The Connecticut Sun acquire veteran guard Marina Mabrey from the Chicago Sky Wednesday in a trade that includes two players and Connecticut’s 2025 first-round pick headed to Chicago.
The Sky also received guards Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson from the Sun and the right to swap first-round picks in 2026. Connecticut also acquired Chicago’s 2025 second-round pick in the trade.
Sun General manager Darius Taylor said in a statement “We are extremely excited to welcome Marina Mabrey to the Connecticut Sun. She is a player that we feel will give us the extra edge to compete for a championship this year.”
WNBA Connecticut Sun Acquire Veteran Guard Marina Mabrey
The Sun are 18-6 and in 2nd place in the WNBA standings and are 2.5 games back of the New York Liberty heading into the Olympic Break. The Chicago Sky are currently in 8th place at 10-14.
Mabrey is averaging 14 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 23 games this season and is shooting 34.4% from 3-point range. She was originally drafted 19th overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2019. This was her second season with the Sky.
WNBA Chicago Sky veteran Guards Banham and Jefferson
For the new Sky players, Banham is averaging 4.9 points in 20 games this season, while Jefferson is averaging 2.1 points in nine games.
Banham has played nine seasons in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota after being drafted in 2016 at the 4th overall pick.
Jefferson, was the 2nd pick in the WNBA draft in 2016 right before Banham was picked. Jefferson has played for Las Vegas, Minnesota, Dallas and Phoenix. Last season with the Mercury Jefferson averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 assists. She’s has been plagued by knee injuries over her course of her career. She has only played nine games this season.
As for Chicago Sky’s general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in a statement. “We are very excited to welcome Rachel and Moriah to the Sky and we know that both will bring a ton of value to this roster this season also “Adding another essential first round draft pick in 2025 will strengthen our draft capital next year.”
For the WNBA, this is a rare in-season trade that has happened amongst teams because of the limited roster movement in the offseason. It is often difficult to incorporate new players onto a team due to short schedule and not a lot of team chemistry with the new team.
This trade can hopefully in turn help the Sun make that push ahead of the New York Liberty after the Olympic break and be the number one seed for the playoffs.
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