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When you do a prisoner swap, you look for the swap to have benefits for both sides.

Bout was a huge fish, very connected, had national strategic importance. He also has lots of blood on his hands, including American blood.

Whelan was a Marine, but he was also a bad Marine with the Big Chicken Dinner on his record, and a criminal who behaved like some wannabe James Bond would behave if they were trying to be James Bond. His value is ... certainly not at the James Bond level.

Griner... if it were a straight white NBA player caught with drugs in a country that he had worked in for multiple years during the league offseason and should have been familiar with the laws of, it would be tough to even get a story on the nightly news about his arrest. Her value exists only on Twitter, if she goes back to playing basketball, she’ll get a hero’s welcome those first few games, but be playing to 3/4 empty arenas within a month.

Bout was a huge fish, very connected, had national strategic importance.

When the US and UK media labeled Bout as the "Merchant of Death" and "Santions Buster," I figured he was small potatoes. Who knows? What I do know is that the Russians were furious at how Bout was apprehended, in Thailand, and then extradited to the US. (The US too, would have been enraged if the situation was reversed.) If he was caught and arrested inside the United States, then the Russians would have hung him out to dry.

Historically, this is the first trade for a WNBA player that anyone will remember.

Also, Laz would NOT hit it, and I don’t say that lightly.

Did you get the BCD reference from a reputable source, and do you know the circumstances? That, of course, could be a very relevant fact as far as any obligation the U.S. may have had.