PHOENIX — Making the jump to the WNBA can be an overwhelming task for any rookie. Now imagine leaving your home country for the first time, going undrafted and ultimately ending up on a training camp contract.
And yet, Phoenix Mercury wing Noémie Brochant has found herself in the starting lineup for a team that was just in the WNBA Finals less than a year ago.
Arriving late to camp due to her season in France finishing up and adjusting to a new country where English isn’t her first language, Brochant had to learn a lot and prove herself in a very short period of time to simply make the roster. But quickly, she has become one of the bright spots for a Mercury team that has struggled through its first 15 games.
“She’s been thrown into the fire here,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said of Brochant on May 10 after the team’s second game of the season against the Golden State Valkyries. “Had two practices, no shootarounds in two games. And so, these are all new experiences for her. She’s going to continue to get better. She needs to feel what this level is about on a night-to-night basis. I thought there’s some things that she did well in some areas that she can continue to get better at.”
Just two weeks later, Brochant appeared in the starting lineup for Phoenix’s seventh game of the season — a spot she hasn’t relinquished, even after fellow French guard Monique Akoa Makani returned to the team.
A two-way force
Brochant’s emergence in that role has been less about circumstance and more about fit. She has shown she may be the perfect puzzle piece that fits alongside Phoenix’s star duo of Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper. Brochant can do a little bit of everything, but more importantly, she does it without getting in the way of either primary option.
Her catch-and-shoot 3-point ability provides a level of spacing and gravity that is necessary for unlocking Thomas’ downhill playmaking, forcing defenders to stay home on the perimeter and opening lanes for drives and kick-outs. That same spacing also eases pressure on Copper, drawing attention off the score-first guard who thrives when defenses are forced into rotations.
But defensively is where Brochant really has really shined. Brochant’s 5-11 frame and natural defensive instincts have given Phoenix another reliable point-of-attack option. She helps take pressure off Akoa Makani by absorbing some of the tougher perimeter assignments and giving opposing star guards a different look depending on the matchup.
“I just think her presence defensively has been really good,” Copper said of Brochant. “We’ve been able to switch, we’ve been able to do a lot of different things with her on the floor. Just her level of ‘compete’ on the ball, she wants to get after it, so that really helps our defense. And then offensively, she can shoot it, she’s going to make the right decisions.”
That willingness to compete has quickly caught the attention of Phoenix’s coaching staff. While Brochant’s size allows her to match up with a variety of guards and wings, Tibbetts believes her value goes beyond physical tools. He has consistently pointed to the nuances of her defensive game — the areas that often determine whether a player can stay on the floor at the WNBA level.
“Noémie’s got great size,” Tibbetts said. “She really moves well. She understands navigating pick and rolls, she understands tracking shooters, she understands getting to the gaps. I’m really excited about her defensive potential, to be quite honest, in just a short amount of time. The vets gravitate to her. They see the potential in her, and how she competes at that end, and when you do that, you get the respect of your veteran players.”
The Mercury’s struggles this season in particular have stemmed from the defensive side of the ball, making Brochant’s contributions even more important. At the same time, though, her impact can not yet be overstated.
Phoenix’s defensive issues are larger than any one player can solve, and they are not reflected particularly well in individual metrics. Brochant currently owns a 111.7 defensive rating, which estimates the number of points allowed per 100 possessions and would typically suggest below-average defensive performance at that figure.
However, that number must be viewed within the context of a Mercury team that ranks 11th in the WNBA with a 110.0 defensive rating. Even Thomas, widely regarded as one of the league’s best defenders, holds a defensive rating of 108.9.
While the statistics may not fully support the praise Brochant has received from coaches and teammates, they also do not capture the responsibilities she has been asked to take on or the versatility she has provided on the perimeter. Regardless, Brochant believes there is still room for growth and views defense as one of the primary ways she can continue proving herself at the WNBA level.
“I don’t think I’m a really, really good defender, but I try to do my best every time,” Brochant told The IX Basketball. “I know I have to prove something. When you arrive here, you are nobody, you have to prove something … so I think that’s why I defend.”
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Getting more comfortable
Offensively, however, the numbers do much better justice of showing how Brochant’s game is evolving and complementing the Mercury. Her efficiency stats in particular show that she’s thorough in her decision-making on shot selections, and that she’s doing a great job of hitting them.
In 21.2 minutes per game, Brochant has yet to attempt more than eight field goals in a single game, as she chooses to lean on her more established teammates. Yet still, she’s making a three a game at a 39.5% clip. On corner threes specifically, she is shooting 43.8%. From 16 feet and below, she is shooting 53.5% on 28 total attempts.
That leaves a 2-for-9 mark in the gap between 16 feet and the 3-point line, an area that is inefficient for most players, as the only part of her shot profile that’s dragging down an otherwise solid 42.7 field-goal percentage. As her sample sizes grow larger, those numbers suggest she will only become more efficient assuming she maintains her current shot selection.
But Brochant is more than just a shooter. More recently, she’s been entrusted with more playmaking responsibilities as a ball handler in the pick-and-roll. In those situations, Brochant has continued to make the right decisions, with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Again, the sample size isn’t extraordinary there with just 16 assists to 13 turnovers, but it’s another area where Brochant has been learning extremely quickly considering her circumstances.
“In France, I [don’t play] a lot of pick-and-roll, but still play more pick and roll than [I do] here,” Brochant told The IX Sports. “So, I know I have to improve on [that part of] my game. I’m happy to do more than just shoot here.”
It may be hard to fully appreciate Brochant’s productivity while the Mercury continue to search for answers in the standings, but her emergence becomes more impressive when viewed through the lens of the whirlwind she’s been through to get here, and how far along in her development she already is.
The 26-year-old arrived in Phoenix after spending more than a decade playing professionally in France, where she developed into a member of the French National Team and one of the LBWL’s most productive two-way wings. Most recently with Charleville-Mézières, Brochant helped lead the club to French Cup and French SuperCup titles during the 2025 season.
That experience helped prepare her for the WNBA, but it did not eliminate the challenges of moving to a new country, joining a new team and learning a new style of basketball on the fly — all while navigating a language barrier. The presence of fellow French nationals Valériane Ayayi and Akoa Makani on Phoenix’s roster helped ease the transition, giving Brochant some familiar faces she’s played with and against for years.
“The first week was a bit difficult because it’s a new place, new city, everything is new, so it was difficult,” Brochant told The IX Sports. “But I have some French teammates here, so it was easier … [Akoa Makani and Ayayi] helped me with the English, and also when I arrived, [Ayayi] was here for maybe five or six days, so she helped me on the court, too.”
Even with that support system in place, adapting to the WNBA’s level of competition remains a significant challenge. It certainly hasn’t been perfect at times, but Brochant has shown a propensity to take advantage of opportunities as they come, rather than simply surviving them. Tibbetts has been impressed not only by how quickly Brochant has adjusted, but by how much room he still believes she has to grow.
“Obviously, this is a whole different league, a whole different country than what she’s seen…” Tibbetts said after a May 24 matchup against the Atlanta Dream, where Brochant finished with six points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. “…She’s just got a good way about her. She’s going to be a really good player in our league. We’re excited to have her on the team.”
For a Mercury team that has spent much of the season searching for positives, Brochant has quietly become one as one of the team’s most dependable role players. Fifteen games into the season, she has already made herself difficult to take off the floor. Her all-around skillset is something to keep an eye on as the Mercury continue to try to turn their 2026 season around.
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