DHJ Quick Take: Haley Jones Returns to Dallas on a Developmental Deal
The Dallas Wings have brought back Haley Jones on a Developmental Player contract, roughly a month after the Portland Fire waived the former No. 6 overall pick. The move returns a player who posted career-bests in Dallas last season to the building under the league’s new developmental designation.
- Why did the Wings sign Haley Jones? Dallas reunited with a player who set career highs of 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists across 24 games with the team in 2025.
- What is Jones’s WNBA résumé? The 6-1 Stanford product was the No. 6 overall pick by the Atlanta Dream in 2023 and has averaged 4.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists over 113 career games.
- How does the Developmental Player contract work? It occupies one of two roster spots outside the standard limit, allows up to 12 activations per player, and pays a weekly stipend plus per-game compensation when activated.
- What’s next? Jones joins guard Costanza Verona in the team’s developmental ranks and becomes available to be activated for up to 12 regular-season games.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Wings added guard/forward Haley Jones back to their roster Sunday, signing her to a Developmental Player contract.
Jones spent all of last season in Dallas before Portland took her in the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft in April. She played 5 games for the Fire, averaging 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists, before Portland waived her May 21 in the same move that released current Wings guard Sug Sutton.
Haley Jones’s 2025 Run With Dallas
Dallas first brought in Jones on a hardship deal in June 2025 and kept her on a rest-of-season contract beginning July 9. She went on to log 24 appearances for the Wings, drawing 16 starts and setting personal highs of 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.8 steals per game.
The 6-1 guard/forward reached the WNBA as the No. 6 overall pick out of Stanford, taken by the Atlanta Dream in 2023, and spent her first two seasons in Atlanta. Her career line across 113 games and 46 starts stands at 4.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
How the WNBA Developmental Player Designation Works
New for the 2026 season, the designation lets each team carry up to two Developmental Player slots that fall outside the standard roster limit, a tool the league built for younger players and those with few prior WNBA minutes. Clubs may activate each Developmental Player in up to 12 games and are capped at 24 total activations across the schedule.
Players signed to the contracts receive a weekly stipend for the length of the deal and earn additional pay for every regular-season game they are activated for. Guard Costanza Verona, who made her WNBA debut earlier this season, holds the Wings’ other Developmental Player contract,
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