Brittney Griner trade: 10x WNBA All-Star parts ways with Mercury to join $55,000,000 franchise in shocking free agency move

WNBA free agency has seen another big move, and it involves center Brittney Griner. The 11-year veteran, who has played her entire professional career with the Phoenix Mercury, is on the move.

Griner, who became a free agent after the 2024 season, is moving on to join the Atlanta Dream, who are valued at $55 million per Sportico. The news was broken by ESPN's Shams Charania and Alexa Philippou on X (formerly Twitter).

Brittney Griner was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury with the first pick in 2013. That same class had Elena Della Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith who went two and three respectively. Griner and the Mercury won a title in 2014, which is the All-Star center's only championship in the WNBA so far.

The Atlanta Dream had former MVP Tina Charles as their center last season but it is unclear whether they plan to bring her back, especially now with Griner in the mix.

Griner will be pairing up with Rhyne Howard, who was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023.

The Dream may make more roster moves in the coming days and ahead of the draft, where they have the 18th and the 36th pick.

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Brittney Griner will bring her staunch defense to the Atlanta Dream

Brittney Griner is a multi-talented center but her calling card is her interior defense. More specifically, she has a penchant for sending shots back with force.

In her first season in the league, Griner was already an All-Star. It was the first of 10 total All-Star selections.

She also displayed the defensive prowess that she would become known for by averaging a league-leading 3.0 blocks per game. She would go on to be the WNBA's block leader for seven consecutive seasons from her rookie year and then once more in 2021. This includes a career-high of 4.0 rejections during the 2015 season.

In 2020, when her streak of leading the league in blocks was broken, A'ja Wilson led the league with 2.0 bpg while Griner finished with 1.8.

Brittney Griner has also won the Defensive Player of the Year award two time and in back-to-back campaigns. This happened in 2014 and in 2015.

Additionally, she is close to the top of the WNBA in all-time career blocks which places her at third. She currently has 812 and is only 10 rejections behind Lisa Leslie. Only time will tell if she can overtake Margo Dydek, who has 877, for the top spot.