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Brittney Griner’s time in Phoenix is over.
The 10-time WNBA All-Star struck a one-year deal to join the Atlanta Dream in free agency Tuesday night, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Alexa Philippou. Specifics of the deal are not yet known. It will be made official after Saturday, when contracts across the league are allowed to be signed.
Griner tested free agency for the first time in her career this offseason. She spent her first 11 seasons in the league with the Mercury, who took her with the No. 1 overall draft pick out of Baylor in 2013. Griner helped lead the team to a title in her second year in the league, and the Mercury made it back to the Finals in 2021.
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Griner missed the entire 2022 campaign being wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly 10 months while she was playing in the country. She was eventually released in a prisoner exchange and then took the court again in Phoenix the following season.
The 6-foot-9 center averaged 17.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season with the Mercury while picking up her 10th All-Star nod. The team went 19-21 and made the playoffs, but it was knocked out of the first round.
Griner will leave Phoenix as the team’s all-time rebounds and blocks leader, and second in points scored.
With her departure, the Mercury appear to be entering a new era. The team may also be losing longtime star Diana Taurasi, who has been mulling retirement this offseason. Taurasi has been with the team since 2004, and she’s helped lead the team to all three of its championships while becoming the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader. The Mercury landed five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas in a deal with the Connecticut Sun earlier Tuesday. Ty Harris will join her in Phoenix, while Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen and the No. 12 pick in the draft will go to Connecticut.
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Griner will now join the Dream as the franchise’s biggest free-agent signing ever. The Dream went 15-25 last season and made the playoffs for a second straight year, but they were eliminated in the first round. The team fired head coach Tanisha Wright and replaced her with Karl Smesko.
Griner will team up with former No. 1 overall draft pick Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray in Atlanta, where the trio will attempt to lead the Dream to their first title.
