May 31, 2022

Daily Briefing — May 31, 2022: Sun-Aces headline four games on ESPN

And you can join us for Sun-Aces!

Las Vegas Aces point guards Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum stand with their hands on their hips facing away from the camera

Chelsea Gray (12) and Kelsey Plum (10) lead the Aces in a primetime ESPN showdown with Connecticut. (Photo credit: Domenic Allegra | The Next)

It’s Tuesday. Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the W Roundup and daily Watch List. Day 22 of the WNBA season is here, featuring the exciting 2022 season of WNBA basketball resuming with four games on ESPN. And you can watch it with us!

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But first, read:

Ahead of her return to Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Annie Costabile recaps Diamond DeShields’ progression from future Sky star to Mercury wing
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton details the hectic schedule facing hardship players, through Storm addition Kiana Williams
Her Hoop Stats’ Robert Mummery cracks open film from the WNBL and WNBA alike to look at Kristy Wallace’s breakout for the Dream

W Roundup

Indiana: Waived big Alanna Smith. The 25-year-old was averaging 4.3 points on a 43.3 true-shooting in 12.9 minutes.

Minnesota: Signed center Elissa Cunane, per Por Ellas. (The Next has yet to confirm this.) The outlet says she’ll be there for five games, and the only way the Lynx would have room for Cunane would be via hardship, and Minnesota had nine players play on Sunday, and big Natalie Achonwa was the only active Lynx not to play — meaning somebody has to be injured for the next two weeks if this report is accurate.

Watch List, Tuesday, May 31

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

Washington @ Indiana, 7 p.m., ESPN+ (Local: Monumental, Indiana Fever Livestream)

Phoenix @ Chicago, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Connecticut @ Las Vegas, 9 p.m., ESPN

We’re extremely excited to announce that we will be starting a WNBA Game of the Week on Playback with the staff of The Next! This one is our first, you can join Founder/Editor Howard Megdal, Social Media Editor Jackie Powell and Connecticut Sun beat reporter Jacqueline LeBlanc by signing up here and authenticating your TV provider. See you soon!

Dallas @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., ESPN+ (Local: Bally Sports Southwest Extra, Spectrum SportsNet)

Written by Em Adler

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