Seattle Storm bring back Joyner Holmes on hardship contract

In a move that immediately shores up their depleted front line, the Storm signed forward Joyner Holmes to a hardship contract.

On Friday morning, the Storm also welcomed rookie center Awa Fam and greeted the rookie center with a joyous celebration at its practice facility that included coach Sonia Raman and several players.

It's uncertain when Fam will make her WNBA debut, but center Dominique Malonga (concussion protocol), forward Ezi Magbegor (foot) and forward Katie Lou Samuelson (knee) will miss Friday's game against the Connecticut Sun, which leaves the Storm short-handed once again.

Adding Holmes, a 6-foot-3 forward bolsters a depleted frontcourt that includes center Stefanie Dolson and forward Mackenzie Holmes.

Joyner Holmes, who was taken in the second round of the 2020 WNBA draft by the Storm, spent three seasons with four teams before playing two seasons (2023 and 2024) with the Storm when she averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 56 games.

She played six games with the Las Vegas Aces last season.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA added two developmental roster spots, which are not included in a team's salary cap and can be activated for a maximum of 12 games per season.

Storm developmental players Taina Mair and Taylor Thierry have been activate for two games and made their season debuts Wednesday.

Teams are allowed two types of hardship exceptions.

A regular hardship may be granted to teams with at least two players out with injury, illness or other conditions for at least three weeks and the second injured player must have already missed at least two games.

An emergency hardship may be granted when a team has fewer than 10 available players on its roster, whether through injury, illness or other reasons including overseas commitments.

Note

- Grace VanSlooten, who was taken in the third round of this year's WNBA draft by the Storm and released Monday, was signed Friday to an end-of-year contract by the Indiana Fever.

The 6-3 forward appeared in four games for the Storm and averaged 4.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 11.5 minutes as a reserve this season.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 5:05 PM.