How Leila Lacan Surprised Connecticut Sun General Manager Morgan Tuck

The Connecticut Sun drafted Leila Lacan in 2024, before Morgan Tuck even joined the franchise as a general manager.

Connecticut Sun guard Leila Lacan (47) drives the ball against Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) in the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Morgan Tuck’s first season as Connecticut Sun general manager was a rough one. But she inherited a building block in guard Leila Lacan.

Lacan was drafted in the No. 10 overall by the Sun in the 2024 WNBA draft. But, the native of France remained overseas to play professional and help the French national team in the Paris Olympics, where they won a silver medal when they fell to the United States in the gold medal game.

The 21-year-old guard was named All-WNBA rookie team by the Associated Press. That, in part, surprised Tuck as she assessed the season in exit interviews, according to CT Insider.

Morgan Tuck on Leila Lacan

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

“I think we all thought she was gonna be great, but I don't think we did this fast, this soon, and just, I think she changed our team when she came over,” Tuck said. “… I think just the way she plays, right, like she's so young, but she's a pro, and she's been a pro for a long time, and she plays with an intensity that a lot of players don't play with consistently on both sides.”

That was one advantage Lacan had over other rookies who were drafted this year, including teammate Saniya Rivers, who was selected in the first round out of NC State. Lacan was already a seasoned pro before she arrived in Uncasville.

When she was drafted, she had already played two years of pro basketball for Angers in the LFB, where she averaged 12.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in the 2023-24 season. After her run in the Olympics, she played for Basket Landes. She helped the team qualify for EuroLeague Women, where Landes won the championship and Lacan earned finals MVP honors. She also had plenty of international experience to draw from.

Lacan played in 25 games for the Sun, with 15 starts. She averaged 10.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Her 2.2 steals per game average was first among all rookies this season and second across the entire WNBA.

She had five or more steals in three games, tying Gabby Williams for the most of any WNBA player this year. She also had a career-high 14 assists on Aug. 17 against Indiana, the most assists for a rookie in a single game in franchise history. She followed that with back-to-back games in which she scored 22 points in each game.

She joined Nykesha Sales and teammate Saniya Rivers as the only three rookies in Sun history to finish their first season with at least 250 points, 90 assists and 55 steals.

Connecticut enters an offseason in which the team could be sold by the Mohegan Tribe, which has entertained four different offers for either minority or majority ownership of the team. Some of those offers would move the team from Connecticut. The franchise must also wait for a new collective bargaining agreement to be negotiated and ratified before it can begin working to build next team’s roster.  

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