The Connecticut Sun’s final night at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday was obviously about endings.
For general manager Morgan Tuck, though, the next chapter in Houston sounds much more like a continuation. The WNBA and NBA unanimously approved the sale and relocation of the Sun to Houston earlier this year, and the franchise will return as the Houston Comets beginning next season.
Both Tuck and Sun president Jen Rizzotti will retain their roles and make the move to Houston. Rizzotti has a history in Houston, winning championships with the Comets in 1999 and 2000.
Speaking with reporters Thursday before the Sun’s final game, Tuck made clear that her decision to make the move to Houston was about more than just retaining a title.
“I love my job,” Tuck told reporters. “I really love what I do. I’ve always wanted to be a GM, and so to me, it was a no-brainer of opportunity when it kind of presented itself, and I’m really bought into what we’re trying to build.”
That building process began before Houston became part of the plan.
“We’ve had a vision when we came in, and when I got to become GM, and we want to see it through,” Tuck said. “When that first started, we didn’t know we’d be moving, right? So I think it’s hard to walk away from something that you really believe in and that you can see the potential in.”
Tuck said continuing that work alongside Rizzotti also played a significant role in her decision.
“I think we’re a really good duo,” Tuck said. “We work really well together, and so, you know, I think navigating this move, I don’t think there’s anyone better that I could be doing it with.”
She added that she feels “really confident that we’re going to be able to do some special things.”
Houston bought into the plan
Tuck took over as Connecticut’s general manager as the Sun entered one of the most dramatic roster transitions in league history.
Following a 28-12 season and a trip to the 2024 WNBA semifinals, Connecticut became the first WNBA team to lose all five starters from its final playoff game the following offseason. Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington and Tyasha Harris were traded, while DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones departed in free agency.
Connecticut finished 11-33 in 2025 as Tuck began rebuilding the roster around younger players.
Now that project is moving to Houston.
Rather than start over, Houston’s new ownership chose to retain the executives already overseeing that work.
Asked Thursday about the value of WNBA experience she and Rizzotti bring to an NBA-connected ownership group, Tuck pointed to the plan they presented in conversations with Houston ownership.
“When we met with them and kind of explained the vision that we have and kind of what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying to build, and they bought into it,” Tuck said.
Tuck added that she didn’t believe she and Rizzotti had to persuade Houston ownership of the importance of putting people with WNBA experience in charge of the franchise.
“I think that they understand the W and that there’s a benefit of having people that have been in it and that really understand it,” Tuck said. “I don’t think we necessarily had to convince them that that was important. I think that they knew from the beginning that that was an important aspect in coming into the league and making sure that they did it the right way and had the right people in place.”
The roster comes next
Front-office continuity doesn’t necessarily mean the current roster will arrive in Houston intact.
Tuck said Thursday that decisions about which members of Connecticut’s basketball operation will make the move should begin coming within the next few weeks.
“Even though you know the relocation is coming … we’ll still end the season how we normally do,” Tuck said. “We got to get through exit interviews and kind of look back and recap the season, so that’ll come in the next few weeks.”
Asked to assess the young group she assembled in Connecticut, Tuck focused first on something less tangible than shooting, rebounding or positional needs.
“I think the biggest thing I’m proud of is the culture of our team,” Tuck said. “I think we have really, really great people on our team.”
She pointed specifically to the group’s chemistry despite the amount of roster turnover.
“They really care about each other,” Tuck said. “They care about what they’re trying to do. They’re really connected, and I think that’s been something that I’m really proud of with a very young team and a relatively new team.”
But Tuck also acknowledged that the offseason will involve a much broader evaluation.
“Obviously, we’ll have to take a deep look at the entire roster,” she said. “We want to make sure that we’re making progress. I think our young ones have done a good job of showing some of their potential.”
Tuck said Connecticut’s younger players have shown enough to be encouraged by their development, while acknowledging that they have a long offseason to figure it all out.
“Obviously, free agency would be a big thing,” she said.
Taking Connecticut’s culture to a very different market
Tuck will also have to navigate bringing elements of a franchise identity forged in one of the WNBA’s smallest markets to a very different environment.
Connecticut spent 24 seasons at Mohegan Sun Arena after the Mohegan Tribe purchased the Orlando Miracle and relocated the franchise in 2003. The Sun never won a WNBA championship but reached four Finals and became one of the league’s most consistent franchises.
Houston offers a much larger market, an NBA ownership group and substantially different resources.
Rizzotti acknowledged some of those differences shortly after the sale was approved in May, pointing to the “resources and infrastructure” available through Houston’s organization as a positive for the franchise’s players and basketball staff.
Tuck, however, suggested Thursday that there are parts of Connecticut’s basketball identity worth taking with them.
“We’ve always had to be a little creative in what we do,” she said. “And yes, being in a smaller market has posed challenges.”
She said Connecticut’s players nevertheless understood that where they play doesn’t change the standard expected from them.
“When you’re here, you’re going to play a certain type of way, and you’re going to play hard, and you’re going to represent yourself in the Sun uniform really well,” Tuck said.
That uniform is about to change. So are the arena, the market and virtually everything else around the franchise. But after two seasons of rebuilding in Connecticut, Tuck doesn’t seem to view Houston as another reset.
There will be decisions to come about who makes the move and how aggressively Tuck reshapes the roster. The broader vision, however, appears to have already survived.
