The Connecticut Sun don't plan on trading guard Marina Mabrey after she asked to be dealt earlier this month.
Team president Jennifer Rizzotti told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday night that it wasn't in the franchise's best interest to move Mabrey, whom she expects to be a big part of the team's present and future.
“Marina is someone we want on our roster,” Rizzotti said. “The decision not to trade her is we want her to play for us. She’s a competitor and we like her as a person. We want to keep her around. She’s an easy piece to build around.”
Mabrey came to Connecticut last summer after asking for a trade from the Chicago Sky just before the All-Star break. She averaged 14.9 points and 3.4 assists in 16 games for the Sun, mostly as a reserve. Connecticut sent Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson to Chicago along with their first-round pick this season and a pick swap next year.
“We wanted her for longer than a half-year, that was a priority for us,” Rizzotti said. “She was trying to fit in an already established roster last year.”
Mabrey's agent, Marcus Crenshaw, said in a statement to ESPN that he was shocked the team wouldn't trade his client.
“In this current age of women’s empowerment and support of the players, the CT Sun threatening to force Marina Mabrey to play for them after her trade request is mind-boggling,” he said. “Why would anyone try to force someone to play on their team when they don’t want to be there? It’s counterproductive in a ton of ways and everyone we have spoken to is perplexed about how they are handling Marina, after trading away Hall of Fame-caliber players.
“The coach parted ways. No free agents returned and they are doing all they can to try and force Marina to stay when she clearly doesn’t want to be there. It’s interesting.”
The Sun lost all five starters from last season's run to the league semifinals. Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington and Ty Harris were traded while DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones left as free agents.
The Sun added Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud, Diamond DeShields, Jacy Sheldon and Lindsay Allen to their roster. Connecticut also hired former Belgian national team coach Rashid Meziane to replace Stephanie White, who left for Indiana.
“We’ll look very different. We added a couple of veteran pieces to her,” Rizzotti said. “We've been strategic about a lot and that strategy isn't just for 2025."
