Veteran forward Gabby Williams, whose prospects of playing in the 2023 WNBA season had been in doubt, has agreed to a deal to return to the Seattle Storm, the team announced on Monday.
The Storm opened a roster spot for Williams by waiving Arella Guirantes last week.
Williams, a 2018 lottery pick who has built an extensive playing career overseas -- including with the French national team -- was expected to be among the players most impacted by the WNBA's prioritization rule, which went into effect this season. The French league did not move up its season to accommodate the WNBA's new requirements, but Williams' contract with club ASVEL was suspended before the league's May 19 deadline, the first day of the regular season, allowing her to maintain eligibility to play in the WNBA this summer.
Williams was a restricted free agent this offseason, and because she was unsigned, she had only to "fully complete" any offseason play before the WNBA season's start. Had she been under contract with a team, she would have needed to report by May 19 or else her contract would have been suspended.
Williams' agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, said at the time of Williams' ASVEL contract suspension that the WNBA season "is an option for Gabby, but not a certainty." Williams was coming off a concussion suffered in the French league semifinals. According to French publication L'Equipe, she did not play for France during June's EuroBasket competition as she continued to recover from the injury.
Williams said as early as last September that she understood it was possible she could miss the 2023 WNBA campaign. She also did not play in the league in 2021 amid French national team commitments.
"I would love to return to the WNBA," she told reporters following the 2022 season, "but what's best for my career, what the WNBA decided to do with players like me, it's complicated."
Though she managed to maintain her WNBA eligibility this summer, Williams would still be subject to a fine for missing training camp.
In her first season with the Storm following a trade from the Los Angeles Sparks, Williams started all 36 games for Seattle in 2022, averaging 7.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists and earned second-team WNBA all-defense honors. Amid a rebuild following the departure of Breanna Stewart for New York and the retirement of Sue Bird, Seattle enters July with a 4-11 record, the second worst in the league, after starting the season 0-4. The Storm last missed the playoffs in 2015.
ESPN's Kevin Pelton contributed to this report