Elena Delle Donne could be on the move.

While the Washington Mystics extended a core qualifying offer to Delle Donne on Jan. 13, a number of teams have inquired about the availability of the guard, according to Khristina Williams. Among those teams are the Phoenix Mercury.

Any type of deal would have to be completed via a sign-and-trade, and according to Williams, the Mystics are seeking draft pick compensation for the star.

Currently, the Mercury hold the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, as well as the No. 13 pick and the No. 25 pick.

Delle Donne is one of the top free agents this offseason and has played for the Mystics since 2017. In that time, she won a WNBA championship with the team, but appeared in just 53 total games of her contract due to injuries.

Under the core tag, Delle Donne cannot talk to teams unless given the okay by the Mystics. A trade by the team would have to happen with her agreement.

The Indiana Fever hold the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft for the second consecutive year after again winning the draft lottery.

Following the Fever in the 2024 draft will be the Los Angeles Sparks (No. 2), Phoenix Mercury (No. 3) and Seattle Storm (No. 4).

No. 1 overall picks have a prolific history in the WNBA. Those players have won 38 championships, 13 MVPs and 124 All-Star selections, according to ESPN.

The Fever were represented at the draft lottery by 2023 top pick and WNBA rookie of the year Aliyah Boston. If Iowa star Caitlin Clark decides to go pro after her senior season, she and Boston on the same team could prove deadly for the rest of the league. 

“I think it’s just going to be another talented player that we can use to help build us to back to the franchise that the Fever was at, so I’m super excited for the upcoming draft,” Boston said to ESPN on the broadcast. 

Like many other players for the draft, Clark has some NCAA eligibility remaining, which could shake up draft predictions. Players have until March to declare for the draft — unless their team is in the NCAA tournament after the deadline, in which case players have until 48 hours after their final game to declare.

The draft is scheduled for April 15, 2024, and Just Women’s Sports has made early predictions for the lottery picks.

The WNBA draft lottery is on Sunday, with four teams in the running for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft.

Among those teams are the Phoenix Mercury, who finished last in the league in the regular season. It was a tumultuous season, with the team firing head coach Vanessa Nygaard midway through after losing 10 of 12 games to start the season. The team’s playoff streak of 10 consecutive postseason appearances also came to an end.

The Mercury battled a number of injuries. All-Star Brittney Griner missed several games on mental health leave stemming from her 10-month detainment in Russia last year. Meanwhile, veteran guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who had a career-best season in 2022-23, has been out on maternity leave and will not return to the team.

Griner intends to stay in Phoenix, calling it “home” in September. Diana Taurasi, meanwhile, signed a contract extension with the team earlier this year. The team also recently hired Nate Tibbetts as its next head coach, with Kristi Toliver joining the team as associate head coach.

All signs point to the team improving on last year, although Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham would like one last piece of the puzzle to help propel the team past its low points: the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Iowa star Caitlin Clark is the consensus pick in mock drafts to go in that first spot.

“We deserve it,” she told AZ Sports. “We have been on the struggle bus the past couple years and it has been awful. … But we have a new GM, a new head coach and, of course, the new ownership with Mat Ishiba, and there have been changes made over here. So we are feeling good. … Whatever good luck or vibes you have, please send them our way because we would love to get Caitlin Clark on this train.”

The Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm are the remaining teams in the lottery, with Indiana holding the best odds at 44.2 percent. Phoenix has the second-best odds (27.6 percent) in the draft lottery.

Kristi Toliver is joining the WNBA coaching ranks for the 2024 season as associate head coach for the Phoenix Mercury.

A two-time WNBA champion and three-time All-Star, Toliver played for the Washington Mystics in the 2023 but tore her ACL in September. She has not formally announced her retirement, though her move to the Mercury bench would seem to signal a career transition.

Toliver, 36, brings ample WNBA experience to her new role as an assistant to Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts, who came to the team with no women’s basketball experience. Tibbetts was hired in October to succeed interim head coach Nikki Blue, who took the helm after Phoenix fired head coach Vanessa Nygaard in June.

In Toliver’s 14 seasons in the WNBA, she played for the Mystics, the Los Angeles Sparks and the Chicago Sky. She won titles with the Mystics in 2019 and with the Sparks in 2016, and she was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player in 2012.

Toliver also brings coaching experience, as she spent four seasons as an NBA assistant coach. She became the first active WNBA player to do so in 2018, when she joined Scott Brooks’ staff with the Washington Wizards. And then she spent two seasons on Jason Kidd’s staff with the Dallas Mavericks.

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Kristi Toliver spent two years as an assistant coach for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. (David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

One of the best players in the WNBA has high praise for New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu.

