Liberty keeping quiet as WNBAs free agency runs wild

The reigning champions have been pretty quiet in free agency, while some of the WNBA’s biggest stars played musical chairs. The Liberty had plans to run it back with most of their championship core still intact. Satou Sabally wanting out of Dallas made her an intriguing prospect for New York, but ultimately she was traded to the Phoenix Mercury. The Liberty have lost two players since winning the title in October.Kayla Thornton was selected in the expansion drafted by the Golden State Valkyries, and Courtney Vandersloot signed with the Chicago Sky this week. But the Liberty re-signed Kennedy Burke, and she and Nyara Sabally — the younger sister of Satou Sabally — expect to have bigger roles in 2025. Breanna Stewart, whom the Liberty designated as a core player, also plans to join Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton in the Liberty’s quest for back-to-back titles. Free agents have been free to meet with teams since Jan.

21, though the signing period didn’t open until Saturday.The first few days brought trades, drama and some surprises. Here are five other takeaways: The Mercury may have lost Brittney Griner to the Atlanta Dream in a free agency shocker, and Diana Taurasi is weighing retirement, but Phoenix did manage to add two top 10 free agents. The Mercury pulled off blockbuster deals to acquire Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas and managed to get both players while keeping their 2024 leading scorer, Kahleah Copper.

The addition of Sabally and Thomas makes Phoenix one of the WNBA’s most intriguing teams for this season and beyond. The Mercury haven’t won a title since 2014, but they appear to be on an upward trajectory. The Dream have long struggled to attract perennial stars, but they landed their biggest free agent acquisition in franchise history with Griner. Who saw that coming? The Dream also added Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, Atlanta’s leading scorers for the pa...