With the WNBA and players’ union’s announcement of the key elements of the new CBA came confirmation of “accelerated pathways to maximum contracts for star players on rookie deals.” ESPN reports that the new provision that will make this possible is called "EPIC" (Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract).

According to ESPN, the new provision will allow players to “renegotiate what would have been the fourth year of their rookie deal and agree to a three-year contract extension.” If a player was previously named to All-WNBA first or second team they can earn the maximum in that fourth year. If a player has won MVP they can earn the supermax. Following an extension under this provision, the player would not be eligible for the core designation.

Under the previous CBA, the fourth-year of a rookie contract was an option year that was solely up to the club to exercise or not and continued on the same original rookie scale. The only difference from the first three years of the contract was that the fourth was protected. A player could only earn the supermax after the completion of a four-year rookie-scale contract.

Three players still on their rookie-scale contracts would be eligible to make the max in the fourth year of their deal. Aliyah Boston, who was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2025, is max eligible in 2026, though it is unclear if her 2026 contract can be renegotiated accordingly as the fourth-year option on her contract was already picked up. Her teammate Caitlin Clark could earn the projected max in 2027 thanks to being named to the All-WNBA First Team in 2024, her rookie season. Paige Bueckers was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2025, her rookie season, making her eligible in 2028.

Clark is likely to be one of, if not the first player to benefit from the maximum salary part of this new provision. She made $78,066 in 2025 and should already see her salary jump in 2026, as all existing rookie-scale deals will be adjusted to align with the new salary scale – sources told ESPN she will see an increase to $530,000. After that, if Clark so chooses, she could earn the projected max of $1.3 million in 2027. In the first year of her extended term, 2028, she could earn the projected supermax of $1.7 million.

While all players on rookie-scale contracts can potentially benefit from this new provision, it seems a select few will benefit the most thanks to its reliance on WNBA awards, the voting system for which is not without flaws and can at times seem more like a popularity contest. That’s not to say those former No. 1 overall picks do not deserve to be paid that much, only that what I am most interested to see is how often this provision is used to lock in young talent outside of those big names, how much they will be paid, and how we will see the core designation used (or in this case, not used) as a result.