Storm Place the Core Tag on Ezi Magbegor

Seattle's front office made the right decision.

On the eve of WNBA Free Agency, today (April 7th) was the last day that teams could place the Core (franchise) tag on eligible players. 10 of the 15 WNBA teams used their Core tag. The Seattle Storm had a decision to make. The main choices were between Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor, and Brittney Sykes. For a while now, I’ve said it made the most sense to put the tag on Magbegor. The Storm’s front office agreed, and so they did.

Below is the list of all 10 players who received the Core tag and with which teams.

Core Designations:

Allisha Gray - Atlanta Dream
Ariel Atkins - Chicago Sky
Arike Ogunbowale - Dallas Wings
Bridget Carleton - Portland Fire
Ezi Magbegor - Seattle Storm
Kelsey Mitchell - Indiana Fever
Kelsey Plum - Los Angeles Sparks
Marina Mabrey - Toronto Tempo
Napheesas Collier - Minnesota Lynx
Sabrina Ionescu - New York Liberty

The Core tag prevents the tagged player from negotiating with other teams. It also guarantees the player will make the supermax salary ($1.4 million) unless the player and team choose to come to a different agreement. If Seattle and Ezi agree to a new multi-year contract, the Storm will not be able to use the Core tag again until that contract ends. We saw that with Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart, because the Storm cored Loyd in 2022 and signed her to a two-year deal. Seattle was then unable to put the Core tag on Stewart in 2023.

I should make it clear that this doesn’t guarantee that Magbegor will play for the Storm in 2026. I hope that she will. I have written multiple times before that it makes more sense to build the Storm’s front court around both Dominique Malonga and Ezi Magbegor, even if it comes at the cost of Nneka Ogwumike. Ogwumike turns 36 in July. Magbegor doesn’t turn 27 until August, and Dominique Malonga will play the entire 2026 WNBA season at 20 years old.

Magbegor has been one of the best defensive players in the entire league. She’s been named to the All-WNBA 1st or 2nd Defensive Team in four consecutive seasons. In 2023, she was named to the All-Star team after putting up around 14 PPG, 8 RPG, and 2 BPG. Ezi still has so much untapped potential. There are not a lot of players that have the size, speed, and skill that she does.

It’s why Dominique Malonga was drafted #2 overall last year, and why Awa Fam could go #1 overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Players with that combination of size and speed don’t come around too often. If you have one, you'd better not let them go. And if you’re the Storm, you better not let another one go.

Even if the Storm don’t bring back Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike, the franchise seems to be in a great position if they can keep Magbegor. With Dom and Ezi, the Storm would have two front-court players who both can be WNBA All-Stars. If they re-sign Gabby Williams, that’s an All-Star wing. Then they have Jordan Horston, whom I’m a big believer in. Plus, Seattle has the 3rd overall pick in the draft, which should turn into an impact player or at least a starting-quality player.

By placing the Core tag on Magbegor, the Storm have protected the franchise. There is a chance that she is tagged and traded. We saw that back in 2021 when the Storm placed the tag on Natasha Howard and then traded her to the New York Liberty. That eventually resulted in Seattle acquiring Katie Lou Samuelson, which turned into Gabby Williams a year later.

The other day, I proposed a potential sign-and-trade that would send Ezi Magbegor to the Toronto Tempo and her Australian Opals Head Coach, Sandy Brondello, in exchange for the Tempo’s 6th overall draft pick. That would give Seattle picks 3, 6, 14, 16, and 39 in the upcoming WNBA Draft. A similar deal could work with the Expansion Portland Fire and the 7th overall pick.

Alternatively, if the Tempo or Fire were willing to part with their 2027 first-round pick, that might even be the better option, as there is more top-tier talent projected to go in that draft. I don’t think either expansion franchise would be willing to part with their future first-round picks because those could easily be Top 5 lottery picks, but it’s worth the debate.

I wouldn’t recommend this, but another possible option could be a swap of two Core players in Seattle and Dallas, with the Storm sending Magbegor to the Wings, and Dallas sending Arike Ogunbowale to the Storm. I guess since I’ve already mentioned Toronto as a potential trade partner, a Core for Core in Magbegor for Marina Mabrey could also be an option. I value Magbegor above both of those players, but if Ezi was demanding a trade, or if the Storm did bring back Nneka Ogwumike, I could see one of those trades happening. Not ideal, but still better than having Ezi leave in Free Agency for absolutely nothing in return.

General Manager Talisa Rhea made the right decision to core Ezi Magbegor. I hope the move keeps Ezi in Seattle for years to come, but if not, we’ll likely see a trade happen within the next few days.

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