The Connecticut Sun have declined to trade Marina Mabrey. Her agent isn’t happy.
Marcus Crenshaw of The FAM agency took a rather big swing in a statement to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou as the outlet reported the Sun’s decision, outright stating his client doesn’t want to stay with the team:
“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,” Crenshaw 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.”
Mabrey was reported to have demanded a trade earlier this month, in the wake of a series of move that left the team in a clear transitionary period.
Alyssa Thomas, an all-WNBA first-teamer, was traded to the Phoenix Mercury. DeWanna Bonner, the team’s leading scorer, signed with the Indiana Fever. DiJonai Carrington, the 2024 WNBA Most Improved Player, was traded to the Dallas Wings. Brionna Jones, a former WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, signed with the Atlanta Dream. Head coach Stephanie White left to join the Indiana Fever.
That quartet of players, along with Jonquel Jones, was the core of the Sun’s run to the WNBA Finals in 2022. With Ty Harris also headed to Dallas, every player who logged more than 500 minutes with the Sun last year is now gone. The team’s main acquisition during the offseason have been Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud and Diamond DeShields.
With all of that upheaval, Mabrey requested a trade after joining the Sun last year in a rare midseason trade. Her 3-point shooting would make her a significant asset on most teams, but Connecticut apparently wants to keep her as it builds around its new group.
The Sun told ESPN they didn’t want to let Mabrey go given what they gave up for her last year:
Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti told ESPN the organization decided it “wasn’t in our best interest to move her because of the value that we gave up to get her, but also that we place on her.”
The Sun traded their 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 pick swap, and guards Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Mabrey.
