Betnijah Laney-Hamilton should have a plethora of options after her six-year term with the New York Liberty came to an end.
This (Scarlet) knight's watch has ended.
Brooklyn endured the end of an era on Thursday afternoon, as the New York Liberty announced the release of lasting veteran and Rutgers alumna Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. The sixth-year New Yorker had fallen out of the metropolitan rotation but left a permanent impact on metropolitan fortunes, culminating in a major role during the team's run to a 2024 championship.
"While this decision is incredibly difficult, we believe this will give Betnijah the best opportunity to pursue a larger basketball role," Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said in a team statement. "We wish her nothing but success moving forward, and she'll always be a member of the Liberty family. As a key contributor to the first championship in franchise history, Betnijah's legacy with the Liberty is forever cemented."
While Laney-Hamilton has dealt with her share of absences in recent seasons (such as missing all of last year due to injury), she should find her share of suitors on the waiver wire. Several teams on the docket could take a particularly keen interest ...
Forever a champion. Forever a part of the Liberty family.
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) August 6, 2026
Thank you, Betnijah, for everything you’ve poured into this organization, this city, and our fans. Your leadership, toughness, and heart helped shape our story, and we’ll always be grateful.
Once a Liberty, always… pic.twitter.com/8Mfe2po8BW
Connecticut Sun
Perhaps the biggest shame about Laney-Hamilton's departure is the timing: current contenders are relatively bereft of available cap space.
Joining the Indiana Fever's star-spangled second unit would burn the hardwood—a grouping of Laney-Hamilton plus Sophie Cunningham, Tyasha Harris, and Makayla Timpson sounds like depth star nirvana—but the team has less than $10,000 in availability. Current WNBA penthouse dwellers Golden State, Las Vegas, and Minnesota are all over the cap as is Phoenix after its trade for Kelsey Plum.
That would make her a prime target for teams desperate for some form of franchise stability, especially if Laney-Hamilton is looking for an immediate long-term commitment. Look no further than the Sun, which is spending its final hours under such an identity before its move to Houston resurrects the Comets. As it stands, Connecticut has seven figures to spend, is in need of a veteran overseer beyond Brittney Griner, and lost a doer of dirty work in Toronto-bound Aneesah Morrow.
With the Morrow trade, the Sun made it clear that it's focused on its spacey future. Adding Laney-Hamilton to the fold on a relatively long-term excursion would certainly be worth looking into as the countdown to the Comets engages in full swing.
Toronto Tempo
An eight-game losing streak has distanced the Tempo from the playoffs (eight games out entering Friday play) has done little to damper their transactional spirits: desperate to clean up an anemic rebounding game, Toronto leaped into the trade deadline fracas by trading for former Connecticut building block Morrow in an attempt to prepare for the next verses. Adding Laney-Hamilton could continue that theme, especially considering the familiar faces that have stuck around.
Head coach Sandy Brondello was Laney-Hamilton's championship supervisor on Atlantic Avenue and was always highly complimentary of her game. Brondello and a hodgepodge of metropolitan holdovers have essentially turned Toronto into Little Brooklyn: the team selected Laney-Hamilton's fellow Finals heroine Nyara Sabally in the expansion draft and later signed one-year New Yorker Isabelle Harrison, both of whom have shown flashes of international as they try to shake off injuries of their own.
Perhaps Laney-Hamilton would have to overcome a set of unpleasantries: her last seafoam contribution was the unintentional launching of a lost sneaker into Marina Mabrey during New York's maiden Canadian voyage on July 12. But Brondello has bemoaned the lack of Toronto toughness that places them last in several gritty categories, including rebounding. Adding the two-way talents of Laney-Hamilton would at least start to flip the franchise's fortunes in those areas.
Washington Mystics
Even if she didn't play a direct role in the Liberty's famous 2024 title run, Laney-Hamilton already etched a lasting legacy in the New York ledgers.
Her work in the Liberty's original Brooklyn days back in 2021 next to de facto rookie Sabrina Ionescu helped stabilize a franchise in desperate need of momentum on the league leaderboard, as she reached 20 points in each of her first eight games as a New Yorker. That laid down the groundwork for a brief yet head-turning showing in the 2021 playoffs, a return to the bracket after a couple seasons of meandering between arenas and ownership groups.
The kids would probably call the Mystics very 2021 Liberty-coded: no one's expecting them to fully hijack the postseason party but Sydney Johnson's fiery youths won't be ignored. The All-Star antics of Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen speak for themselves while Shakira Austin should be a front-runner in Most Improved Player consideration. All that's missing is a truly-experienced veteran leader, though Michaela Onyenwere's active work in the department as a 26-year-old deserves credit. Onyenwere, ironically enough, staged a Rookie of the Year campaign with that 2021 New York group.
In terms of an immediate fit among potentially playoff-bound squads, Washington seems to be one of the best destinations on Laney-Hamilton's list. The Mystics carry the second-best cap space in the league and her defensive tenacity that had her guarding the best of the best in Brooklyn should mix well for a team that's allowing the second-fewest points per game in the league.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
