May 17, 2022

Daily Briefing — May 17, 2022: HIGH FIVE — Tuesday brings busiest schedule to date with five games

A silver lining for Cloud

Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi readies herself to dribble as she is guarded closely by Seattle Storm guard Briann January in the teams' first meeting of the schedule

The last time Phoenix was on the daily schedule, combo guard Diana Taurasi (3) led the Mercury to a close rivalry win with 24 points and six threes on 71.2% true-shooting. (Photo credit: Phoenix Mercury)

It’s Tuesday. Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the W Roundup and daily Watch List. Day nine of the WNBA is here, featuring the biggest night of the year so far, with five games on the schedule. That’s right: five! We’ve got something for everyone: young, rough teams in Atlanta-Indiana; the wild west in Phoenix-Las Vegas; and more! Don’t feel too overwhelmed, though — with only one game on tomorrow’s docket, you’ve got plenty of time to catch up on what you might miss with so much action tonight.

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But first, read:

Our Rowan Schaberg debuts with a “sights and sounds” from Phoenix’s win in Seattle
Swish Appeal’s Eric Nemchoke looked at how the Wings’ frontcourt rotation might look as Satou Sabally makes her season debut

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W Roundup

Atlanta: Declined combo forward Megan Walker’s fourth-year rookie-contract option, per Rachel Galligan

Chicago: Center Li Yueru is expected to arrive by the end of the week

Minnesota: Activated off-ball guard Kayla McBride, terminating combo guard Yvonne Turner’s hardship contract

Seattle: Combo guard Epiphanny Prince has cleared health and safety protocols (big wing Breanna Stewart has not), terminating point guard Raina Perez’s hardship contract

Washington: Point guard Natasha Cloud has cleared health and safety protocols. Full explanation of recent Mystics moves here, via our Jenn Hatfield:

(2/2) E. Williams finished overseas play today, should be available at Atlanta on Friday.
Burke will be in DC tonight and travel to Dallas with the team. @TheNextHoops #Mystics25 #WNBA
— Jenn Hatfield (she/her) (@jennhatfield1) May 15, 2022

Watch List, Tuesday, May 17

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

Connecticut @ New York, 7 p.m., League Pass (Local: NESN+/YES)

Atlanta @ Indiana, 7 p.m., League Pass (Bally Sports Southeast/Indiana Fever Livestream)

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

Phoenix @ Las Vegas, 10 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Local: Bally Sports Arizona Extra/My LV TV)

Minnesota @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., League Pass (Local: Bally Sports North Extra/Spectrum SportsNet)

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.