WNBA Offseason Primer: Connecticut Sun

January 15 marked the official start of WNBA free agency. The WNBA released an official list of core players, reserved players, unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents.

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With the help of The Summitt’s WNBA salaries database compiled by our own Howard Megdal, we’ll take a look at each WNBA team going into free agency, aiming to answer the following questions:

• Which players are free agents?
• Which players are still under contract?
• Who are some potential prospects worth targeting in the upcoming WNBA Draft?
• Which players on the free agent markets would be good fits to add for 2018?

The Connecticut Sun finished last season with a record of 21-13. As the four seed, they were eliminated by the Phoenix Mercury in the second round of the WNBA playoffs.

Early last year, Curt Miller said to Howard Megdal on the LockedOnWBB podcast that he saw 2018 as the year for his team to start making some noise. In a way, Connecticut arrived ahead of schedule. Chiney Ogwumike missed all of last season (Achilles) and Jonquel Jones was entering her second season as a pro. Jones was named to her first All-Star team in 2017 and was joined in Seattle by teammates Alyssa Thomas and Jasmine Thomas.

The team took off after an early-season injury forced a lineup change. Alyssa Thomas slid up to the four spot, and Shekinna Stricklen was inserted into the starting lineup. Courtney Williams, too, joined the starting group for 28 games for the Sun, who were in the top four in both offensive rating (105.5) and defensive rating (100.1) in the regular season.

Connecticut Sun All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas adding value everywhere

Spotlighting stellar start to WNBA season for Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun with video highlights and analysis, both offense and defense.

Now let’s break down Connecticut’s situation — current free agents, players still under contract and the status of their 2018 draft picks.

Unrestricted free agents (UFAs): G/F Shekinna Stricklen, F Danielle Adams, F Lynetta Kizer, F Kayla Pedersen

Restricted free agents (RFAs): F Alyssa Thomas

Reserved players: N/A

Core player: N/A

Players under contract:

• C Jonquel Jones through 2019 (team option)
• G Jasmine Thomas (contract details unknown — re-signed to multi-year deal 2/2/2017)
• F Chiney Ogwumike (contract details unknown — signed multi-year extension 4/22/2017, was suspended for the 2017 season to free up a roster spot)
• G Courtney Williams through 2019 (team option)
• G Alex Bentley (contract details unknown — re-signed to multi-year deal 2/7/2017)
• F Morgan Tuck through 2019 (team option)
• G Rachel Banham through 2019 (team option)
• F Brionna Jones through 2019 (team option)

2018 draft picks: No. 9, No. 16 (via Atlanta), No. 21, No. 33

The Sun are in an interesting position with their frontcourt. Nearly half their roster is hitting free agency, and all of those players got legitimate playing time in 2017. You figure Stricklen and Thomas are solid bets to return. The status of those other three players is much more up in the air. Ogwumike will be looking to make her return to the floor from that Achilles injury, and Morgan Tuck could be ready for more minutes. Brionna Jones, eighth overall pick in 2017, too, will be in the mix.

Connecticut’s four guards are locked up. Each player has clear strengths, and all four can do stuff off the bounce. Williams and Bentley work more in the midrange while Banham is more capable of hurting you from deep. Jasmine Thomas had a career year shooting the three ball (40%, 134 attempts). Connecticut will hope to see that continue from their floor general.

Connecticut has a lot of good players on their roster and one that could become one of the best in the league. Their biggest need is still in the backcourt. The Sun saw a 17 point lead evaporate against Phoenix at home in round two. Late in that game, viewers got a steady diet of Jasmine Thomas floaters. They need somebody that can collapse the defense to leverage the shooting of Jones, Stricklen and others. It may be a bit of a tough fit with Alyssa Thomas, who also handles the ball often but is not a threat to knock down shots from the outside. 2017 First Team All-Defense honoree Jasmine Thomas, though, opens a lot of doors with her ability to defend either guard spot.

Is a move sitting there for the Sun to get better? That’s unclear. Freeing up Jonquel Jones to continue to grow into the kind of player that can carry a playoff contender will tell us more about their ceiling. Will she look to get up more threes? Will she face up more to attack slower centers off the bounce? Will she flip-flop roles with Alyssa Thomas from time to time, with Thomas setting the screen instead? We still don’t know, and that’s part of what makes the Sun so interesting to follow.

Players to possibly target in free agency:

• This is the one and only time I’ll be punting this section. Just do the math up front and at the guard spots — the Sun just don’t project to have much playing time to offer.

It is important to mention Leticia Romero’s name somewhere. She was selected by the Sun in the second round of the 2017 draft, but did not play in the WNBA in 2017 because she was fulfilling her commitment to the Spanish national team. Miller told Ned Griffen of The Day that Romero is “committed to come to training camp.” In that same vein, Miller tweeted this a few weeks back:

What are your expectations for the Sun in 2018? What do you expect to see from Chiney Ogwumike early on, and will the Sun be able to put some pressure on Los Angeles and Minnesota for a top-two seed?