Sun Make Trade in Pursuit of Liberty

Chasing the New York Liberty on the WNBA leaderboard, the Connecticut Sun tipped off the All-Star/Olympic break with one last groundbreaking activity.

While most of the WNBA’s wheeling and dealing has been confined to the offseason, Connecticut made one of the most noticeable in-season moves in recent memory by trading for Chicago Sky sharpshooter Marina Mabrey on Wednesday. The Sun sent over a sizable package featuring Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, their 2025 first-round pick, and the option to swap firsts in 2026.

The trade for Mabrey was announced less than 24 hours after the Liberty partly closed out the WNBA’s first half with an 82-74 win over the Sun, one that created a 2.5-game lead in the race for the top seed in the upcoming playoffs. New York (21-4) earned the win despite missing both Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (knee) and Breanna Stewart (rest).

The W is taking about a month off for its All-Star festivities this weekend before a good number of its players (including New Yorkers Stewart, Leonie Fiebich, Sabrina Ionescu, and Nyara Sabally) compete in the Paris Olympics. One more meeting between the Liberty and Sun is scheduled for Aug. 24 at Barclays Center.

From a metropolitan perspective, it’s hard not to view Connecticut’s gambit as one of responding to the Liberty’s work: Connecticut fell to 0-3 against New York this season after Tuesday’s loss, effectively giving the Liberty an extra half-game in the chase for first place. The Liberty also defeated Connecticut in the WNBA semifinals last year to clinch their first WNBA Finals bid since 2002.

Mabrey, 27, has also been a thorn in the Liberty’s side all season: in four appearances with the Sky, Mabrey averaged 18 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 6.3 assists against New York, including a 21-point, 12-rebound showing on Saturday at Wintrust Arena.

The Belmar, New Jersey native also scored 21 points in the Sky’s 90-81 victory over New York on May 23, which serves as the only defeat the Liberty has endured at Barclays Center this season. Head coach Sandy Brondello referred to Mabrey as an “exceptional shooter” in the aftermath.

Mabrey’s defensive rating of 104 is also the best since her rookie year in 2019, when she was coming off the Los Angeles Sparks’ bench.

What made the addition of Mabrey particularly interesting was its timing after the Liberty’s sterling defense of the perimeter: Connecticut, which rested MVP candidate and Olympic-bound Alyssa Thomas during the fourth quarter on Wednesday shot 2-of-18 from three-point range and now adds Mabrey, who has 52 percent of her three-point tries against the Liberty this year. Mabrey will face New Yorker Jonquel Jones in the WNBA’s 3-Point Contest on Friday night at Footprint Center (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) en route to Saturday’s All-Star Game.

Despite their success against the Sun, the Liberty were well-aware of the danger they presented, as acknowledged by Ionescu in the aftermath of Tuesday’s win. It took a night of milestone from Ionescu to fully stave off the Sun, who tied Wednesday’s game on several occasions before a fourth quarter shutdown (which featured a 19-11 New York advantage) moved the game in the hosts’ favor.

“We understand how great this team is. We can’t come out and take it easy on them,” Ionescu, she of 30 points, said. “They hold us to a really high standard. We understand every single time we play them what we’re going to expect. They’re well coached, they’re tough, they’re gritty, they’re a veteran team. They know how to play basketball and they do really well on all positions.”

“That holds us accountable in terms, of every single time we play them, we have to play our best basketball to win or try to play our best basketball to win. We can’t take any possessions off or they’re going to capitalize in turn.”

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