MINNEAPOLIS -- Napheesa Collier downplayed talk about her future with the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday, saying she's still dealing with the emotions of being the first 1-seed to lose to an 8-seed in WNBA playoff history.
"Honestly, I haven't even thought about [my future]," Collier said during her exit interview after having been swept in two games by the New York Liberty. "We lost less than 48 hours ago and we didn't expect to be here, so I really haven't had any time to decompress or anything like that.
"I can tell you I love it here. I love the organization. I love my team and everything like that, but I just haven't had the time to give that any thought."
Last summer, Collier, after finishing second behind A'ja Wilson in the 2025 MVP race for the second year in a row, rejected a multiyear deal in lieu of a one-year contract and will now be highly coveted entering free agency.
Collier admitted she wasn't at her best this season -- averaging 16.8 points and 6.9 rebounds -- after returning July 22 from multiple offseason ankle surgeries. In three previous seasons from 2023 to 2025, Collier averaged at least 20 points per game and seven rebounds per game, while finishing fourth, second and second in the MVP race, respectively.
"I mean, obviously, it wasn't the level that I expected for myself. I'm proud of the work that I put into getting to that point," Collier said. "My ultimate goal is to get back on the court and ultimately to help my team win a championship. Obviously, we fell short of that, so that's hard. But still proud of what I was able to accomplish and more than anything proud of the team as well. Obviously, I wasn't 100%, but I gave 100% of what I was able to."
Added Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve: "Everybody could see Napheesa Collier wasn't Napheesa Collier."
But Collier remains an anchor for the team and a free agent with a major decision that could alter the franchise and the entire WNBA. Every team in the WNBA would seemingly make room for the five-time All-Star, if she wanted a change of scenery.
Collier was a bridge for the organization after former superstar Maya Moore abruptly left the league in 2018, ending the reign of a Lynx dynasty that had won four WNBA titles. The sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Collier gave Reeve a franchise player to build a new team around. That journey peaked in 2024, when the Lynx reached the WNBA Finals, where they lost to the Liberty.
Locally, Collier's noncommittal words about her future have sounded familiar to sports fans who've watched former WNBA star Katie Smith, baseball All-Star David Ortiz, former NBA All-Stars Kevin Love and Kevin Garnett and even an entire franchise -- the NHL's North Stars -- pick greener pastures before winning championships in those new spots.
Collier might be added to that list in the months ahead, depending on her next move.
"I would just say thank you for everything," Collier said when asked what she would tell fans who wonder if she's played her last game in Minneapolis. "Again, I don't know what to say about that [potentially leaving] part, but through this season and all my eight years here, continuously, the fans are ... a huge reason why Minnesota is just so amazing, why it's so hard for other teams to play in Target Center, why we love playing here.
"The fans, through everything, have stuck beside us through the highs and lows, no matter what the outside noise is."
If Collier leaves, Reeve will have to build a new team around another young star. Although Olivia Miles struggled throughout the playoffs, the WNBA Rookie of the Year said she learned about herself through the loss.
"I think it was an interesting year," Miles said. "We started off with weird expectations and then we got really good and then it was like, 'OK, you guys should win.' And then it felt like if we didn't win, it was the end of the world, almost.
"I was just navigating all those expectations. I also started off as a rookie who no one really thought would do what I did. And now I'm in MVP conversations and now I have to play at that level. And it was just a roller-coaster of expectations and emotions throughout the whole year."
Reeve has navigated this crossroads with star players in the past, but she said she's confident Collier understands the benefits of staying in Minnesota.
"[Collier] knows exactly what exists here. [She] knows the care, the love, all the things that have been poured into her. She's well aware of all of that," Reeve said. "This is a decision that is probably more than basketball. And so wherever she lands, it's going to be because she thinks whatever she chooses or wherever she chooses is the right place for her.
"Sometimes you stay and sometimes you go because maybe there is something -- I don't want to say better -- but maybe better for her. And that's something that I respect. She signed a one-year deal for a reason. It wasn't a multiyear deal. Whatever she decides, we're both going to be OK."