Minnesota Lynx tip off the season with roster cutdowns settled and key players still healing
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The Minnesota Lynx will look much different in their season tip-off Saturday night against the Atlanta Dream.
Minnesota waived 10 players as the team finalized their roster for the 2026 season. Over that same period, the team also signed one player and two on developmental contracts.
Returning star Napheesa Collier is out for the start of the season until early June due to a late-March left ankle surgery.
When forward Dorka Juhász will join the team on the court is undetermined. Friday the Lynx announced that an MRI confirmed a right mid-foot sprain after an injury in the EuroLeague Women Semifinal in April.
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Juhász will continue rehab with Mayo Clinic foot and ankle specialists. She last played with the Lynx in 2024 before sitting out the 2025 season.
“Now there's opportunity for Dorka that I think we're all excited about,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said in a postseason press conference.
Heading into the first game of the season, the Lynx come off a high of sweeping their preseason games. They topped the Mystics 77-63 and the Toronto Tempo, one of the new franchises this season, 73-66. They also beat the Nigeria women's national basketball team.
Returners Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride set the tone bringing back their trusted leadership in the preseason matchups with Williams scoring a preseason high of 17 and McBride scoring 13 in the only preseason game she played.
Rookie first-round pick Olivia Miles showed what she might be capable of, scoring a preseason high of 13.
Minnesota native Nia Coffey also debuted a hometown pro-jersey for the first time. Natasha Howard is back in Minnesota after nearly 10 years.
Who Minnesota signed
Maya Caldwell was acquired from the Portland Fire in exchange for Minnesota’s 2028 third-round draft pick. The guard was selected by Portland in the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft from the Atlanta Dream.
In the 41 games she played with Atlanta last season, she averaged 5.4 points on 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 35.4 percent from three while also recording 3.1 rebounds.
The Lynx waived forward Liatu King and signed her to a developmental contract, which allows teams to sign up to two additional young players outside the standard 12-player roster.
Developmental contract players practice fully with the team but do not count against the salary cap.
King was drafted 28th overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks.
They also signed 6-foot--3 forward Emese Hof to a player development contract. She most recently played in the EuroLeague.
Who Minnesota waived, including Minnesotan Amaya Battle
During roster cutdowns, the Lynx waived six forwards and four guards.
Among the waived guards includes Hopkins-native Amaya Battle, who helped the Minnesota Golden Gophers advance to the Sweet Sixteen this season for the first time since 2005.
Lani White, the 45th overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft taken by the Lynx, was also waived. The guard played for the University of Utah.
Guard Jaylyn Sherrod was waived. She signed with Minnesota in 2025 after being waived by the New York Liberty.
Guard Reigan Richardson was waived again after a year earlier being cut from the Lynx roster after a knockout college career at Duke by way of the University of Georgia.
Former UConn forward Aubrey Griffin, who was drafted 36th by the Lynx last year, was waived only to be signed with the New York Liberty on Friday.
The team also waived forwards Saylor Poffenbarger, Ra Shaya Kyle, Jade Masogayo and Sakima Walker.
How and where to watch Saturday’s game
The Lynx host the Atlanta Dream Saturday at 7 p.m.
The game will be live streamed on Victory+ or using the WNBA app, where some restrictions apply.
Five Lynx games will be nationally televised Fridays on ION throughout the season.. Future games will be on national networks: ABC, CBS, ESPN, NBA TV, NBC, Peacock, Prime Video and USA Network.