Phoenix Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi, called Ionescu “the ultimate competitor” while speaking with reporters at USA Basketball’s fall training camp. Both Taurasi, 41, and Ionescu, 25, are participating in the camp and exhibition games this month as the team prepares for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“There’s not many players that I love to watch. Sabrina is one of them,” Taurasi said. “I just love her competitiveness. I love her dedication. I love the way she takes the game serious on and of the court.”

Ionescu keeps “the main thing, the main thing” — as in, basketball is front and center, Taurasi said. While Ionescu’s high profile — from her signature shoe to other big sponsorship deals — could be distracting, the New York Liberty guard doesn’t allow that to derail her.

“It’s one thing that I really appreciate about her,” Taurasi said of Ionescu, who helped lead the Liberty to the WNBA Finals in 2023.

Taurasi also recounted a story from 2019, when Team USA “got lit up” by Oregon in an exhibition game back when Ionescu still played for the Ducks.

“How she played against Tennessee is why she’s gonna be on this team for a long, long time,” she said. “She’s the ultimate competitor and the ultimate teammate, always looking to distribute, always looking to make the next connection.

“And I think that’s the beauty of her game and any day she can give you 30, but the way she sees the game and how quickly she makes decisions, it’s second to none.”

Ionescu responded to Taurasi’s comments. “My idol,” she wrote in reference to Taurasi.

The WNBA draft lottery will be held at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 10, the league announced Tuesday.

The lottery, which will air on ESPN, will decide the top four picks for the 2024 WNBA draft. The 2024 draft class should be laden with talent, including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers. But all three of those players hold at least one more year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which could complicate the picture.

Teams’ lottery odds are determined via their combined records from the 2022 and 2023 WNBA seasons. The Indiana Fever, Phoenix Mercury, Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm are in the running for the No. 1 overall pick.

The Fever, who won the lottery for the first time in franchise history in 2023, have the best shot at the No. 1 pick again in 2024. With this year’s top pick, Indiana selected South Carolina star Aliyah Boston, who became the unanimous pick for WNBA Rookie of the Year.

2024 WNBA draft lottery: Team odds

  • Indiana Fever — 18-58 record — 44.2% chance at No. 1 pick
  • Phoenix Mercury — 24-52 — 27.6%
  • Los Angeles Sparks — 30-46 — 17.8%
  • Seattle Storm — 33-43 — 10.4%

Skylar Diggins-Smith is teasing her WNBA free agency on social media.

Over the weekend, the 33-year-old guard addressed fans’ ideas of where she should go. It started when one fan suggested that Diggins-Smith should do a “Final 5” graphic for free agency in the vein of recruits announcing their college decisions.

“5 teams is a lot!” Diggins-Smith wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “You think it’s 5 teams I fit on?”

The six-time WNBA All-Star is set to be a free agent. And while Diggins-Smith sat out the 2023 season after giving birth to her second child, her time with the Phoenix Mercury came to a contentious end.

While neither side has completely opened up about the frayed relationship, Diggins-Smith has been vocal about her desire to move on. Back in September, she told Edition that she hopes to be “supported” by her next team.

“I’ve definitely been working towards trying to have one of my most productive years next year, because I think a lot of times—especially in sports—you’re not encouraged to have kids. And the teams that I played for in the past when I got pregnant didn’t like that,” she said. “And so I’m looking forward to being somewhere where my family and I are supported and welcomed.”

Some pointed out the Connecticut Sun as a possible landing spot, while others said she should join an already stacked New York Liberty squad that recently made the WNBA Finals. That got Diggins-Smith’s attention, with her posing the question: “Would I come off the bench?”

But she also made a promise that she wouldn’t do free agency emojis, a la star 2022 free agent Breanna Stewart, who teased her free agency decision with emojis for weeks in the lead up to her signing with New York.

New Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts is “sensitive” to questions of gender bias prompted by his hiring. But after speaking with Mercury players, he isn’t concerned, he said at his introductory press conference Friday.

The Mercury’s decision to hire Tibbetts, 46, who comes to the WNBA with no head coaching experience and no women’s basketball experience, and to make him the highest-paid head coach in the league, led to heated discourse.

In particular, former Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw took to social media following the news to call out the inequities baked into the coaching pipeline, saying: “Gender bias is real.”

“I don’t really live online,” Tibbetts said when asked about the criticism over his hiring. “Me speaking to the players, and them welcoming the way that they have, that’s just made me not worried about things that they’re not worried about, to be completely honest.

“I’m sensitive to the situation. I know I’m one of only three male head coaches in the WNBA. And so I take responsibility for that. I know that people are questioning it, and agree or disagree, I’m going to do the best job that I can and do the best for our players and try to put them in positions to get better and be successful. But that’s my main focus.”

Mercury general manager Nick U’Ren also addressed the criticism at Friday’s press conference.

