WNBA free agency: Brionna Jones signs with Dream, continuing confusing offseason for Atlanta

In the latest major move of this free agency period, the Atlanta Dream have come to an agreement with three-time All-Star Brionna Jones, according to Alexa Philippou. This news arrives just days after the team reportedly came to terms with 10-time All-Star Brittney Griner. 

The Dream entered free agency with plenty of cap space and a glaring hole in the frontcourt. Tina Charles, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus and Lorela Cubaj were all on expiring contracts, and 6-foot-2 forward Naz Hillmon was the only true big signed up for 2025 who got any sort of regular playing time last season. 

By signing Griner and Jones, the Dream have added a significant amount of talent to the roster and thoroughly addressed the frontcourt situation. Griner is the most notable free-agent acquisition in franchise history, and Jones is not far behind. But while there’s no question the Dream’s roster is better now than it was at the end of the season, it’s fair to ask questions about the fit and their overall approach this winter. 

How will Griner, Jones fit with new Dream coach?

The Dream hired Tanisha Wright in 2021 to help professionalize the organization and instill standards and a defensive mindset. She did exactly that and brought them to the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, but was fired at the end of last season in large part because the team had plateaued under her leadership. 

Offense was a major issue for the Dream in recent seasons, both due to personnel and Wright’s approach. They were last in offensive rating last season (96.6), 11th in pace (94.8), ninth in 3-point attempts per game (19.4) and 11th in 3-point percentage (30.8). They were slow, had poor spacing and relied heavily on getting to the free throw line. 

Even with a solid defense, it’s hard to win playing that way these days, and sure enough the Dream went in the complete opposite direction with their coaching hire. In an unexpected move, they plucked Karl Smesko from Florida Gulf Coast. Smesko had turned FGCU into a mid-major powerhouse over the past two decades with a pace-and-space offense that put a heavy emphasis on 3-pointers and efficiency. 

Upon announcing the decision, Dream general manager Dan Padover highlighted Smesko’s unique style. 

“His fast-paced, innovative style of play will be attractive to our players and fans alike,” Padover said. “We are excited to have Karl bring his incredible basketball IQ to the Dream.”

Griner and Jones are two of the most efficient players in the game, and finished first (57.9), and third (53.8), respectively, in field goal percentage last season. They also operate almost exclusively in the paint — Griner took 18 3s last season and Jones put up 14 — and are certainly not known for their speed. In other words, they don’t seem to be a great fit for what Smesko wants to do. 

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Jack Maloney

An exciting, but confounding offseason approach

To be fair to Padover and the front office, stretch bigs are among the most difficult players to find, and the options on the board this year were few and far between. They had to do something to fix the frontcourt situation, and when players of Griner and Jones’ caliber are interested, it’s hard to say no. 

Signing both, though, is confusing. It’s unlikely that either is going to come off the bench, which means they’re going to run into the exact same spacing issues they dealt with last season — albeit with better players. They hired Smesko to modernize the offense, then gave him a starting five that doesn’t really fit that approach. 

It’s possible that the Dream had the chance to add two big names and view this as a fun, short-term experiment with an eye on 2026 when the league will essentially reset with a vast majority of players hitting free agency. That being said, it’s unclear how this is going to work, and the moves could impact Smesko’s ability to truly implement his system and style of play. 

All told, this has been an exciting, but somewhat contradictory offseason for the Dream, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how everything plays out this summer.