Mercury already have one clear offseason priority after devastating finals sweep

The Phoenix Mercury put together an impressive first season with their new big three of Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas, and Satou Sabally. Phoenix was the underdog in the first-round series against New York, in the semifinals against Minnesota, and in the finals against the battle-tested Las Vegas Aces. In the first two rounds, the Mercury seemed almost unbeatable. However, they were ultimately no match for the Aces. Las Vegas swept the series, as Phoenix had to go into Game 4 without Satou Sabally, who suffered a concussion, and lost head coach Nate Tibbetts in the third quarter when he was ejected. 

While the loss was devastating, the Mercury’s future can still be incredibly bright, if the big three all decide to return in free agency once the CBA negotiations are over. Given how positively Thomas and Sabally have spoken about Phoenix and that all three should feel like they have some unfinished business together, the chances of that happening are pretty high. Moreover, the Mercury wouldn’t be the first team to suffer a tough loss with a new core only to go on to win it all a few seasons later. 

Coach Nate Tibbetts and GM Nick U’Ren obviously don’t want to dwell on the finals loss and already have a clear offseason priority. Nate Tibbetts told reporters, “You can always control if the ball goes in or out, but you can control how you defend, and part of the reason we got to the finals…was because of our defense…Defense is definitely something that Nick [U’Ren] and I talk about—finding good defensive players—and that’s something that we’ll look at this offseason.”

Phoenix was great defensively before running into Las Vegas

The Mercury had a strong defensive roster. Monique Akoa Makani impressed defensively as a rookie, Satou Sabally can give a lot of players trouble with her size, DeWanna Bonner is known as a standout wing defender, Natasha Mack can protect the rim, and Alyssa Thomas has already been named to seven All-Defensive teams. So, it wasn’t surprising that the Mercury finished the regular season with the fifth-best defensive rating in the league. 

That defensive prowess carried over into the playoffs. The Mercury never allowed the Liberty to score more than 76 points in the first round, and the Lynx never exceeded 83 points. Minnesota came into the playoffs as the best offensive team in the league, but the Mercury found a way to limit their offense. 

The Mercury’s defense wasn’t quite as strong against the Aces. They gave up at least 89 points in each game and struggled to guard A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray. Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd also caused problems off the bench. A’ja Wilson was the main source of the Aces’ struggles. Alyssa Thomas frequently got into foul trouble when guarding Wilson, Mack didn’t give her much trouble, DeWanna Bonner had her hands full with the Aces superstar, and Kalani Brown only played significant minutes in Game 4.