With their coach vacancy filled, the Phoenix Mercury now must fill roster holes if they hope to make a title run.
The Mercury announced Vanessa Nygaard as their new head coach on Monday, ending a month-long search. Nygaard is set to take over a team fresh off of a WNBA Finals appearance. Despite their recent success, their free agency success will heavily dictate their ability to make another Finals run.
The Mercury enter free agency with $244,994 of cap space. The current expectation is to win now, alluding that the Mercury will look for proven vets to complement their current core of Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi.
"We're not going to take any steps back," Mercury general manager Jim Pitman said after their finals loss in October. "We're going to do whatever we can to improve to make sure we have the opportunity to be back in the situation next year hopefully with a different outcome.
"To me, we're in a similar situation to the Suns where we would like to keep a lot of our core together then try to improve around the edges where we can."
Let's explore their in house free-agent options before delving into market options.
Can Bria Hartley return to her Six-Woman Player of the Year form?
Hartley was having her best season in the WNBA in the 2020 "Wubble," before tearing her ACL with the Mercury. The 5'8 guard was averaging 15 points, three rebounds and five assists.
After returning from injury, Hartley struggled to break into the team's rotation, averaging just eight minutes of play. In those minutes, she averaged three points. Her time increased in the playoffs. She averaged 10 minutes of play, putting up two points per game on 30% shooting from the field.
If Hartley can return to her old form, she will help bring a much-needed boost off the bench. The Mercury bench was outscored by an average of 14 points in the WNBA Finals. On top of bench scoring lulls, the Mercury also struggled to find a playmaker off their bench. After Diggins-Smith and Taurasi– two starters– the Mercury didn't have another ball-handler who could create their own shot while also finding others.
Hartley can be all an answer to all of that.
What about Sofie Cunningham?
Sofie Cunningham emerged as a fan favorite in the 2021 WNBA season for many reasons, the primary being her hustle and swag. Once Kia Nurse went down with an ACL tear, Cunningham stepped up as the next knockdown shooter for the Mercury in the playoffs. Not to mention she was a part of a scuffle that got fans on both sides riled up.
Cunningham is an unrestricted free agency, meaning she can go to whoever she decides without Phoenix being able to match. Currently, the Mercury have not made a qualifying offer to Cunningham. With Phoenix waiving Walker, they are in the position to offer Cunnigham a pay raise, and it would make sense.
She has made it clear that she wants to come back, leaving the ball in Phoenix's court.
Is Shey Peddy for real or was it a hot streak?
The Mercury have already set their eyes on Shey Peddy, a player who thrived in the playoffs. Peddy's 2021 season is one made for storybooks.
Her journey to the WNBA began in 2012, where she was drafted by the Chicago Sky and cut in training camp. She went overseas and flourished, returning to the WNBA. Her return wasn't triumphant, as she was cut again.
She went back overseas and returned in 2020, trying out for the Washington Mystics. While she was cut in training camp, the team picked her up midseason. She made her WNBA debut at age 30. The team cut her three weeks later, but she had caught the eye of then-Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello.
Peddy was signed off waivers and finished the 2020 season with the Mercury, and was a key contributor for the Mercury in their 2021 campaign. She had an up and down season, coming alive in the semi-finals and staying hot throughout the WNBA Finals.
Her hot streak was promising for the Mercury, but her overall history raises more questions than answers. With Kia Nurse sidelined with an ACL injury and Bria Hartley trying to return to her old self, can Peddy be a consistent scoring threat for the Mercury for an entire season?
More importantly, can she be a reliable ball-handler to take pressure off of Diggins-Smith and Taurasi? As of now, the Mercury plans to test that out.
Who are the top targets?
The Mercury's biggest flaw over the years has been bench scoring and overall rebounding and paint defense by players not named Brittney Griner and Brianna Turner. In the regular season, Diggins-Smith and Nurse masked the lack of bench production. No one could mask the team's inability to consistently rebound without Turner and Griner.
There are a few players with offensive skillsets who also can play down low that can benefit the Mercury. The biggest name fitting that criteria is Stefanie Dolson.
Dolson is a 6'5 jump-shooting post who shot 49% from the field in the 2021 season. She was an All-Star in 2015 and 2017 and averaged 10 points with five rebounds during her career.
Another post threat for the Mercury to target is Monique Billings.
Billings is a restricted free agent who is younger and more versatile than the post options currently on the Mercury. Billings has an extensive high post-game, making her an easy pairing with Griner. She also excelled in the pick and roll collegiately– fitting seamlessly in any lineup with Taurasi or Diggins-Smith.
The final big on the board for the Mercury to Target is the Storm's Mercedes Russell.
Russell is a restricted free agent who is used to playing on teams with high expectations. She has backed up 2x Finals MVP Breana Stewart for all of her WNBA career and stepped up when Stewart was out with an achilles tear. In that time, Russell averaged seven points and nine rebounds.
What about a playmaking guard if Hartley doesn't bounce back?
If the team doesn't have confidence that Hartley can give them elite production off the bench then they will have to find a playmaker to back up and possibly play with Taurasi and Diggins-Smith.
The first name to consider is the Storm's Jordin Canada.
Canada is an elite defender and superb playmaker. As a 2x champion, you know that Canada is capable of providing quality minutes off the bench. More importantly, Canada has started plenty of games in Seattle, as their current starting point guard, Sue Bird, availability is up and down due to age.
In the event that the Mercury decides to do a similar playstyle with Taiurai, or that Taurasi decides to take time away to get her body right, Canada is more than capable of stepping in and playing alongside Diggins-Smith.
Though she does not bring outside shooting, Canada's playmaking and quickness will highlight Griner and Diggins-Smith's offensive capabilities while serving as a spark plug off the bench.
Another option for the Mercury is Briana January, a player who has already had success in Phoenix. January is older than Canada but provides the same speed and defensive prowess. She is a true point guard with established chemistry with Griner and Taurasi. More importantly. She can hit an outside jumper– opening the paint for Griner.
Other names to keep an eye on
Layshia Claredon
Victoria Vivians
Diamond DeShields
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