INDIANAPOLIS — Sophie Cunningham was sitting poolside, something she frequents in Phoenix’s hot weather, when she got the news.
As part of the largest trade in WNBA history, she was headed from the Mercury to the Indiana Fever — possibly the hottest team in the league right now.
“You guys will learn that if I’m not in the gym, I’m normally by the pool,” Cunningham told reporters at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday morning. “I was actually poolside when I found out, and there’s a lot of emotions just because I have been out there so long, but to be honest, my original thought was ‘heck yeah, we’re about to go win a championship.”
The trade became official on Feb. 2. The Fever also received Jaelyn Brown, who is on a training camp contract, from the Dallas Wings, while sending NaLyssa Smith to Dallas and the No. 8 pick in the 2025 draft to Connecticut.
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Cunningham, 28, is heading into her seventh year in the WNBA. She was drafted to the Mercury with the No. 13 pick in the 2019 draft and had been in Phoenix her entire career so far. As a part-time starter, she has averaged 7.7 points and 2.7 rebounds over the course of her career.
She originally signed a one-year extension with the Mercury for 2025 with a $100,000 salary, but with a lot of roster turnover both in Phoenix and Indiana, she’ll get a fresh start closer to her family and alma mater in Missouri.
“I’m stoked, I’m so, so excited,” Cunningham said. “I think it’s refreshing. I’ve been in Phoenix for the past six years, was drafted out there, I’ve had a really great time, been really blessed … the offense is more my style (here), but I’m also surrounded by a great culture and great people, and that’s what I’m really excited about here in Indiana.”
The Fever’s trade for Cunningham was just another aspect of the roster overhaul ahead of the 2025 season. Only five players — Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull and Damiris Dantas — will return from the 2024 squad that went 20-20 and put the Fever in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Instead, the Fever front office stacked the roster with championship experience. Cunningham played in the 2021 WNBA Finals, Natasha Howard is a three-time WNBA champion and DeWanna Bonner is the most-experienced playoff player in league history. Indiana even got championship experience coming off the bench with Syd Colson, who won two championships with the Las Vegas Aces.
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“(It was) intentional,” Fever president Kelly Krauskopf said Tuesday. “I think having that highest-level playoff experience is really important, because, you know, first round, you haven’t done anything. Second round, you’re almost there. Finals, you’re there. Knowing how hard it is to do that I think is really important, and having that in your locker room is important.”
Cunningham, too, brings the Fever versatility as a sharpshooter that averaged 37.8% from 3-point range and 42% from the field last season. The 6-foot guard is a 3-and-D player who loves the fast-paced tempo the Fever like to play, and she can back up the 2, 3, or 4, allowing the Fever multiple lineup combinations as the season goes on.
“This is just a style that I thrive in, when you have people who can shoot the ball, move the ball, who are run-and-gunners, and share the ball,” Cunningham said. “This is a type of offense that I want to be in, so I’m just stoked.”
That offense, of course, is run by Clark, who was the assists leader as a rookie last season and finished fourth in MVP voting.
Cunningham and Clark met at the WNBA All-Star game in Phoenix last year —Cunningham was sitting courtside and talking to Clark during game breaks, making an offer that ultimately went the other way.
“We were just having fun,” Cunningham said of that moment with a laugh. “She was playing, I was having fun on the sideline, and I kind of just went, ‘Hey, if you ever want to come to Phoenix, let me know.’ That one kind of backfired on me — now I’m here, which is great.”
Cunningham has experience playing with high-profile players, too. She played alongside WNBA legend and all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi, as well as Brittney Griner, in Phoenix. Taurasi took Cunningham under her wing in those six years before she retired. Now, on the same team as the league’s next big star, Cunningham hopes she can do the same thing for Clark.
“(Clark) has changed our game in the best possible way in every way,” Cunningham said. “Just to be alongside of her and relieve some pressure being able to shoot and spread the court for her to do her thing. She’s still young. Diana took me under her wing and I’ve learned a lot from her, and now I hope to do the same for Caitlin if she wants it. I just think that relationship piece is huge. When you’re trying to do something great, it takes everybody.”
Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sophie Cunningham wants WNBA title with Fever, to help Caitlin Clark
