Midseason Check-In: Mercury Far Better Than Last Year

At the midseason of the WNBA, it is clear that the Phoenix Mercury are already far better than they were last year.

Phoenix Mercury forwards Satou Sabally (0) and Alyssa Thomas (25) and guard Lexi Held (1) celebrate after forcing a Seattle Storm timeout during the Mercury home opener in the PHX Arena in Phoenix on May 17, 2025. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The WNBA season has only just passed the All-Star break and the Phoenix Mercury still have half of the 44-game regular season remaining, but they're already within four wins of last season's win total and have already equaled the 2022 Mercury's win total. Both the 2024 and 2022 teams made the playoffs.

Phoenix's current win percentage is 68.2%, behind only the dominant 2014 championship team, which had 29 wins in a 34-game season, and ahead of both the 2007 and 2009 title-winning teams. All this comes despite unprecedented roster turnover — only Kahleah Copper and Natasha Mack return from last year's squad — and a situation that has resulted in the team's Big 3 (Copper, Alyssa Thomas, and Satou Sabally) only playing together for six games.

The team is still developing and there are times where miscommunications can result in turnovers on offense, but the roster has fit together remarkably well, far better than most expected going into the season. ESPN, for example, had the Mercury as just its eight-best team heading into the season, and predicted that they would miss the playoffs, which is nearly impossible at this point. Their projected win total was just under 20, a mark the Mercury should easily surpass. Currently, the Mercury are owners of the third-best record in the W, a game and a half ahead of the fourth-place Seattle Storm. In eight place are the Las Vegas Aces, four games behind the Mercury, at 11-11.

The Mercury may not have had all three stars available for long this season, but they've proven that they have the depth to win without them all available -- they're 4-2 when they all play together, and 11-5 with at least one missing. The two stars who have played together the most, Thomas and Sabally, have complementary skill sets on defense, where they both have the size and quickness to defend across the frontcourt, and on offense, where Sabally's shooting is a enhances Thomas's interior scoring.

The rest of the supporting cast feels tailor-made to orbit around Thomas's unique abilities as a driver and playmaker. Every other Mercury guard and wing in the rotation, whether that's Monique Akoa-Makani, Kitija Laksa, Sami Whitcomb, the injured Lexi Held, or Kiana Williams, can knock down threes off the catch (as can starting big Kathryn Westbeld) or put the ball on the floor for a midrange pull-up, which fits right into how head coach Nate Tibbetts wants the team to play. It can be a nightmare for opposing defenses, who can't help on Thomas's drives without risking giving up yet another three.

If the Mercury get healthy again soon and they continue developing their chemistry, this team, which has wins over Seattle, New York, and Minnesota this season, could very well compete for their first title since 2014.

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