“We know, as we run a WNBA organization, that diversity and opportunity are critical,” U’Ren said. “I would say our process, our candidate pool and our finalist pool all reflected that.”

Tibbetts takes the reins from interim head coach Nikki Blue. Blue took the helm after Phoenix fired head coach Vanessa Nygaard in June. For U’Ren, the decision not to stick with Blue as the permanent head coach came down to what Tibbetts could bring to the table.

“You could ask me 100 questions about Nikki, and 100 times, I’m not going to tell you negative,” he said. “This ultimately was about Nate brought, not what Nikki or any other candidate didn’t have.”

While this will be Tibbetts’ first time coaching in the WNBA, he has held multiple NBA assistant coaching roles. He joined the Orlando Magic in 2021, and previously worked with the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nate Tibbetts is the new head coach for the Phoenix Mercury. But his hiring has been greeted with heated discourse over gender bias.

Despite coming to the WNBA with no head coaching experience and no women’s basketball experience, Tibbetts, 46, is set to become the highest-paid coach in the league, ESPN reported. He succeeds interim head coach Nikki Blue, who took the helm after Phoenix fired head coach Vanessa Nygaard in June.

Former Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw took to social media following the news to call out the inequities baked into the coaching pipeline.

“Breaking news: white man hires white man to coach WNBA team AND makes him the highest paid coach in the league. Gender bias is real,” she wrote. “95% of men’s sport coaches r male and 60% of women’s sport coaches r male- title IX is 50 yet we don’t have equal oppty, equal pay or equal rights.”

This isn’t the first time McGraw has called out this issue. Back in 2020, she spoke with The Athletic about the “coaching crisis” in women’s basketball, pointing out the shift in the head coaching ranks from women to men.

In 2020, just four of the 12 head coaches in the WNBA were women. And there was just one Black female coach in the league. The league has shifted since then; at the end of the 2023 season, nine of the 12 coaches in the league were women, and three of them were Black.

Up until Tibbetts’ hiring, Becky Hammon was the highest-paid head coach in the league – and with the Aces winning back-to-back titles in her first two seasons, a pay raise may be in her future.

For now, though, Hammon will be dethroned as the highest-paid coach by Tibbetts. And while he could turn out to be exactly what Phoenix needs, his hiring by new Mercury owner Mat Ishbia — and his new general manager Nick U’Ren — has raised eyebrows.

“I really believe that people hire people who look like them,” McGraw told The Athletic in 2020.

To add to the furor, the Mercury used the moniker “girl dad” to describe Tibbetts in their social media announcement of his hire, as if that is a relevant qualification for a head coach of a professional basketball league.

“Imagine if Boy Mom was a qualification for coaching in the WNBA,” wrote one social media user.

“You’re touting being a ‘Girl Dad’ as a qualification? You’re hiring someone with zero experience in the women’s game? AND you’re announcing it the night of Game 4?” wrote USA Today Sports columnist Nancy Armour. “Tell me you don’t care about women’s sports without telling me you don’t care about women’s sports.”

Orlando Magic assistant coach Nate Tibbetts is the new head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, the team announced Wednesday.

The Mercury are making Tibbetts, who has no women’s basketball experience, the highest-paid WNBA head coach, passing the Las Vegas Aces’ Becky Hammon, ESPN reported Monday. The terms of Tibbetts’ deal have not been reported, but Hammon reportedly earns $1 million per season.

Hammon signed with the Aces on a record-setting deal ahead of the 2022 offseason. Before that, she spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Teresa Weatherspoon, who was hired last week as the head coach of the Chicago Sky, also brought NBA experience. Both Hammon and Weatherspoon also have WNBA playing experience.

While this will be Tibbetts’ first time coaching in the WNBA, he has held multiple NBA assistant coaching roles. He joined the Magic in 2021, and previously worked with the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Nate is an excellent basketball coach and an even better person,” Mercury general manager Nick U’Ren said in a news release. “I am excited to work with him as we build an organization that our players, fans and community will be proud of. His knowledge of the game, and commitment to creating a winning culture on and off the floor will be invaluable as we lead the Mercury into our next championship era.”

Tibbetts takes over a Mercury team that has struggled in recent seasons. In 2023, the team finished last in the league with a 9-31 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Phoenix parted ways with head coach Vanessa Nygaard in late June, and then after the season elected not to elevate interim head coach Nikki Blue to the permanent role.

“From bringing the WNBA All-Star game to Phoenix, building a dedicated practice facility for the Mercury, and now to bringing on Nate as our head coach, everything we do, on and off the floor, centers around our fans, elevating Phoenix as the epicenter of basketball, and setting a new standard for investment in women’s sports,” Mercury owner Mat Ishbia said in a news release.