How the Phoenix Mercury plan to replace Satou Sabally’s production

Phoenix Mercury general manager Nick U'Ren said the team will take a by-committee approach to replacing Satou Sabally 's production after the three-time All-Star departed in free agency after one season with the team. Phoenix retained the core that advanced to the WNBA Finals last season, including forward Alyssa Thomas , guard Kahleah Copper, guard Monique Akoa Makani, guard Sami Whitcomb and forward DeWanna Bonner, in a fast-paced free agency period that's been expedited amid a condensed offseason. However, the Mercury weren't able to keep Sabally, the team's leading scorer last season.

U'Ren didn't go into detail about Sabally's departure from Phoenix and sidestepped questions about the team's decision not to use the core designation on her but U'Ren did point to the unique challenges of this year's offseason, where "everything moves really, really quickly. " "I'm not going to get too much into the decision in terms of core, not core, which players we thought we might use it on or not," U'Ren said during a press conference on April 16. "I think this offseason was interesting and just in terms of the timelines and what decisions needed to be made when strategically.

I hate to be vague, but so many factors go into those decisions. ” He continued: "I'm no sports historian, but... few other leagues have gone through what this league just went through in terms of doing everything in a three to four week period.

So when you talk about condensed timelines and the ramifications of decisions... there's tons of factors, tons and tons of timelines that go into everything. " Sabally averaged 16.