WNBA free agency live updates, tracker: Brittney Griner to Dream, Alyssa Thomas to Mercury; Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum included in 3-team trade

The Connecticut Sun spent years teetering on the brink of a rebuild. Yet coaching changes, blockbuster trades and free agency didn’t disrupt their stay as one of the WNBA’s best teams.

That they always powered themselves on an upward trajectory was largely a credit to “The Engine.” Alyssa Thomas, the franchise’s fourth overall pick in 2014, led the Sun to six consecutive semifinal appearances and two Finals. She epitomized her gritty moniker en route to six All-Defensive teams, five All-Star appearances and the 2023 MVP runner-up.

It’s now a new era after Thomas reportedly secured a sign-and-trade to the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday. The 6-foot-2 forward will be the focus of the Mercury’s frontcourt after longtime franchise center Brittney Griner reportedly agreed to join the Atlanta Dream. Griner, a 10-time All-Star who averaged 17.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season, will be looking to begin a new chapter in her career. In two separate, but connected, moves, Connecticut and Phoenix are heading in different directions.

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Brittney Griner's time with the Phoenix Mercury is officially over.

Griner reached a deal to sign with the Atlanta Dream in free agency on Tuesday night, according to ESPN's Shams Charania and Alexa Philippou. Griner spent the first 11 seasons of her career with the Mercury, but hit free agency for the first time this offseason.

For more, read here.

The Phoenix Mercury are finalizing a trade to acquire five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun, ESPN's Alexa Philippou reports.

Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen and the No. 12 pick in the draft will go to Connecticut, while Ty Harris will join Thomas in Phoenix, per Philippou.

Thomas, 32, has spent her entire 11-season WNBA career with the Sun after being selected by the New York Liberty with the No. 4 pick in the 2014 Draft then traded to the Sun.

Read more here.

The weekend's swap of former No. 1 picks was the first of a few early dominoes expected to fall. Here's who and what we're looking at after the Kelsey Plum-Jewell Loyd three-team swap:

Satou Sabally — There are other candidates for sign-and-trade deals (Sun's Alyssa Thomas and Fever's Kelsey Mitchell), but Sabally is the only player under a core designation who has spoken candidly about leaving her franchise. Franchises will want to sort out those deals before making more free agency moves.

The most likely landing spots for the Wings forward are either New York with her sister, Nyara Sabally, and former Oregon teammate, Sabrina Ionescu, or Indiana, which could use a lengthy strong-shooting forward to pair with Aliyah Boston. But Unrivaled opens up a world of other possibilities as more than 35 players mingle and discuss the possibility of playing WNBA games together.

Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner — It makes sense Griner is testing the free agency market since the status of Taurasi, the league's all-time leading scorer, remains unclear. Should Taurasi retire, could Griner land in Las Vegas? The potential move is reminiscent of the Aces signing Parker for an All-Star starting five ahead of the 2023 season. Griner said she wants to evolve her game playing in the fast-paced Unrivaled league and show teams what she can outside the paint.

Alyssa Thomas — Thomas left the Laces game Friday night after colliding with an opponent and injuring her right knee. She limped off the court with trainers and has not been active in games Saturday or Monday. There was no update on her injury. The Sun cored her, allowing them to keep her in town or receive assets in a sign-and-trade. A decision will determine how Connecticut, under first-year head coach Rachid Meziane, move forward with other free agents.

The Las Vegas Aces under head coach Becky Hammon had only ever experienced “exit partying,” not exit interviews, she noted shortly after the Aces lost Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals in October.

In their first offseason without a WNBA championship in three years together, the Aces are quickly back to celebrating after the first domino of free agency fell on Sunday night. Las Vegas reportedly acquired two-time WNBA champion and six-time All-Star guard Jewell Loyd from the Seattle Storm in a landscape-shaking three-team trade. Loyd, who is on a supermax contract for 2025, asked to be moved earlier this offseason.

The Aces will reportedly send two-time champ and three-time All-Star Kelsey Plum, on whom the Aces used their core designation, to the rebuilding Los Angeles Sparks. Each player is a former No. 1 overall pick who won both titles with the franchise that drafted them. The Storm acquired the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft and center Li Yueru from the Sparks. The Sparks and Aces also acquired draft picks.

Read the full trade analysis here.

The Seattle Storm are trading six-time All-Star Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces in a multi-team deal that will send three-time Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks, ESPN's Shams Charania reports.

In exchange, the Storm will receive the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft and Li Yueru from the Sparks. The Sparks will receive the No. 9 pick from the Storm, and the Aces will receive the No. 13 pick from the Sparks, according to the report.

Read more here.

There hasn't been much activity yet in WNBA free agency and apparently, the league is waiting for one move to happen before business really starts churning.

The transaction in question is a three-team trade that would involve Jewell Loyd going to the Aces, Kelsey Plum moving to the Sparks and the Storm picking up draft assets, reports the Chicago Sun-Times' Annie Costabile.

Loyd may have been on her way to the Sky but prefers to play in Las Vegas, Costabile reported earlier. A straight-up trade with Loyd going to the Aces in exchange for Plum to Seattle appears feasible, but the Storm don't see Plum as a fit in their lineup with Skyler Diggins-Smith.

Seattle reportedly wants a shooting guard or wing in return for Loyd. Meanwhile, the Sparks are viewed as a good destination for Plum, whose experience could help Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson develop. But if L.A. isn't willing to deal a young player or the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Storm isn't interested in a trade.

Until that can be figured out, a trade won't get done and movement on the WNBA free agency market will remain stalled as teams are uncertain how their rosters will look.

After 11 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, Brittney Griner is hitting the free agent market for the first time.

Griner's agent told the Associated Press that Griner will meet with "multiple" teams beginning Tuesday. Team executives traveled to Miami for the opening up the Unrivaled league and to speak to free agents.

“I want to show off my skills for free agency,” Griner said of her participation in Unrivaled.

Players can begin talking to teams on Tuesday and contracts can be signed beginning Feb. 1. Many of those contracts are expected to be in the short-term range.

Griner's long-time teammate in Phoenix, Diana Taurasi, is still contemplating whether to continue playing for retire.