Mercury offseason decisions: Stars, Draft, Free Agency

Now that teams and free agents are having the “qualifying offer” conversation, let’s dive into a few decisions looming over this Mercury offseason.

The good news is a couple of those big decisions have basically been made already.

STARS

Technically, superstar center Brittney Griner is still a free agent, but she’s said very clearly that “Phoenix is home” during her exit interviews. It’s just a matter of figuring out the numbers.

Griner and her wife, Cherelle, bought a house in Arizona late last year.

As far as All-WNBA guard Skylar Diggins-Smith is concerned, given the disconnect between herself and the Mercury organization, it’s safe to say she’ll call a different city home next season.

DRAFT

While PHX was slated at the No. 2 pick heading into the lottery, lady luck had other plans. Fortunately for Phoenix, picking at No. 3 – this year of all years – isn’t a massive drop-off.

Assuming UConn junior guard Paige Bueckers declares for the draft, she’d join Iowa guard Caitlin Clark and Stanford forward Cameron Brink as the consensus top three players.

The Fever will obviously take the generationally talented Caitlin Clark at No. 1 which puts Phoenix’s pick in Los Angeles’ hands.

Given the Sparks are likely to re-sign superstar forward Nneka Ogwumike this offseason, Bueckers seems like the pick they’d lean toward – unless her injury history pushes them in Brink’s direction.

Bueckers fractured her left tibia and tore her meniscus sophomore year before tearing her ACL in the same knee eight months later.

She’s had a strong comeback this year, averaging about 19 points with four boards and four assists on 53% shooting.

Standing 6-foot-4, Brink has been stellar as well, putting up just under 19 points per game to go along with 11 rebounds and 3.5 blocks while shooting 58% from the field.

Either way, Phoenix finds its frontcourt or backcourt star of the future who can learn from Griner and Diana Taurasi.

My guess: the Mercury select Cameron Brink with the third pick.

FREE AGENCY

Until they eventually lock in Griner, general manager Nick U’Ren and the front office have six players on the roster for the 2024 season:

Diana Taurasi, Sophie Cunningham, Brianna Turner, Moriah Jefferson, Michaela Onyenwere, and Kadi Sissoko.

That’s $830,158 on the books with $633,042 to spend, before Griner’s contract (per Her Hoop Stats and Spotrac).

There’s no replacing Diggins-Smith, but there are a few solid guards in this year’s free agent class.

While I would think that both Jordin Canada (Sparks) and Natasha Cloud (Mystics) are trending toward re-signing with their respective teams, Courtney Williams seems like a great target.

The veteran guard started every single game for Chicago while averaging a career-best six assists per contest as well as 10 points, six boards, and a steal. Plugging her into a potential Williams-Taurasi-Cunningham-Brink-Griner lineup makes for a strong five on both ends.

Not to mention, Jefferson-Onyenwere-Turner as a tough group off the bench along with any other free agents U’Ren and first-year head coach Nate Tibbetts can welcome to the desert.

Owner Mat Ishbia has made it clear that he wants to win immedietly – that started with finding a new general manager, then head coach, and now it continues with free agency and the draft on April 15.