Terrance’s Take: Brittney Griner moves Atlanta Dream, odd she won’t be with Phoenix Mercury

Some things just go together in life: cookies and milk, Texas and heat, and WNBA star Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury. 

But if you have been paying attention, the latter is no longer a pair.

That’s right, the former Nimitz and Baylor star, has made the once unthinkable decision to sign a one-year deal to leave the desert for the Atlanta heat this upcoming season. It doesn’t seem right, but it makes sense for Griner to move on from the franchise that drafted her No.1 overall in 2013.

“It was time for a new chapter in my career…” – @brittneygriner #DoItForTheDream pic.twitter.com/ZNhbBDiVQL— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) February 8, 2025

It’s been an interesting WNBA off-season. Several big-name players have tested free agency but signed just one-year deals so that they can cash in next season when the players and league agree to a new collective bargaining agreement that is expected to be a much more lucrative deal in 2026. Griner, arguably the biggest star in the WNBA, deserves to take advantage of any windfall coming to the players.

But the 6-foot-9, 10-time WNBA all-star insists that signing the fully guaranteed one-year deal for $214,466 isn’t just about the CBA maneuvering that most players are open about.

“I’ll just say this with the CBA, you know, a lot of people signed one-year deals,” Griner said during the introductory press conference with the Dream. “It’s more than just money. I don’t want people to think that everybody signed a one-year deal just because they’re money crazy. There’s a lot of other important things that are going to be in our CBA that people are going to want to be eligible for.

“I’ll just say this, my track record is when I make a decision I stick with it. I’ll just leave it at that right there.”

That could be huge for an Atlanta Dream franchise that is looking to contend for a WNBA title. They have made a few big free agency signings, which include three-time all-star Brionna Jones, who will join Griner in the front court.

But Griner sounds like this is an opportunity for her, her wife, Cherelle, and their new son to start fresh.

Griner and the Mercury have been synonymous since the franchise drafted her. They spent 11 electric seasons together, even winning the WNBA championship in Griner’s second season in 2014. The franchise led the charge for Griner’s freedom after she was detained in Russia on a trumped-up drug charge and missed the 2022 season. Griner bounced back and even though the Mercury were inconsistent last season, the 34-year-old averaged 17.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 rebounds last season.

But Griner felt it was time to move, and that Atlanta was the perfect landing spot.

“Playing in Atlanta, I think is going to be amazing,” said Griner. “The atmosphere in that gym, every time we would go play there before, it was electric. You really feel it when you play there.  Those are just a lot of things that fell into it.

“Being in the South again, I grew up in the South and my wife grew up in the South and we kind of want our son to grow up in the South, as well. It was a lot of different factors.”