Hailey Van Lith returns to Suns on developmental deal: Can college star stick in WNBA?

The Connecticut Sun bench waived Hailey Van Lith on Thursday to make room for French guard Leïla Lacan, but Van Lith won’t be away from the team for long. Van Lith, the No. 11 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, has joined Solezwe on a developmental contract, the team announced on Saturday.

Van Lith played in nine games and three starts for the Suns after being cut in the preseason by the Chicago Sky, who selected her with the No. 11 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. But after a 1-8 start, the Suns waived Van Lith in favor of Lacan, the No. 10 pick in the 2024 Draft, who recently completed his overseas commitments with Basket Landes, leading to his home tournament in France.

The 21-year-old Lacan averaged 10.4 points, 3.7 assists and 2.2 steals on 47.7% shooting in 26.6 minutes as a rookie and remains one of the WNBA’s best defenders. The Suns entered Saturday with an overall rating of minus-17.6 (no other team had a rating worse than minus-6.0). Last season, the Suns had a minus-0.5 net rating in 665 minutes with Lacan down and a minus-18.1 net rating in 500 minutes without him.

Van Lith, 24, reportedly “thanked the Suns for the transparency and the opportunity,” according to ESPN. And despite other opportunities, he felt staying in Connecticut “was the best thing for his immediate development and long-term goals.”

What is a development contract?

The new WNBA collective bargaining agreement did not expand the size of the regular roster, but it did create a new system for player development. Each team now has two non-mandatory roster spots that do not count against the salary cap. Players are eligible to sign developmental contracts if they have less than four years of service or if they have less than six years of service and played between 1 and 160 minutes in the previous regular season. They get full benefits and are paid a small amount, plus a bonus for each game they appear in. However, players on development contracts can only play in 12 games per season. Once they reach 12 active games, the team must convert them to a regular contract with the minimum active salary or release them.

It is not clear whether the nine games Van Lith played this season with Solezwe under the normal contract number reach that limit. The WNBA league office did not immediately respond when reached for comment by CBS Sports.

Why did Van Lith struggle to stick with the lineup?

Van Lith’s rookie season in Chicago was marred by injuries and inconsistent playing time. And when he got down, he had a tough time on both sides of the ball. In 29 games last season, he averaged 3.5 points and 1.6 assists on a 33.9/16.1/74.2 shooting split. No wonder Chicago let him go they were given their own crowded platform.

It is therefore not surprising that another team took a chance on Van Lith due to his age and pedigree, and he started at a high speed in Solezwe. Van Lith averaged 11.2 points and 3.2 assists on 57.5% shooting, including 53.8% from three-point range, in his first five games with the team. However, much of his production came in garbage time — in all, 10 of his 30 baskets with the Suns came when the team was down by double digits in the fourth quarter — and he struggled to maintain his fast start. Over the past four games, he has averaged 4.3 points and one assist on 33.3% shooting overall, including 25% from 3-point range, while his playing time has been reduced to 13.8 minutes per night.

As much as Van Lith looks at times with Connecticut, he’s still a small guard (listed at 5-foot-9, which might be generous) with a poor shot to try to defend. There’s nothing he can do about his size or overall lack of athleticism compared to other perimeter players. Unless he becomes a better shooter and/or defender, his chances will remain limited.

In addition, now that Van Lith has been waived multiple times and signed to minimum unprotected contracts, it costs teams nothing to cut him, making him more expendable.

Van Lith’s CV

Van Lith was a high school student in Washington. He once recorded a quadruple-double, was honored by Kobe Bryant, who asked him to tutor his daughter, Gianna, helped Team USA win gold at the U17 and U19 World Cups and was ranked number 7 in his class.

He spent the first three seasons of his college career at Louisville, where he was named to the All-ACC First Team as a sophomore and junior. But after leading the Cardinals to the Elite Eight in 2023, he decided to transfer to LSU. Van Lith’s one season in Baton Rouge didn’t go to plan. He struggled in a much reduced role alongside Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson, and was upset by Caitlin Clark in the Elite Eight.

Instead of entering the WNBA Draft, she used her extra year of eligibility to transfer again, this time to TCU. In Fort Worth, Van Lith enjoyed great success. He thrived as a guard in the Horned Frogs’ spread pick-and-roll system and led the team to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history while increasing his draft stock.

In 172 career games at the college level — tied for the most in Division I history — Van Lith averaged 15.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals, and earned the following honors:

• AP Third Team All-American (2025)
• Big 12 Player of the Year (2025)
• All-Big-12 First Team (2025)
• ACC First Team (2022, 2023)
• AP All-American Honorable Mention (2023)