WNBA Free Agency, at long last, is promising the chaos longtime fans of the league have hoped for. Major stars leaving their teams, testing the markets and large scale turnovers that change the balance of power in the league. Who won early in a wild Tuesday of moves? We break down some of the biggest ones here…
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Brittney Griner to Atlanta
It’s the end of an era in Phoenix. To think of Brittney Griner in anything other than a Mercury uniform is kind of crazy to believe. But it felt like time and now the Atlanta Dream get a fundamental big to pair with a dynamic backcourt that stands to shoot *a lot* under new head coach Karl Smesko. To be clear, there’s risk associated with this move. Griner is 34 years old, isn’t the rebounding force she was earlier in her career (her last two seasons have been some of her lowest RPG averages) but can still score in bunches when given the opportunity. I’m curious about the fit in that respect for a team that is bound to need a dominant rebounder, rim protector and rim runner to contend with a pacey, long range shooting offense. Is it a significant upgrade over someone like Tina Charles? I think slightly, if only because Griner is a couple years younger, theoretically fits in this type of offense better and probably won’t demand shots that take away from the true star of this team: Rhyne Howard. But more than that, it moves the ceiling of Atlanta from a 7th seed to something akin to a 4 or 5, at least in my opinion. It’s a swing with risk, hence the B grade. But so was hiring Smesko. For a franchise that needs an injection of life, this is the type of splash that signals a willingness to compete.
Grade: B
Phoenix gets Alyssa Thomas & Ty Harris via sign-and-trade
If Phoenix is losing Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas isn’t a bad consolation. First and foremost, it surely shores up a defense that was one of the worst in the WNBA last season. Thomas immediately becomes a salve for a group that gave up 102.9 per 100 possessions in 2024, third highest in the league. But I’m particularly interested in the Mercury netting Ty Harris, who I wrote last year should’ve been taken more seriously for WNBA Most Improved Player. While you lose a high floor guard in Natasha Cloud, you get back a younger, equally as dynamic guard who still has leaps to make in her development. The B+ is for the two of them alone but goes into the ‘A’ tier if what we think will happen, happens. For those unaware, Alyssa Thomas and Connecticut Sun star Dewanna Bonner are married. Bonner is a free agent. I’ll let you fill in where I’m going with this. If the Mercury lose Griner and Diana Taurasi and replace that with Thomas, Bonner and Harris, the floor immediately raises on the defensive end and still gives you a premier scoring threat in Kahleah Copper. It’s not a super team by any means but it’s a team that should compete. If it doesn’t work under Nate Tibbetts, then you can start asking questions about what comes next there.
Grade: B+
Kelsey Mitchell Returns to Indiana
The first domino has fallen for the Indiana Fever and it’s a good one. Kelsey Mitchell has been discussed in a variety of scenarios but it always seemed as though the Fever were confident she would return to the team. Lo and behold, the 29 year old coming off a career scoring year will be back. This helps in a variety of ways. First of all, it keeps one of your most talented players on the roster and helps alleviate the attention that is paid to Caitlin Clark on the perimeter. If you have Mitchell, you can’t just leave her on an island by herself or she’ll put 30 on your head. It also narrows options for Indiana in the rest of the free agent market. With the news of Satou Sabally taking meetings with Phoenix and New York and, notably, not Indiana, it allows the franchise to still exude a perception of confidence. If you lose that shot and lose Mitchell, there are fair questions to ask about what the plan is to maximize the tandem of Clark and Aliyah Boston. Now, you have a three team core, can play the field in free agency and even look towards someone like Ajsa Sivka, a 6’3 Slovenian forward with a nice three level scoring ability, to augment the roster at a cut rate. But you needed Mitchell to feel good about the baseline of what comes next. Sometimes retention is the best addition and in this case, Indiana hit a home run.
Grade: A
Connecticut gets Becca Allen, Natasha Cloud, No. 12 Draft Pick
It’s a C+ just in terms of the haul they receive but I think I understand what is happening here: Connecticut appears to be blowing it up. They have a decent aged core but just gave away Harris, Bri Jones is a free agent and DiJonai Carrington’s name is in trade discussions centered around the No. 3 pick owned by Chicago. If they load up on assets and choose to rebuild and possess rookie contracts that will be below market value by the next CBA, then it makes sense to do everything you can to set yourself up for success. Make no mistake, the Sun as an organization are not in a great spot. The facilities question arguably lost Thomas and potentially Bonner, Uncasville isn’t exactly Paris and the entire casino connection just doesn’t lend itself to a team in a serious market. With that in mind, I find it a touch interesting that a league fanbase that so fiercely advocates for representation is chomping at the bit to expel one of just two Native American ownership groups in professional sports. They have work to do, to be sure, but it’s a franchise that has regularly competed in this league even with their limitations. Allen and Cloud are good pieces and fit into Rachid Meziane’s ideal player mold. They’re not stars, however. If the decision is to blow it up, they should fully commit and if that’s the calculus maybe we can re-evaluate this grade moving forward.
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