Your 2025 Phoenix Mercury Season Preview!

Welcome to the “Casual Fan” section of The Show Notes! This is where I talk about sports. Certain aspects of what you read here, such as the depth of the analysis and amount of objectivity, will vary depending on a number of different factors. I promise to always be entertaining, though. If you like this, check out my show!

WNBA season is upon us! A lot has happened this offseason, so I’ve put together some quick and handy guides for every team to help you start the season off right! Planning to go to a game? My sponsor, Turn The Paige Travel, has got all of your travel needs covered! Let’s talk hoops!

What’s New

A ton of movement for Girl Dad’s squad. The end of an era as Diana Taurasi retired after 20 years with the team. Referees everywhere rejoice. Another longtime Mercury star, Brittney Griner, left via free agency. They also sent out Natasha Cloud, Sophie Cunningham, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan, and Bec Allen in trades with all kinds of teams.

The headline-grabbing additions are stars Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas. They also brought in Kalani Brown, Sami Whitcomb, and Sevgi Uzun. I guess they figured that was enough, because they skipped the whole draft mess altogether.

What’s Good

If you had to pick one player from last year’s roster to keep and build around, it would have been Kahleah Copper. With the big names they had going into last season, there were some questions around who would be the #1 option. It quickly became evident that Kah was the answer. Before the Olympic break, only A’ja Wilson was more impressive. She’s hard-nosed, an explosive scorer, and a tenacious defender who embodies all things Philly basketball conjures up in your mind.

Alyssa Thomas might be the only other player in the W who can match Copper’s toughness. Word is that her labrums were so terrified of her that they jumped out of her shoulders. She won’t win any 3-point shooting contests, but that’s about all she doesn’t do. The walking triple-double threat has used her point guard in a power forward’s body game to earn back-to-back All-WNBA First Team selections.

Add in the versatile Satou Sabally, and you have the trio of stars that has seemingly become a prerequisite for any team that wants to be taken seriously as a contender. Sprinkled around them are players like Whitcomb, Natasha Mack, and Kalani Brown who know how to play within themselves.

What Could Go Wrong

The obvious concern is health. Copper already missed a preseason game with a back injury that started bothering her at the end of last season. And, of course, Sabally has made it through an entire season just once in her 5 years. The more that they are in and out of the lineup, the uglier this could get.

On the court, this is a talented bunch, but slightly less talented than the other talented bunches. As great as Thomas is, her lack of a jump shot does limit what she can do offensively. Even worse, this crops up mostly at the end of close games where she’s forced to work extra hard to make something happen as defenses are more willing to pack the paint and dare her to shoot. This also closes up cutting lanes for teammates, effectively eliminating her elite playmaking ability as well.

What To Expect

This feels a lot like last year’s team in a different font. They have too much talent to miss the playoffs, but not quite enough to break into the upper echelon of the league. There will be flashes of brilliance when they put it all together against the right opponent, but they match up too poorly with the league’s best to have anything more than a perfectly acceptable season.

Thank you for checking this guide out! Don’t forget to read up on all the other teams as well. Also, do you need to know which sporting events to watch each week? Subscribe to get my weekly sports watch guide! I hit you with what you need to watch, why you need to watch it, and some interesting stories from the sports world that you may have missed!