WNBA Free Agency: Breanna Stewart to sign with the New York Liberty

The biggest domino of the WNBA offseason has fallen.

Breanna Stewart — with a resume that includes two titles andFinals MVPs, an MVP, five All-WNBA selections (four-time FirstTeam, one-time Second Team), four All-Defensive Team selections,four All-Star appearances and a Rookie of the Year award — plans tosign with the New York Liberty.

The source on that blockbuster news? Well, a video posted byBreanna Stewart.

🗽 pic.twitter.com/6Sg28YnCPz

It's hard to overstate how big of a shift this is for the league— and for the Liberty.

Stewart is, at the absolute worst, the second best player in theleague right now. She led The W in scoring last season (21.8 pointsper game), while also grabbing 7.6 rebounds, dishing out 2.9assists and racking up 2.5 stocks (1.6 steals, 0.9 blocks) anight.

Stewart is an offense onto herself, able to generate good shotsfor herself from anywhere, while also being a good enough passer topunish defenses for sending extra help. She can bend defenses asthe ball-handler or screener in pick-and-rolls, feast on sizemismatches on the block and fly off screens and let it rip fromthree. (It's worth mentioning she drained nearly 38% of her threeson career-high volume [5.2 attempts] last season.)

This is all while being one of the best defenders in the sport.Stewart had a legitimate case for Defensive Player of the Year lastseason. Her massive wingspan and instincts as a help defender allowher to toggle through multipleassignmentsandclean up messes with ease.There's enough lateral quickness to defend 1-through-3, and enoughlength and strength to battle with 4s and some 5s.

Stewart's two-way prowess would make virtually any team aninstant contender. That the Liberty are adding her two weeks aftertrading for another MVP inJonquel Jones is patently absurd.

Games aren't played on paper, but there's only one frontcourt inThe W that could conceivably match the collective talent thatStewart and Jones have — A'ja Wilson and Candace Parker, now(and somewhat controversially) inLas Vegas.

Stewart's ability to space, shoot or attack closeouts shouldvibe well with Jones' interior dominance. And Jones' ability toshoot from multiple platforms should unlock plenty of space forStewart to work with.

Both of them can serve as how-do-you-guard-this screeningpartners for Sabrina Ionescu, who's fresh off the first All-WNBA(second team) and All-Star season of her young career. A big threeof Stewart, Jones and Ionescu is unheard of and, at least amongEastern Conference teams, unrivaled.

If this team is able to stay healthy and gel, it's hard not toenvision a deep playoff run for this group — this year, and formany years to come.