Brittney Griner to test the market for the first time in career as WNBA free agency opens

Brittney Griner is testing the free agent market for the first time in her career.

The All-Star center is taking meetings starting Tuesday with multiple teams, according to her agent. WNBA executives were in Miami for the opening of Unrivaled to talk with Griner and other free agents.

Griner has been a free agent before, but always re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury since she was first drafted by the franchise in 2013 as the No. 1 pick.

“I want to show off my skills for free agency,” Griner said of playing in the new league, which seems to be dominated more by guards and wings then post players.

Unrivaled has some of the top unrestricted free agents, like Griner and Courtney Vandersloot, as well as a few players who most likely will play on other teams next season despite being given the franchise tag by their current WNBA squad.

“There’s a ton of free agents here,” New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart said. “It’s like a one-stop shop to kind of do everything.”

The new league is a unique opportunity for free agents to build relationships on and off the court with some of the star players on potential destination teams.

“There’s conversations for sure. Everybody’s like ‘Hey, you want to come play here?’” said Vandersloot, who has meetings this week with multiple teams. “I think it’s great. You know, it gives you an opportunity to get, like, real honest feedback about teams and say, who wants to play with each other? We’re at a time in the league that there’s going to be a lot of player movement.”

Coffees and dinners have been bought and conversations are constantly being had among the 36 players. Vandersloot joked that buying her a pack of IPA would be a good recruiting pitch.

“I’m an IPA drinker, so I guess that is not a requirement. But listen, if you’re showing up with a pack of IPA, you might have a head start,” she said laughing.

Some of the potential stars at Unrivaled who could move teams include Satou Sabally, Jewell Loyd and Alyssa Thomas. Sabally and Thomas were given the franchise tags by their WNBA teams so the only way they could change teams would be via trade.

Sabally said that she doesn’t plan to return to Dallas next season to play for the Wings. Loyd isn’t a free agent, but has requested a trade from the Storm.

“This is the best place to be able to recruit free agents,” Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud said. “At the end of the day, I’m very much a person that’s whatever is best for Satou moving forward — that’s what I want for Satou.”

Negotiations officially can begin Tuesday and players can sign contracts starting Feb. 1. With a new CBA featuring massive salary implications expected to come into effect in 2026, most players will sign just one-year deals.

This season the Connecticut Sun and expansion Golden State Valkyries have the most cap space to sign free agents. The Sun could lose most of their starting lineup to free agency with DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Thomas all potentially leaving.

“There’s a lot to think about, a lot to process,” Thomas said. “But I’m going to weigh all my decisions.”

One free agent who is not at Unrivaled is Diana Taurasi. The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer is still weighing her decision on whether to retire or come back for another season.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball