Before the 2025 WNBA season, even after they had imported Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally to form a new Big 3 with Kahleah Copper, there was plenty of skepticism about the Phoenix Mercury, as they had surrounded their stars with supporting cast of mostly unheralded or inexperienced WNBA players.
In Swish Appeal’s 2025 preseason power rankings, Zack Ward slotted the Mercury in a No. 9, below the Dallas Wings.
Phoenix, of course, proved everyone wrong, earning the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and advancing all the way to the WNBA Finals before bowing out in a sweep to the Las Vegas Aces.
Despite their achievement, it is still tempting to question the sustainability of the “stars and scrubs” formula.
Consistency is often what differentiates a star from a role player. All WNBA players are talented and capable of unleashing big games. Those who are stars, however, deliver consistently, whereas role players can vacillate game to game and season to season. Such role player shortcomings reared their head for Phoenix in the Finals, especially after Sabally was sidelined with a concussion.
And yet, in 2026, the Mercury appeared to have even more extremely endorsed their same team-building strategy.
Except, this time, they only have two stars, as Sabally departed for the New York Liberty, leaving Thomas and Copper as the star tandem that, unlike last season, enters with expectations after reaching the WNBA Finals. Furthermore, two of the most-proven members of their supporting cast—DeWanna Bonner and Sami Whitcomb—are two of the oldest players in the W; Bonner is the second-oldest, while Whitcomb is the fourth-oldest.
Setting up our campsite on UWM’s campus for the day⛺️ pic.twitter.com/QJaXB7gZFg
So, the big question for Phoenix entering the 2026 WNBA season is: Can the Mercury, again, defy doubts, excavating contributors from training camp roster than includes 24 invitees? Or, will there be disappointment in the desert?
The Mercury have five standard roster spots to fill before the season begins.
In addition to Thomas, Copper and Whitcomb, Valériane Ayayi, a 6-foot-1 forward who is a fixture for the French National Team and in EuroLeague Women and last played in the WNBA as a 21-year-old in 2015, are on protected contracts. Returning starters Natasha Mack and Monique Akoa Makani, along with Bonner, were signed to unprotected deals.
From the group of training invitees, Kiana Williams, who played 11 games for Phoenix last season, seems likely to grab one of the five available spots. She logged a team-high 23 minutes in the Mercury’s first preseason game, a win over the Chicago Sky in head coach Nate Tibbetts’ native South Dakota, scoring 16 points behind a promising 4-for-9 performance from 3.
Kiana Williams told me how nice it is to get a fresh start with the Mercury after arriving to the team mid season.“The roles were already defined, so I just had to fall in line. This year, it’s nice being here at the start and trying to define what my role is going to be. Just… pic.twitter.com/eVc7MUR8VT
Still, of the eight Mercury players who are known quantities, six of them carry significant unknowns. Ayayi hasn’t played in the WNBA in more than a decade. Whitcomb and especially Bonner are aging veterans whose time in the W is ticking. Mack is a high-energy-but-lower-minute big with limited scoring range. Akoa Makani is being counted on to replicate a promising rookie season. Williams has seen minutes in just 38 games since joining the league in 2021.
The team appears to be banking on these players producing beyond their reasonably projected potential, in addition to finding four more players with even more uncertain outlooks who can emerge as reliable contributors.
Maybe it’s Kara Dunn, who, despite going undrafted out of USC, looked WNBA-ready in her preseason debut? Dunn didn’t miss a shot, went 3-for-3 from 3, scored 13 points and grabbed three boards in her 12 minutes?
On top of the roster uncertainty. there’s the pressure the comes with Thomas’ desire to complete her WNBA resume with a championship, as Zack Ward wrote about during last season’s playoffs. But instead of constructing a team better suited to help Thomas finish her title quest, the Mercury appear to be burdening the 34-year-old Thomas with an even heavier load.
And yet, if there’s any WNBA star who thrives through adverse circumstances, it’s Thomas.
Even as she lacks a title, she’s a proven winner. Throughout her tenure with the Connecticut Sun, like her first season in Phoenix, Thomas powered her past preseason expectations. And she’s done the same individually. Despite two busted shoulders, she’s gotten better with age, bullying herself into MVP conversations as she has become the league’s triple-double queen.
Alyssa Thomas doesn’t enter the flow of the game, she becomes the reason it has one.#AlyssaThomas #PhoenixMercury #ConnecticutSun #WNBA #Basketball pic.twitter.com/EYa2KBvuzI