We are back for another week of WNBA season previews. Aside from the draft, the rosters are set. So once a week until the season is back, I will be looking at one team. I will discuss their changes and what to expect from them this season.
To build up, I will be going in reverse order from the standings a season ago. That brings us to the most widely discussed team in the league for non-basketball reasons. Beyond the international incident that transcended sports, the Phoenix Mercury never stopped giving us something to discuss for all the wrong reasons.
2022 Recap
After making a Finals appearance, the Phoenix Mercury came through the 2022 offseason with high expectations. Tina Charles joined the fold, adding to the talented group of Skylar Diggins-Smith, Diana Taurasi, and Brittney Griner.
Then the unthinkable happened.
Sports franchises can plan for plenty of things. Seeing the face of your franchise taken hostage as a political prisoner during a war on the other side of the world is not one of them. Her situation was one of the biggest news stories of the year outside of sports. The fact that she is home and recovering is more important than any championship.
Without BG, the Mercury put together a listless, messy season. Controversy came with a new story seemingly every week. Despite that, some players still found a way to stand out. Diana Taurasi is not the same player she once was, but on any given night she can still provide a scoring explosion. She dropped 30 or more points on three occasions last year, two of which came after her 40th birthday.
Bri Turner remains one of the most underrated players in the league. She was one of only seven players to average at least a block and a steal per game, despite being spread ever thinner than normal with Griner absent. Sophie Cuningham is one of the more polarizing players in the league, but she was among the most improved players in this league this year. After an impressive playoff run the year before, the fourth-year wing posted career highs across the board: 12.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while hitting 40 percent of her 6.3 3-point attempts per game.
Diggins-Smith remained one of the best guards in the league. She posted her highest scoring output (19.7 points, third in the league) since her second year in the league. She was also top 10 in assists (5.5) and steals (1.5).
No matter the overall brilliance of a stand-out star, the nonsense ended up winning out. Whether it be leaked audio, press conference missteps, or just poor fits, the Mercury remained messy.
The Best of the Mess
For most franchises, the sad situation around Griner would have been the only off-court story that would monopolize the locker room. For Phoenix, it was just the starting point.
Many of the issues surrounded the culture brought on by first-year head coach Vanessa Nygaard. After years under head coach Sandy Brondello, including a trip to the Finals in 2021, Nygaard came in and things just felt off. There were times when franchise pillars Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi openly butted heads. Nygaard dutifully took the side of Taurasi to the detriment of her current All-Star. Sometimes this is just coach things. Sycophant behavior is another thing. Talking down an All-Star level season because of personal biases was rightfully called out by Diggins-Smith.
Meanwhile, the newly added Tina Charles never fully gelled with her new teammates. The former MVP put up respectable numbers (17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 16 games) but they often felt like they were coming outside of the offense. When she asked for a buyout midseason, the team granted it. Regular rabble rowser Sophie Cunningham had some audible choice words for her former teammate.
Messy was the word of the season for this franchise. They needed stability while they worried about their missing teammate. Instead, chaos. This falls on everyone involved. Cooler heads did anything but prevail. With the team being sold over the course of the offseason, things have to change in earnest for them to get back to winning.
Offseason Overview
Out: Kia Nurse, Diamond DeShields
In: Michaela Onyenwere, Moriah Jefferson
2023 Draft: #27 and #29
Re-Signed: Sophie Cunningham, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner
Change, however, does not seem to be overly likely. Diana Taurasi was brought back on a two-year supermax. Griner was given a smaller two-year contract, which also raised some eyebrows. Cunningham, despite her volatility, earned her new contract.
The biggest change came with the trade of the one-year experiment Diamond DeShields. Deshields was fine but the Mercury swapped her out for former Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere. Moving to the bench in her second season in New York was not good for Onyenwere’s production. This transition could take time. Playing for her third coach in three seasons, Onyenwere needs to be given opportunities to adjust. If she is able to do so, the Mercury will be much better for it.
Moriah Jefferson could be a perfect fit for the team. Skylar Diggins-Smith is slated to miss some amount of the season given her current pregnancy. Jefferson is the perfect veteran guard to keep the team afloat and then come off the bench when the star returns. There will be a transition period reintegrating Griner so having a stable hand in place could go a long way.
Prediction
I think we saw the last of the Diana Taurasi playoff appearances. While Jefferson will help keep the team afloat with Diggins-Smith, there is no replacing her scoring. Expecting Griner to return to her 2021 form after the year she suffered through seems like a fool’s errand.
The best story in the league would be an MVP run and happiness for Brittney Griner. She deserves something good. However, the Mercury are currently not built to do something good.
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