2024-25 WNBA Offseason Guides: Phoenix Mercury
The latest installment in our series detailing where WNBA teams stand heading into the upcoming offseason and 2025, this time covering the Phoenix Mercury
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Previously published 2024-25 Offseason Guides:
Los Angeles Sparks
Dallas Wings
Chicago Sky
Washington Mystics
Atlanta Dream
Seattle Storm
Indiana Fever
2024 record: 19-21, No. 7 seed, lost 2-0 to Minnesota in the first round.
2025 draft picks: Phoenix gave up swap rights to their 2025 first-round pick as part of the four-team trade in 2023 that included the Mercury sending out Diamond DeShields and receiving Michaela Onyenwere. As a result, New York will presumably exercise those rights and Phoenix will be picking last in the first round as a result. They still have their own second-rounder, but their third-round pick went to Washington with Sug Sutton to open up cap room just before the trade deadline this season.
Free agents: Brittney Griner (uncoreable unrestricted free agent), Diana Taurasi (unrestricted free agent), Monique Billings (unrestricted free agent), Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (reserved), Natasha Mack (reserved), Charisma Osborne (reserved), Celeste Taylor (reserved), Amy Atwell (reserved).
Under contract for 2025: Kahleah Copper, Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen, Sophie Cunningham.
2024 performance: Not for the first time, Phoenix assembled a veteran-laden roster in the hope of being a contender while Diana Taurasi was still around. Also not for the first time, it didn't really work. Injuries that took out Brittney Griner for the opening weeks of the season and then Rebecca Allen for the entire second half, plus various smaller maladies along the way and whatever was limiting Kahleah Copper after the Olympics, obviously didn't help. But this was a rather mismatched roster to begin with, and the new Mercury braintrust of general manager Nick U'Ren and head coach Nate Tibbetts never found anything that worked consistently in Year 1.
Their core group always looked undersized, with Griner the only true post player. They may have expected to lean into modern basketball and the smallball style that has dominated much of the men's game in recent times, but the defense struggled all year and the offense was never good enough to make up for it. Allen's absences particularly hurt because she was the closest of their core group to being able to play the 4, but even when she was available it didn't change much. Tibbetts came up with some gimmicky schemes that were fun and interesting to watch for a while, but so many of this league's best players are posts or big forwards. When you're asking players like Natasha Cloud and Sophie Cunningham to be your primary defenders on those players, it's hard to survive. Their rebounding was predictably dreadful, as well. There were certainly positive moments, with Copper playing out of her mind to carry the offense for much of the first half of the season, and Griner as effective and efficient as ever when involved in the offense. But largely this felt like another season of treading water before the true rebuild kicks in.
Offseason finances: The Mercury only have four players under contract for 2025, which obviously means there are a lot of question marks. They have $798,966 in cap space, which is a lot, but you'd expect that with so many spots to fill. There are the usual two questions of whether Taurasi will retire, and whether Griner will return. The feeling certainly seems to be that it's more likely than ever that Taurasi will finally call it a career, but we won't know for sure until there's some kind of announcement. Since her ordeal in Russia, it's always felt like Griner might decide there are other things she wants to do rather than play basketball. She's also an unrestricted free agent, and if Taurasi retires, maybe she'd consider playing elsewhere more seriously than she ever has before. But Griner has regularly expressed her love for the franchise, and if she plays it'll probably be in Phoenix again. In which case, they'll probably try to go shopping in free agency again. Cunningham signed a pretty cheap extension, so combining that with Taurasi retiring they'd have room for a max contract and another mid-level veteran, if Griner is willing to work with them on playing for below the max again. It's not exactly a treasure chest, but it is enough to try to get better without just giving in to a rebuild. And considering they don't own their own first-round pick in 2026, there's not much point in trying to be bad in 2025.
Offseason priorities: Tibbetts was a high-profile hiring when the Mercury brought him across from the NBA ranks, but also an expensive and controversial one. Reportedly the highest-paid coach in the league despite having no experience or connection to the women's game before being hired, there was some backlash from the fans. Given how the 2024 season went, you could certainly argue the hiring didn't work. So there's a discussion to be had about whether to continue with him in charge, although most head coaches get at least two years to prove whether they should stick. With most NBA staffs completed for their upcoming season - the most obvious place for him to jump back to - he'll probably be around for 2025.
The approach to the playing staff doesn't look likely to change. They could pivot hard into a rebuild, see what Copper, Allen, Cunningham and Cloud would be worth on the trade market, but it doesn't seem likely. And as mentioned above, without their own first-round pick in 2026, tanking isn't worth much to them in 2025. But maybe they take a different approach to the positional aspect of their roster building and lineups? They could chase a true 4 in free agency to help with their defense and rebounding alongside Griner (assuming she's re-signed), allowing them to play a more traditional defensive style. Griner's no longer the game-breaking paint presence she once was, but with her behind players like Cloud, Copper and Allen, this group ought to be capable of a very solid defense. With one season left before most of the league becomes a free agent ahead of 2026, creating kind of a hard reset league-wide, they'll probably feel like there's time for one more swing at being a veteran-packed contender. Even if their most legendary veteran finally calls it quits.
Future assets: Chicago own their 2026 first-rounder from the trade that brought Copper to Phoenix. The Sky also have swap rights to the Mercury's second-rounder, so Phoenix may not even be picking particularly high in the second round. They still have their own third-rounder. They also now have the suspended rights to Swedish guard Klara Lundquist, acquired in that deadline Sutton deal that created cap space. She may just have been a throw-in because Washington had to put something in the deal, but she's playing in Spain this year with Girona so has the chance to prove that she can compete at a decent level.
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Do you have any thoughts about the differences between the WNBA game and NBA game, and how Tibbetts did or didn't adjust? And does it make sense to expect him to be better next year as he adjusts to those differences, or is the gap wide enough to take a long time to bridge?
Appreciate this context about Tibbetts’s growing pains in terms of adjusting to coaching in the W, where it’s a different game than the NBA. As someone who doesn’t watch the men, I found this enlightening and helpful!