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The 2026 WNBA offseason was the summer players received seven-figure salaries, a result of the new CBA signed in March. But not all were perceived to be great deals.
Of the 31 million-dollar contracts, none were more widely panned than the Wings handing $2.05 million and two years to Jessica Shepard.
She was one of the eight million-dollar players who had never been named an All-Star. But many of the others either went to expansion teams that had money to spend (Bridget Carleton, Temi Fágbénlé), were borderline All-Stars in previous seasons (Marina Mabrey, Azurá Stevens), or were younger than Shepard (Shakira Austin).
Alanna Smith, another non-All-Star, was Shepard’s Minnesota Lynx teammate and started ahead of her in Minnesota. She won the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, then joined Shepard on the Wings on a three-year, $3.75 million max deal.
Shepard, who turns 30 in September, left the Minnesota Lynx for the first time since they drafted her in the second round of the 2019 draft out of Notre Dame. The American, who also obtained Slovenian citizenship in 2024, had been a role player for most of her career, starting in 51 of 125 career games before this season.
She had a rocky start to her career, tearing her ACL just six games into her rookie year, which also caused her to miss the entire 2020 season.
In a league where roster spots are hard to come by—especially before expansion teams were introduced—early-career injuries can be a career killer. However, Shepard successfully returned in 2021, and became a productive player off the bench for Minnesota, who could also fill in starter’s minutes when needed.
But she wasn’t exactly a needle-mover in Minnesota. In 2024, when the Lynx narrowly lost in the WNBA Finals, Shepard didn’t play a single minute, instead playing abroad in Italy thanks to the league’s prioritization rule.
But two months into the 2026 season and Shepard’s deal looks like the biggest bargain of them all.
Shepard is one of the focal points of the much-improved Wings (14–8), who have already won four more games than last year, when they finished with the league’s worst record. She’s Paige Bueckers’s lead sidekick and is second in the team in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game, more than four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and 2026 No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd.
Shepard is also second in the league in rebounds (11.5) and ninth in assists (5.3). Alyssa Thomas, a five-time first team All-WNBA player, is the only non point-guard averaging more assists than Shepard.
The Wings center is the only player to record a triple double this season—and she recorded her third Tuesday night against the New York Liberty. She is only the second player to record three triple doubles in a season (Thomas).
Shepard parlayed her success into her first All-Star appearance. But her season has been so dominant that she skipped the line and was immediately named one of the ten All-Star starters, ahead of other million-dollar players and established stars like Kahleah Copper, Gabby Williams, and Aliyah Boston.
Shepard even parlayed it to a prime offseason opportunity as Unrivaled announced Wednesday that it signed the Wings center to a multiyear deal. Shepard has more than half a decade of overseas experience, including stints in Italy and Greece.
It’s not all positive for Dallas, as Shepard’s emergence has meant that Smith has fallen deeper into the rotation, averaging only 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in just 15 minutes per game.
But the Wings are nonetheless better off with just one of their offseason bets hitting, and they’re poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2023.
