July 28, 2022 

Daily Briefing — July 28, 2022: U.S. reportedly offers prisoner swap for Brittney Griner

Pivotal Storm-Sun matchup this evening, watch it with us!

Happy Thursday — the workweek’s almost passed! Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the W Roundup and daily Watch List. Day 70 of the WNBA season is here, following a significant development in the U.S. government’s attempt to bring Brittney Griner home. CNN reported yesterday that the Biden administration had offered a convicted Russian arms trafficker, Viktor Bout, in exchange for Griner and Paul Whelan, a former US Marine convicted on charges of espionage in June 2020. (The United States has designated Whelan as “wrongfully detained,” same as Griner; Reuters reported in February 2021 that Washington and Moscow were engaged in talks over a prisoner swap that could have secured his release “within two to three months.”)

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This proposal is reportedly being well-received by the Russian government, although it will likely take some weeks to iron out the details of how such a swap would ultimately work. The Putin administration had been looking to set up a Bout-for-Griner exchange; and the fact that this three-person deal was reported yesterday, after being rumored for a couple weeks, is probably a positive indicator towards its chances of succeeding. ESPN’s T.J. Quinn added that Griner’s trial is expected to end next Friday.


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But first, read:

W Roundup

Connecticut: Signed combo guard Kiana Williams to a seven-day contract, her first with the team, after announcing combo guard Bria Hartley had suffered a torn left ACL. Hartley had suffered a torn ACL in her right knee in the Wubble.

Watch List, Thursday, July 28

(All times in Eastern, Game Of The Day in bold)

Minnesota @ Atlanta, 7 p.m., Twitter (Local: Bally Sports North, Bally Sports South)

Seattle @ Connecticut, 7 p.m., NBA TV (Local: FOX13/Amazon Prime video, NESN+)

Washington @ Dallas, 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Local: Monumental, Bally Sports Southwest Extra)

Los Angeles @ Phoenix, 10 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Local: Bally Sports Arizona)

Credit to the Foreign Exchanges international news roundups, from U.S. foreign policy scholar Derek Davison, for helping streamlining my research

Written by Emily Adler

Emily Adler (she/her) covers the WNBA at large and college basketball for The Next, with a focus on player development and the game behind the game.

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