PHOENIX — When reports first surfaced that the Phoenix Mercury had acquired forward Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun, many assumed it was a foregone conclusion DeWanna Bonner would make the move to the desert with her and re-sign with the team that drafted her in 2009.
Instead, Bonner struck a deal with the Indiana Fever, looking to bring her championship pedigree to a young team on the rise. However, less than a month into the season, the deal soured, and after playing just nine games for the Fever, Bonner was waived.
It didn’t take long before Phoenix emerged as Bonner’s preferred landing spot. With her history in the organization and the potential to reunite with Thomas, Bonner’s former teammate in Connecticut and fiancé, the move just made sense.
Moments before the Mercury tipped off against the Dallas Wings on Monday, ESPN’s Michael Voepel reported that Bonner’s deal with the Mercury was on the horizon. Tuesday morning, it was official. By Wednesday afternoon, she put on the Phoenix No. 14 jersey for the first time since 2019 and made her 2025 debut with the team.
“It’s just kind of been surreal,” Bonner told media after shootaround Tuesday. “I was just telling everybody, like I was here for 10 years, but it feels like a brand new place, and everything’s changed so much. … It still feels like home, just happy to be home.”
Although Tibbetts indicated he was perhaps looking to ease Bonner into things, she ended up playing 26 minutes in a dramatic contest against the top-ranked team in the league, the Minnesota Lynx.
On the day, Bonner tallied seven points, six rebounds and two assists, and played a key role in impactful possessions on both sides of the floor.
“I think the first win was probably the hardest, getting up and down, the emotion of everything,” Tibbetts said postgame. “She’s probably cramping up a little bit now, but she’s going to have a day or two to recover, and we can actually have a practice with her here in the next couple days, but she’s going to figure it out. … We’re really excited that she’s here.”
Her performance in Wednesday’s game showed how the 6-foot-4 wing could potentially fit into the Mercury’s run-and-gun style. While possessions occasionally slowed with the ball in her hands, she converted tough plays that her unique frame allows.
With 27.8 seconds left in the first half, Thomas brought the ball up the floor, stopped just to the right of the top of the key and threw a pass at rim level. Down on the left block, Bonner jumped up and snatched the ball out of the air. She landed and quickly went back up for a shot, which she knocked off the backboard and into the hoop, while being fouled by Lynx guard Courtney Williams.
That type of connection is indicative of the on-court chemistry Bonner and Thomas developed during five years on the floor together in Connecticut. In that time, the Sun made the playoffs each year, even advancing to the WNBA Finals in 2022. That familiarity will likely play a large role in Bonner’s acclimation to Phoenix’s system.
“The cool thing with DB coming in, her and AT played multiple minutes together, and so that’s part of the reason why we were excited to get DB,” Tibbetts said. “It wasn’t going to be new to her playing with AT’s style of play.”
What Bonner won’t have trouble getting used to, by way of playing with Thomas previously, is the Mercury’s persistent defensive style. In the same way that her length is an asset on the offensive end of the floor, it benefits her on defense, allowing her to match up with post and perimeter players.
Wednesday, five of her six rebounds came on the defensive end, and she showed off her length on her lone steal of the game. In the second quarter, while running side-by-side with Jessica Shepard, on her right hip, Bonner reached her left arm all the way around Shepard to poke the ball away. The ball ended up with Kathryn Westbeld, who tossed it up the floor to Sami Whitcomb, who found Bonner for a wide-open layup.
“We played together for a long time in Connecticut, and we’ve been top of the league in defense, and huge reason [for] that has been her,” Thomas told media postgame. “Today, she got thrown into the fire and didn’t really know everything, but she did the things that she could control, which was playing defense and rebounding. She had huge defensive rebounds down the stretch for us.”
The Mercury legend’s return to Phoenix in her 16th season provides the team with depth, as they’ve been shorthanded at multiple points throughout the year. In Wednesday’s game, the Mercury were without starters Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally and key role player Lexi Held.
Not only does Bonner bring depth, but also the championship experience she was expected to bring to Indiana – experience that she gained with the Mercury in 2009 and 2014 – that may prove crucial for a Phoenix Mercury team emerging as a legitimate WNBA Finals contender.
“We’re extremely excited for DB to be here,” Tibbetts said. “She’s someone that we’ve tried to go after the last two offseasons. Really love her versatility, her playoff experience, her shot making, so we’re excited to get her back in a Mercury uniform.”
Bonner’s arrival in Phoenix has leveled up a team that was already making strides. After Wednesday’s win over Minnesota, the Mercury are 14-6 and have a chance to head into the All-Star break with the second-best record in the league.
Based on their play in the first half of the season, the Mercury’s championship aspirations may not be as far out of reach as some expected.
“At the end of the day, that’s the goal for her to come back to where it all started [and win a championship],” Thomas said. “She’s loved here by all the fans. I’m happy for her to get such a warm welcome. For us, it’s just about staying the course. The goal is to win a championship, and it’s going to be a game-by-game kind of thing.”
