The Women’s National Basketball Association offseason is nothing short of absolute entertainment.
The New York Liberty, who are the WNBA reigning champions, traded a 2025 and 2026 first round draft pick to the Connecticut Sun for guard Natasha Cloud this week. They also re-signed 2023 FIBA Europe Cup Champion and Women Most Valuable Player, guard Marine Johannès.
The Liberty roster is filled with talented players: All-WNBA guard Sabrina Ionescu, 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart, 2021 MVP and 2024 finals MVP Jonquel Jones, Leonie Fiebich and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
This is a big step for the Liberty in securing another trip to the WNBA finals this year. Cloud is a 2019 WNBA Champion, 2022 WNBA assists leader, 2022 all-defensive team and 2019 all-defensive second team.
Last season, Cloud was traded to the Sun from the Phoenix Mercury where she played for a month after playing eight seasons with the Washington Mystics.
The Sun is in a serious rebuilding phase. All five starters from last season have either signed with other teams for the upcoming season or were traded away. Coach Stephanie White left the Sun to return to coach the Indiana Fever in October 2024.
Sun guard Marina Mabrey requested a trade and was denied. “It’s rooted in a desire to build around her, have her here, have her be the catalyst for what we want to do offensively,” Connecticut team president Jennifer Rizzotti said.
The Sun hired Belgian National Team coach Rachid Meziane to replace White. Meziane has a wealth of experience and success coaching in Europe within FIBA competitions. This is the first time Meziane will coach in the WNBA.
“The style that [coach] Rashid [Meziane] plays with will suit [Mabrey’s] game and knowing that we can put her in an individual situation to be really successful as this current CBA closes and a new one opens” Rizzotti noted.
Immediately after the 2024 WNBA finals, the WNBA Players Association opted out of their collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations for a new contract are focused on player compensation and benefits.
In February, the Sun traded for Jacy Sheldon, the fifth overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Sheldon played for the Dallas Wings, averaging 5.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game during the regular season.
The Wings are presumably adjusting their roster to make room for this year’s number one pick in the WNBA Draft.
Paige Bueckers, star of the University of Connecticut Huskies is generally acknowledged to be the number one pick. She is currently playing in the March Madness tournament and the Huskies have a shot at winning it for the first time since 2016.
Beyond her talent on the court, Bueckers already has a huge impact on the game and the compensation conversation in college and the WNBA.
In high school she was the Gatorade Player of the Year. Bueckers also attends events like New York Fashion Week and campaigns for CeraVe. She has made movements on the court and in the commercial sphere that have broadened the career scope for female athletes.
Watch how the 2025 WNBA draft plays out right here in New York City at The Shed on April 14. The draft will be exclusively televised on ESPN from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET.
