The Phoenix Mercury had a very eventful offseason and the team looks much different than it did last season. Diana Taurasi retired, Brittney Griner signed with the Atlanta Dream in free agency, and the team traded for Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas. In those trades, the Mercury sent out Sophie Cunningham and Natasha Cloud—two of the Mercury’s top-five players in minutes per game last season.
Cloud, who is now a member of the Connecticut Sun, is not happy with the new situation. After a horrific offseason that saw the Sun lose all its key players except for Marina Mabrey, Connecticut is far from a contender and not the kind of team Cloud—or Mabrey, for that matter—wants to play for.
The Sun seem determined to try and make things work, however. They denied Mabrey’s trade request and reportedly also refused to trade Cloud to the New York Liberty for significant draft assets. Cloud, who averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game for the Mercury last season, is easily one of the best players on the Sun’s current roster. But even with her, Mabrey, Tina Charles, and Dimond DeShields, the Sun are far from a contender.
The fact that the Sun do not want to rebuild does not change Cloud’s feelings about her new situation or the way the Mercury handled her trade.
Natasha Cloud vents her frustration about how the Mercury handled her trade to the Sun
When Natasha Cloud appeared on The OGs Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, her recent trade came up, and Cloud was obviously frustrated—more with the way the situation was handled than with the trade itself.
Cloud said she had no idea about the trade until an assistant coach texted her to let her know how much they had appreciated working with her. That lack of communication is what Cloud is most upset about.
“I was like, man, you told me I was your point guard,” Cloud added. “Y’all the same that looked me in my eye after I had 33 in that playoff game for y’all where I almost got us to a Game 3 and you said, ‘You going to retire a Phoenix Mercury.’”
On top of that, Cloud noted that she was actively recruiting Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas for the Mercury while playing in Unrivaled. Rather than getting to compete for a championship with them, she was then traded for Thomas.
Having a player be so outspokenly upset about how she was treated is not a good look for the Phoenix Mercury, but it also does not bode well for the Sun’s future. Not trading Mabrey and Cloud for assets to help with a rebuild is a bold move that will only look good if the Sun can find some kind of success and convince the two guards to stick around after all. Both will be free agents in 2026, and the Sun will likely just lose both for nothing.