Five trades the WNBA thinks the WNBA should make

Cappie Pondexter to Phoenix for second round pick

The Chicago Sky discovered something while Cappie Pondexter recovered from a concussion: they are far better off with Courtney Vandersloot running the show, the ball in her hands, than they are asking Pondexter to be a combo guard also handling the point. Amber Stocks had already committed to Vandersloot as her primary point guard when Pondexter returned to action last week in Los Angeles, and she played just 11 minutes. Part of that is easing her back in, of course.

But where does that leave Pondexter to play? All Star Allie Quigley occupies the other guard spot. Tamera Young is the versatile, two-way classic small forward. Jessica Breland is essentially the definition of the modern four. Stefanie Dolson is having an all star campaign at center and taking plenty of the team’s shots.

Instead, sending Pondexter to Phoenix, where she can provide more scoring punch for a team with some offensive power outages, where she can play alongside Danielle Robinson and Diana Taurasi in small lineups that will be backed up by rim protector extraordinaire Brittney Griner once Griner returns from a knee injury might be just the extra gear the Mercury need for a deep playoff run.