How Phoenix Mercury went to Europe to build depth

Video by Eliav Gabay

Article by Jeff Metcalfe

With the Phoenix Mercury off to their second-best start and on pace for their first 30-win regular season, Nick U’Ren is a leading contender for WNBA Executive of the Year.

Already, U’Ren is generous in passing around credit for the rapid Mercury makeover from the Diana Taurasi/Brittney Griner era. 

Kahleah Copper and Natasha Mack are the only returning players from 2024, U’Ren’s first season as general manager. He acquired All-Stars Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally via trade, Kalani Brown in one of those deals and sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb via free agency. 

That left half a roster to fill, a job that U’Ren largely turned over to Preston Fawcett with the main parameters of surrounding the new Big Three and especially point forward Thomas with shooters, versatility and size while bolstering the Mercury’s defense.

And good luck, U’Ren might have added, since the Mercury had zero picks in the three-round WNBA draft April 14. 

Undaunted, Fawcett, working with analytics and scouting departments, found another way.

U’Ren turns to Preston Fawcett

Even the X’iest of Mercury X factor fans likely don’t know a thing about Preston Fawcett.

His path started modestly enough as a men’s basketball manager for two seasons at Arizona then post-graduation breaking down film for Synergy Sports in Seattle, where he played basketball for Lake Washington High School.

A random e-mail inquiry to the WNBA Seattle Storm led to a job in 2014-15, when he first met Monica Wright Rogers, then playing for the Storm. 

That connection would pay off later as would getting to know Nate Tibbetts when both were with the NBA Portland Trail Blazers through 2021. Fawcett came to Phoenix as a Suns scout around the same time that Wright Rogers joined the Mercury as assistant GM. 

Tibbetts was hired as Mercury coach in October 2023 and soon after Fawcett joined the Mercury in scouting before being promoted to his current job as director of player personnel.

“It was a really big-time hire for Nick and Fleur (McIntyre) and Monica to bring him on,” Tibbetts says. Wright Rogers left the Mercury in January to become GM of the WNBA expansion Toronto Tempo, debuting in 2026, with McIntyre continuing in her role, also as assistant GM.

All moving the Mercury toward the vision that U’Ren and Tibbetts are seeing now with a 12-4 team that in the last two games alone made a WNBA record 35 3-pointers while averaging 106.5 points. Thomas leads the league in assists (9.5 pg) and twice has tied the franchise record 15 assists in her first 11 games for Phoenix (she missed five with injury). 

Executing that vision goes back to at least to the 2024 Paris Olympics when U’Ren and Tibbetts were scouting with 2026 and beyond in mind. 

“We thought the European market was a little bit untapped especially in terms of Americans who had gone overseas and had a high level of professional experience,” Fawcett says.

“Because I’ve known Nate for so long, I understand what kind of player he’s looking for and the (position-less) system he’s trying to run around AT (Thomas), Satou and Kah. He just loves people that love basketball. Going overseas is not easy. You have to really grind and love basketball to do that.”

Fawcett went to work with McIntyre, basketball operations coordinator Trinity Elliott and scout Charli Turner Thorne to identify players not just to fill training camp but ideally to make the roster. 

“Our message to them was we’re not signing you guys to be camp fillers,” Fawcett says. “We’re signing you because we believe you can compete for a spot, and they did.”

Contending for WNBA All-Rookie Team

The end result of the Mercury’s European talent search is five WNBA rookies, ages 24 to 29, including two starters in Monique Akoa Makani and Kathryn Westbeld. 

All five are contributing, four to the level of warranting All-Rookie team consideration. The Mercury’s last All-Rookie honoree was Brianna Turner in 2019.

Lexi Held, playing in Hungary, was the first to sign in early February followed by Westbeld (Hungary), Kitija Laksa (Italy), Murjanatu Musa (France) and finally Akoa Makani (France) in March. Only Laksa came with a guaranteed contract, assuring her of a roster spot in a league with a hard salary cap. 

The others – Americans Held and Westbeld; Akoa Makani from Cameroon and Musa from Nigeria, both in the U.S. for the first time – had to bet on themselves and the opportunity they were promised.

“I told my agent that I wasn’t interested in trying to reach out to the WNBA because I thought I wasn’t ready for that,” Akoa Makani says. “I wanted to give myself one or two more years.

“Then it turns out that if the opportunity is coming to me right now, why not just try it because at the end of the day I have nothing to lose. You could tell they were very interested in me.”

She left her French team (Charnay Basket) during the playoffs to take the WNBA plunge and already has had a 21-point performance against defending champion New York among her six double-figure games. 

Laksa, who like Westbeld is 29, is from Latvia and played collegiately at South Florida. She was a Storm first-round draft pick in 2019 and in camp with the Dallas Wings in 2023 but didn’t make either team.

“I want to be in a place where I’m valued, where you already know who I am and what I can bring because I’m not coming out of college anymore,” Laksa says. “I’m not a young teenager coming into the league. I’ve done my things back in Europe and Euro League. It was very important that the team did their research.

“I’m very grateful and happy that the organization found me.” 

U’Ren, Tibbetts and associate head coach Kristi Toliver traveled to Schio, Italy to recruit Laksa in person, fully aware of her shooting value from Fawcett and the analytics team.

Laksa, Held (currently injured) and Akoa Makani are fifth-seventh in WNBA rookie scoring with Westbeld 11th. All four are among the top 6 in rookie 3-pointers made including Laksa first (30). They are a combined 92-254 from 3-point (36.2 percent), supplementing Whitcomb and Sabally (31 each) to put the Mercury atop the WNBA with 167 treys.

Parenting new daughter and new team

The 34-year-old Fawcett recently became a two-time father with the birth of his second daughter. Parenthood pride is not unlike what he is feeling about the Mercury’s rebirth.

He credits ownership and CEO Josh Bartelstein with “giving us the resources” to find the European gems. And Tibbetts’ staff including Megan Vogel, John McCullough, Ciara Carl and Chevy Saunsoci for helping the rookies develop faster than anticipated because of Copper, Mack and Thomas early-season injuries.

“It’s not just the way they play,” Tibbetts says. “It’s how thankful and respectful they’ve been for this opportunity. They’re not taking this for granted and trying to prove a point. 

“Preston is super talented. It’s been a lot of fun for me to see him grow. They did a hell of a job.”

Akoa Makani jokes about Fawcett being an analytics nerd, which he likely takes as a compliment. Then she turns to French to elaborate, saying Fawcett is vraiment precis, which translates to very precise. 

Laksa learned about Fawcett’s role once she arrived for camp. 

“The work he’s done is impressive,” she says. “Even now it’s Euro Basket time. We can chat about players, games and teams that I know and I’m surprised he does too. He’s so into basketball, into finding the right people. He’s already scouting the next ones. He’s always on. It’s just a great guy to have in an organization. His value is immense.”