The New York Liberty has removed Sabrina Ionescu from the open market, designating her as a core player, giving the team exclusive negotiating rights and eligibility for the $1.4 million supermax contract. The Liberty also extended reserve qualifying offers to guards Marine Johannès and Rebekah Gardner, which are expected to return to Brooklyn this season. IonesCu, who was second on the team in scoring last season, plans to re-sign with New York in 2026. The No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft out of Oregon, she has been named an All-Star in each of the past four seasons and helped New York to the WNBA Finals in two of the last three seasons. The official negotiating period for WNBA players begins on Wednesday and teams can't start signing players until Saturday.