AP

Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson, left, talks with Swin Cash during the the first half of a WNBA playoff basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 in Seattle. The Storm defeated the Sparks 64-50.

SEATTLE - The Seattle Storm brought in some of the most accomplished players in women's basketball, plus a new, driven coach. The goal: to win the WNBA title.

"We had it all," star point guard Sue Bird said Wednesday.

Yet all they have to show for it is a fourth consecutive first-round exit from the playoffs and questions whether any of their three former league MVPs -- unrestricted free agent Lauren Jackson, 37-year-old Sheryl Swoopes and 38-year-old Yolanda Griffith -- will return next season and whether former All-Star Swin Cash will have back surgery next month for a herniated disk that could sidetrack her three months.

It seemed like a one-shot deal for a title faded away Tuesday night as Seattle lost at home to Los Angeles in the decisive Game 3 of the opening round.

And it seemed even more like that on Wednesday. Players sulked through exit interviews and packed instead of preparing for the Western Conference finals.

"I don't even drink, and when I woke this morning you'd think I had a hangover," Cash said.

Yet coach and personnel director Brian Agler says he didn't necessarily build the Storm for only one chance at the championship.

"Whether it's a one-shot deal, I don't know," Agler said. "I know in talking to Sheryl (and Yolanda), they feel like they have another year or two ahead of them.

"I know it's tough right now to gauge that, because of how they are feeling emotionally, and physically it's been a long season."

Jackson's post-Olympics surgery on her ankle last month effectively doomed the Storm, leaving them without the low-post scorer and rebounder who has often dominated the league. She watched helplessly Tuesday, nervously pacing the bench area in a black sweater.

Bird said she expects her roommate and teammate in Russia during the European season will be with her when their team begins play there Oct. 16, after Jackson goes home to Australia for two weeks.

But will Jackson, a two-time WNBA MVP, be back in Seattle in 2009?

"I hope so," Bird said, smiling.

Seattle cannot keep Jackson by designating her its core player, giving the club exclusive negotiating rights to her in exchange for a guaranteed, one-year contract at the league's maximum salary.

The new collective bargaining agreement limits each team to one core player instead of two a year, beginning in 2009, and a club spokesman confirmed Bird is still Seattle's core player -- a designation she got before signing a two-year contract before this season.

Seattle has a contract option for 2009 on Swoopes, who had a leg injury and a concussion this season and is 11 months removed from back surgery. She sounded like she was leaning toward retirement late Tuesday night.

"I definitely will be here in Seattle in the offseason," said Swoopes, who's said Houston will always be her home. "Hopefully I will be with the team. I've talked to a few people about coaching. I have a son who is in school here. It is time for me to be a full-time mom."

When asked if she be wearing a Storm uniform next season, Swoopes said, "I don't know."

Griffith, who played through injuries to anchor one of the league's better defensive teams, will also be an unrestricted free agent when the market opens in December. She was unavailable for comment.

Right now, all Seattle can say for sure is that Bird, Cash, 2008 surprise Camille Little and reserve guard Katie Gearalds are under contract for next season. Ashley Robinson, Tanisha Wright, Kelly Santos and Shyra Ely are restricted free agents.

Bird talked admiringly of Swoopes and Griffith -- in the past tense.

"It was great to have them on the team," Bird said.