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By Megan Armstrong
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Minnesota Lynx All-Star Napheesa Collier received a roar of cheers from the home crowd at Target Center before the Lynx's win over the Toronto Tempo on Tuesday, July 28. It was Collier's first home game since making her 2026 debut at Seattle last week. She underwent two ankle surgeries in the offseason.
The warm reception for the Lynx's face of the franchise wasn't out of the ordinary, but it underscored how impossible it is to envision Collier playing for any other franchise.
The Athletic's Annie Costabile can see it, though.
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"Lynx star Napheesa Collier is another franchise player who, because of the terms of her contract, has to be considered a trade option," Costabile wrote. "The back-to-back MVP runner-up has spent her entire career with Minnesota, which selected her with the sixth pick in the 2019 draft. She signed a one-year, supermax deal for 2026 after being cored by the Lynx, and in doing so, she signaled to some degree that she’d like to explore her options in free agency."
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It seems extremely unlikely that the Lynx would trade Collier, even if that means losing her for nothing in free agency next offseason. The Lynx are 23-6, the best team in the WNBA, with their first WNBA title since 2017 firmly within reach.
Prior to the season, Collier told reporters that she opted to sign a one-year contract as opposed to a three-year deal because "I’m so focused on right now with my injury and this year winning a championship. [...] just focused on this year and winning."
More recently, earlier this month, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve made it crystal clear that "it's still Phee's team" for the foreseeable future.
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