Star experiences free agency for first time

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

The All-Star center had meetings 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.”

Some of the potential stars 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.

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.

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.

Suns, Jazz make trade for the future

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have acquired three future first-round picks from the Utah Jazz in exchange for another first-round pick, the teams announced on Tuesday.

The Suns now own first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029 that are the least favorable selections between Cleveland and Minnesota in 2025 and between Cleveland, Utah and Minnesota in both 2027 and 2029.

The Jazz acquired the Suns’ 2031 unprotected first-round pick.

The struggling Suns have a 21-21 record this season, which is a huge disappointment considering they have Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on the roster.

Phoenix could try to use the three picks to add talent before the trade deadline. The franchise has been linked to disgruntled Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler in multiple media reports. Butler recently returned to the Heat after a seven-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Spurs star returns home with gift

LE CHESNAY, France — Victor Wembanyama stood on the center stripe of a new outdoor court in his hometown, his arms outstretched to their full 8-foot wingspan as he posed for a slew of photographers.

He could not have seemed happier.

Wembanyama unveiled a gift of sorts to his hometown and the next generation on Tuesday, a pair of outdoor courts — one for 5-on-5 play, the other for 3-on-3 play — that were built to the specifications that he wanted and sketched out himself.

“For those of you that don’t know, this started in a room with an idea,” San Antonio general manager Brian Wright said, as about five dozen kids sat on the court in front of him and another 100 or so people watched from adjacent courtside seating. “And I remember watching Victor going on a whiteboard and literally drawing every single detail of the court that you see today and putting his heart and soul into designing this court for the children to play on. It speaks to how special you are and how special this is to you, so thank you, Victor.”

Wembanyama and the Spurs are in France this week, playing a pair of games Thursday and Saturday in Paris against the Indiana Pacers. France is Wembanyama’s homeland, as everyone knows. And it’s often assumed that he’s from Paris, but he’s from Le Chesnay — about 12 miles (20 kilometers) west of the city.

It was important to him to make this happen in time for the Spurs’ visit there. Others did not think that was realistic.

“Impossible,” said Le Chesnay’s mayor, Richard Delepierre.

The challenges were many: There were old courts in that space to excavate, designs to be approved, it’s not great weather for construction at this time of year, and if all that wasn’t enough, building anything so close to the Palace of Versailles seems to be a bit of logistical headache, to say the least.

But it’s what Wemby wanted. And that makes things happen, especially in his hometown.

“Beyond his immense basketball talents, it seems that Victor possesses great qualities of art and a certain capacity for persuasion,” Delepierre said.

Construction really got going just a couple months ago. But on Tuesday, on a chilly afternoon, it was finished. The new nets were in place, the fibers still tight together as if to show not a single shot had gone through them yet. The kids peeled back a black drape to show off the center court design — a nod to both the Spurs’ logo and the Le Chesnay clock tower — and Wembanyama caught a lob for the ceremonial first dunk.

“It was my dream also to have these kind of courts when I was living here,” Wembanyama said.

The Associated Press