Former Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud broke her silence on the trade that brought her to the Connecticut Sun and revealed the story of how she left the team disgruntled and with ill feelings toward the Mercury general manager Nick U’Ren.
In her recent guest on the podcast “The OGs,” hosted by NBA stars and former champions Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, Natasha Cloud opened up about the backstory of her trade out of the Phoenix Mercury. As it turned out, she was not informed of the trade deal and only heard about it from an assistant coach.
“If you’re gonna trade me, just communicate with me,” Cloud said. “Don’t just send me anywhere like, allow me to route myself where I want to.”
When asked about it, Cloud said that Mercury GM Nick U’Ren justified it with an explanation, which she made clear she did not buy.
“He going to say, ‘we gotta trade talent to get talent.” I said, ‘f**k you,'” she added. “I said, ‘your karma going to come back in every which way.'”
Cloud also talked about how she was doing marketing content for the team on social media, not knowing that she was already traded to the Sun.
Natasha Cloud was traded to the Connecticut Sun as part of a four-team deal involving the Phoenix Mercury, Dallas Wings, and Indiana Fever. The trade saw Cloud, along with Rebecca Allen, Jacy Sheldon, and the No. 8 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, land in Connecticut.
In exchange, the Phoenix Mercury received Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, Kalani Brown, and Sevgi Uzun. The Dallas Wings acquired DiJonai Carrington, Ty Harris, NaLyssa Smith, and several draft picks, while the Indiana Fever received Sophie Cunningham, Jaelyn Brown, and the No. 19 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Natasha Cloud Expresses Disappointment Over Sudden Trade
In a previous interview, Natasha Cloud opened up to the press about her disappointment over getting traded to the Connecticut Sun, after getting “promised to retire in Phoenix.”
Natasha Cloud said she was promised that she could retire as a member of the Mercury before being traded to the Sun.
She added that she found out about the trade on social media.
🎥 @DesertWaveCopic.twitter.com/nk8f1OKNvb
— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) February 8, 2025
“That was really hard for me, uprooting my family to the West Coast, being told I was going to retire as a Phoenix Mercury, and to then be shipped out and find out with you guys on social media, that was really fun for me,” Cloud told reporters in an Unrivaled press conference.
“I just want the best situation for myself and my family moving forward,” she said. “And I just want to be in an organization that truly invests from top to bottom, facilities, team, location, all of that. I want to compete for championships.”
Natasha Cloud recently played in Unrivaled for Phantom BC.
For more sports content:
Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for your NBA and college basketball reading fix. You can reach out to Dan Agulto through email at papadanph@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
