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Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer
Because of the WNBA’s hard salary cap, midseason trades like Wednesday’s deal sending Marina Mabrey from the Chicago Sky to the Connecticut Sun are rare.
To find a trade in a season as significant as this, which saw the second best team in the WNBA add a player (Mabrey) averaging 14.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 4.5 APG, we probably have to go back to 2016. Minnesota Lynx added Sylvia Fowles went on to make her fifth Finals appearance in the previous six years.
Because Sky is one of the few teams with sufficient cap space to facilitate taking more salary than they send back in the trade, this may not be the last deal we see before the August 20 deadline, which falls five days after. the league schedule resumes after the Olympics. Still, in terms of impact on the WNBA title race, Connecticut got Mabrey for two reserves (Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson, who is now out after ankle surgery) and the concept of compensation will be difficult.
Let’s trade class and break down the implications for both teams and the WNBA title race.
You get: Guard Marina Mabrey, 2025 second round pick
Sky asks: Guards Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson, 2025 first-round pick, right to trade first-round pick in 2026
Connecticut Sun: A
During the Sun’s six seasons as one of the league’s best teams — behind a frontcourt led by DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas (as well as the now-departed MVP Jonquel Jones) — shooting and guarding Connecticut was its weakness. .
Despite how the Sun have played this season, going 18-6 to sit second in the WNBA standings heading into the Olympic break, the problem remains. Connecticut ranks 10th in 3-pointers made and attempted per game, and ninth in 3-point percentage (31%).
Of course, the guard game was up front Tuesday night, as the shorthanded New York Liberty beat the Suns 82-74 behind 30 points and six 3-pointers from Sabrina Ionescu. The loss drops the Suns to 0-3 this season against New York, and HerHoopStats.com’s Richard Cohen notes that Connecticut is 2-13 against the Liberty and defending champion Las Vegas Aces over the past two seasons (including the playoffs), and 46-10 against all another team.
To reach the top after losing for the second time in the WNBA Finals in five years, and the third time in the semifinals, the Suns need a stronger perimeter shot. Enter Mabrey, whose 2.3 3-point range per game ranks seventh in the WNBA, and more than any Connecticut player has averaged since Katie Douglas in 2006, per Stathead.com.
Although Mabrey has taken more like this season 35% accuracy in 3s from last year’s 39% in the course of his career (36%), which is still a big upgrade in the Sun’s current roster. Banham and Tyasha Harris (35%) are the only Connecticut players to shoot more than 31% on at least 10 3-point attempts this season.
Compared to Banham, who set a WNBA record by making eight 3-pointers off the bench Sunday in the Sun’s win over the Phoenix Mercury, Mabrey is a more complete player. He has enough playmaking ability to play the spot next to perimeter stopper DiJonai Carrington and enough size to play next to Harris in Connecticut’s most dangerous offensive backcourts. I also wonder if we will see coach Stephanie White experiment with playing all three guards together at times against the second unit.
Although Carrington and Harris have both enjoyed breakthrough seasons as full-time starters after backing up the Sun’s former backcourt duo Natisha Hiedeman and Tiffany Hayes last season, the rest of Connecticut’s guard rotation has been lacking. Banham averaged just 12.9 MPG while shooting 38% on 2s, Jefferson played just 61 total minutes before ankle surgery and veteran Tiffany Mitchell shot a 38% effective field goal percentage, second-lowest among players with at least 100 shots on the year this.
Changing the minutes Banham, Mitchell and Veronica Burton have played with Mabrey makes the Sun more dangerous going into the playoffs. It doesn’t entirely close the gap with a full-strength Liberty team, but there is a potential path where Connecticut can get to the Finals as the No. 2 seed without facing either New York or Las Vegas. At that time, the Sun will have a puncher’s chance at the first title in franchise history.
But there’s more to like about this trade from Connecticut’s perspective. First, posting a $234,050 salary for Mabrey (he makes $208,000, per HerHoopStats.com salary data) gives the Suns $46,00-plus in cap space. That would allow Connecticut to offer free agents more than the prorated veteran minimum to finish the season.
According to league sources, several teams are pursuing veteran forward Gabby Williams, who will become an unrestricted free agent when she finishes representing France at the Olympics. The Sun can now pay Williams, who played collegiately at nearby UConn, more than any other contending team, barring another trade.
Looking ahead to next season, adding Mabrey can also be a hedge against Carrington’s limited free agency. Mabrey would be a more viable replacement for Carrington in the starting five than Banham or Jefferson, both of whom are under contract until 2025.
Given Connecticut will likely take nine or worse, giving up 2025 first round pick is not much of the price to pay for that upgrade. The Suns take more of a risk in 2026, when Chicago can now trade the Phoenix Mercury’s first-round pick (acquired in the Kahleah Copper trade) for Connecticut. The Suns must re-sign Bonner, Jones and Thomas after this season — all unrestricted free agents, though Thomas could be designated as the team’s core player — in addition to dealing with Carrington’s restricted free agency.
It’s possible that Connecticut could drop out of the contenders’ ranks if some of its stars head elsewhere. However, it’s a risk worth taking because it gives Sun a chance to finally push this core over the top now.
Chicago: B-
Less than a year and a half ago, the Sky gave up two first-round picks and a trade to get Mabrey in a four-team sign-and-trade deal with the Dallas Wings. This return shows how regretful the trade, made by former coach and GM James Wade after he built the first and only championship team in the history of the franchise, from the point of view of value.
Now, we’ve graded this trade strictly, and it’s unrealistic for Chicago to give back Mabrey — especially after he requested a trade, according to Annie Costabile of the Sun-Times . Still, I wonder if the Sky let Connecticut die a little easier to take back so much salary to reserve through 2025 in addition to giving up the best player in the trade. In particular, Jefferson’s current contract looks like an overpay, although Chicago may be able to fix his value if he returns to the court.
Mabrey’s range will certainly be missed in Chicago, which only found enough space for Chennedy Carter to run off the dribble despite ranking last in the league in 3s made and attempted. Amazingly, Mabrey has made more 3s this season (56) than all his teammates combined (53).
If Sky really stops, the cunning winner of this trade is the Atlanta Dream, now three games behind Chicago in the race for the eighth playoff spot but hoping that Rhyne Howard will return healthy and Jordin Canada will return after the Olympic break. .
Missing the playoffs this year doesn’t appear to be as potentially painful for Sky as it is coming into the season. Back then, Chicago could send a lottery pick to Dallas via a swap for what we expected to be a pick later in the first round. Given that the injury-plagued Wings are currently a league-worst 5-19, they’ll likely be in the lottery themselves, meaning that in a worst-case scenario, the Sky will only trade up a few spots.
The good news for the Sky is that they found three long-term players this season in Carter, a breakout star who will be a restricted free agent next season, and rookies Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese. Chicago has Cardoso and Reese on rookie contracts that are worth it and enough cap space to go around the talent.
The trade gives the Sky a pair of picks in the 2025 draft, plus two shots in 2026 at landing a lottery pick thanks to the ability to trade Phoenix’s first round pick for Connecticut. Long-term, it is looking up in Chicago.
