In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Hunter Cruse, Emily Adler and Lincoln Shafer welcome Jack Bonin of Mavs Moneyball to discuss even more WNBA free agency news. (Note: This episode was recorded on Friday, before DiJonai Carrington was traded to the Dallas Wings.)
The Phoenix Mercury have been one of the most active teams in free agency so far, acquiring stars Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally in separate trades. Bonin analyzes what Phoenix’s roster looks like with Thomas and Sabally in the picture:
“I like the Alyssa Thomas trade a lot for them. I think they gave up a package that is not going to hurt them too much for getting AT, and then it was obviously rumored that they were going to be super in on Satou. … Obviously, that trade goes down, and you have to like the Big Three for Phoenix a lot. They’ve got a great frontcourt at the very least and three really good players to build the rest of their roster around, but we’ll see how they finish out the rest of their roster. [It] definitely needs a little bit of work still.”
Then Bonin talks about the Wings, who got guard Tyasha Harris and forward NaLyssa Smith as part of the return for Sabally, and how the trade works out for them:
“If you think about the Wings and their drafting over the last few years, like, oh man, they had so many guards or just players in general that they spent high picks on. They didn’t work out. They went other places and prospered. And Ty Harris was kind of the poster child for that.
“I remember when [Dallas] drafted Ty, I was excited about it and thought that she was a good pick in that draft at that time, and then watching her for Dallas, she just never figured it out, and they didn’t really ever have her in an optimal role. And of course, she goes to Phoenix [and] becomes this lights-out 3-point shooter, this great connective piece for them. So I’m really excited to get her back. She’s the kind of caliber of player I wasn’t sure would be possible to get with this trade.
“And having NaLyssa Smith, she has her deficiencies, especially on defense, and on offense, she’s kind of more of a concept than a reality. But I think it’s a bet on talent.”
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