April 12, 2022
Locked on Women’s Basketball: Phoenix Mercury’s 2022 WNBA Draft night
By The Next
'Everything that's been very focused on getting Griner home still remains the focus and that is the number one priority I think for everybody in and around the WNBA' said Alex
Welcome to the day after WNBA Draft Day 2022. Host Howard Megdal and Phoenix Mercury reporter Alex Simon discuss Brittney Griner’s status and here is what Alex had to say about the matter:
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
“Everything that’s been very focused on getting Griner home still remains the focus and that is the number one priority, I think, for everybody in and around the WNBA. But as we’re hitting the end of two full months of her detainment here, the season is about to start. And there has to be at least some resolution on the court. Rowe reporting is that the league and the Mercury we’re in discussions about possible roster relief is the term that Rowe used within that Griner herself will get her full salary and she won’t be suspended.”
Alex gets into depth about the Phoenix roster that is already shorthanded:
“They’ve got three players on supermax deals in Griner herself and Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi. Taurasi and Griner, excuse me, are in the final year of their contracts this year. They only have two players under contract for next season at this point, which is one more year of Diggins-Smith. And the recently signed Diamond DeShields, who has a second year to her deal. They’ve also added Tina Charles on a one-year deal; pretty much their entire roster was built to be; we’re going for it all right now and we’ll figure it out next year after next year.
And within that, one of the big things was that Kia Nurse, who was a restricted free agent and tore her ACL during the WNBA semifinals last year. Took basically her qualifying offer to come back to Phoenix. Now you can kind of wonder why she would be willing to do that, but she is rehabbing. It seems like her market dried up because of the ACL tear, but she’s going to be on this roster and there’s not really a guarantee that she’s going to be able to play at all. It’ll be less than 12 months by the time the WNBA season even ends.”
Make sure you subscribe to Locked on Women’s Basketball, where we’ll be doing shows every weekday.
