Will Griner (UFA) be released by Russia and be physically/emotionally ready to play by next season?
Unknownable at this time.
Will Taurasi (UFA) come back (to Phoenix) another year, or retire?
She will be back
Will Diggins-Smith (signed through 2023) return to Phoenix or request/demand a trade?
I doubt she comes back, probably traded elsewhere
Will Cunningham (UFA) re-sign?
Probably returns
Will Peddy re-sign despite her Achilles tear à la Kia Nurse?
Unlikely
Will Kia Nurse herself re-sign, assuming she’s healthy by then? She didn’t have the greatest season in 2021…
They can't afford to lose anyone, but the underlying vibe in Phoenix seems bad, so she may opt for a less conflicted team.
How do the Merc build up their bench?
No draft picks, but trading SDS and FA should help them build their bench.
Will Nygaard be back to coach this team next year? Should she be?
She doesn't seem like a bad coach for an rebuilding team, but I don't think the Mercury are ready for a complete rebuild. I think it will be up to Taurasi.
My magic 8 ball answers to the above. I think the bigger question is what (or who) exactly was wrong with the team this year that lead to two star players leaving during the season. Was there a locker room problem? I'm guessing there was an underlying issue. Seems like Sandy may not have been the greatest coach, but she did keep the conflicts from boiling over and managed the ego's effectively. Then again, the Charles and SDS situation may have been unrelated to the other players, the coaching, etc.
Phoenix appears to be a team that would look 95% different next year. Makes you wonder if Taurasi really wants to come back for one more season to a team in a complete rebuild? Maybe Taurasi gets Turner, Cunningham to come back. Gustafson, Kaela Davis, Simms, should all get a shot on this team next year. Depending what they get in the Diggins trade and the slight chance Griner is released in time and ready to play again will be the ultimate gauge on the Mercury's 2023 roster.
I don’t think Taurasi would pull an Augustus and sign with the Sparks to end her career after so many years in Phoenix. That said, that’s probably where she’d go if she doesn’t re-sign with Phoenix nor retire, considering how much of her family now lives in LA.
I think Phoenix will do their best to make it seem like they’re still contending, even if Griner is still MIA, in order to convince Taurasi to re-sign and presumably give her a proper sendoff. If Diggins-Smith wants out, that’s how they’ll be able to get some young pieces for their bench. Otherwise, she’s a major talent piece for a contending roster. Merc can paint the scenario as a win-win for Taurasi.
I'd say nearly everything hinges on Griner getting released and whether she indicates she will be ready to play by the start of the season. If she doesn't get released soon, her next stop is a prison camp (aka gulag). If that happens, it seems like the Russians are not really that interested in letting her go anytime soon and have just been pretending to negotiate (much the same as in the various "peace talks" that have taken place). Another factor is that when the WNBA season winds down, and many other things start to happen (the election, the war, the other sports seasons) public attention to Griner will probably fade (despite what the WNBA and fans might say). Reed only got released because he was in ill health and both side of the negotiation probably thought optics of an American dying a Russian prison would be bad.
So absent that, the Phoenix situation seems completely unsettled for now and that won't change. Plus, Phoenix was very late in firing Sandy and even later in hiring Nygard, so it's clear who is in charge and whether they are paying attention.
I think due to Griner's situation, the uncertainty of Taurasi returning as well as the likelihood that SDS wants out, Nygaard's job is secure. She did get this Mercury into the playoffs despite everything they went through.
The thing with Nygaard is something was a miss with her and the stars (SDS, DT, and Tina).... but the role players seemed improved or played well (Cunningham, Peddy, DeShields). I mean Cunningham is talked about for MIP.
Plus I think you'd want to give her a shot with Griner (if possible), so I think she gets another year.
formerly pickdiamondmillerchallenge lol formerly dmillerturnprochallenge ha formerly bostonturnprochallenge lol
Agree that Nygaard managing to get the team into the playoffs despite everything shouldn’t be discounted, and they looked surprisingly competitive in Game 1 before Peddy’s Achilles tear.
Maybe it’s just Taurasi + some pieces next year. But yeah, the roster planning understandably could all depend on Griner.
I do think even if the team keeps Diggins, they need to find a way to acquire a 1RP – though not as much as LA. Besides, someone’s gotta definitively kick Sam Thomas off this roster, right? 😓
Even w/o Griner, Phoenix is a desirable FA destination and they have a ton of cap space (880k for 8 players with SDS, 1.1 M w/o SDS) so they can get some players to come. They can probably put together a playoff team, but may not be a contender even with Griner.
To expect she’ll be back imo is a bit different than to just say she’ll be back. Besides, here is the one soundbite within that article:
"Sky's under contract for next year," [Mercury GM] Pitman said a day after the Mercury were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs by the Las Vegas Aces. "She's obviously not with us for personal reasons that I really can't talk about, but she is under contract, so, yes."
Color me unconvinced by the “Player X is under contract thus yes, they’ll be back” logical reasoning. That’s a soundbite where you’d like to see Pitman put out a little more emotion/glowing words to convince everyone she really will be back. My read is, her situation is as up in the air as anything else in this organization. I highly doubt that those trade rumors in the days leading up to the deadline came out of thin air.
Maybe behind the scenes the NBA is trying to get him to sell the team(Suns)? Can't imagine they'd relocate as Vegas and Seattle are nearly guaranteed as expansion teams. No reason to penalize the team(s). I mean, he just lost $10 million dollars.