Phoenix Mercury re-sign Yvonne Turner, Emma Cannon
By Ben Dull
The Phoenix Mercury announced two more moves on Friday — the club re-signed reserved free agents Emma Cannon and Yvonne Turner.
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Both Cannon and Turner showed some promising flashes in their rookie campaigns as players that could contribute to another Phoenix run to the Finals. As reserved free agents, the Mercury had exclusive negotiating rights, giving them the inside track to work out deals to retain both players.
Turner was one of five Mercury players to appear in all 34 regular season contests in 2017. Turner’s play improved late in the season, reflected by her role. Turner was inserted into the starting lineup late in the regular season and started all five playoff games for the Mercury.
Turner is a long, athletic wing that may be able to grow into a bit of a stopper role for the Mercury. Turner really opened some eyes with her shooting stroke, especially in the playoffs. Turner shot 9-for-17 from three-point range in the postseason.
That is a very small sample. Turner shot just 13-for-54 (24.1%) from deep in the 2017 WNBA regular season.
Turner played collegiately at Nebraska from 2006 to 2010. After spending many years overseas, Turner finally got her WNBA shot with the Mercury in 2017, where she carved out a role for herself with a WNBA semifinalist.
DeWanna Bonner is set to return to the WNBA in 2018 after giving birth to twins. The Mercury designated Bonner as their core player this offseason. The Mercury also announced the signing of veteran forward Sancho Lyttle on Thursday. It is likely that those two players will be starting for Phoenix in 2018, but Turner figures to be a key contributor off the bench.
Cannon is a physical, bruising forward who also appeared in all 34 regular season games for the Mercury. She led all WNBA rookies in field goal percentage (49.1%), in addition to being third in rebounding and seventh in scoring among rookies.
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Cannon logged 17 minutes in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals against the Los Angeles Sparks. She fouled out in the game, finishing with four points and five rebounds. Cannon appeared in four of the team’s five playoff games.