reflection of what virtually every other league on the planet knows and exploits: people love the hot stove, in some cases nearly as much as the league's season itself. In a league where many stars leave in the offseason to supplement their income by playing overseas, this is a free and easy way to make sure local WNBA fans are entertained year-round.

Accordingly, tweets from the Washington Post's Gene Wang about a potential next move for the Mystics has fans talking about this Mystics team in the middle of the Wizards most compelling season since perhaps Wes Unseld. Mystics coach/GM Mike Thibault wasn't interested in throwing any water on that fire, either, when asked whether he would be making a move for a point guard.

"That's a loaded question," Thibault responded. "I'll defer for the moment."

Or as Wang more accurately tweeted: "Stay tuned."