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The Connecticut Sun are in full-on rebuilding mode, and veteran Marina Mabrey doesn’t want to be a part of it.
But the team isn’t granting her wish.
ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reported on the situation Tuesday and noted the Sun denied Mabrey’s trade request in a move that angered the guard’s agent, Marcus Crenshaw.
“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.Â
“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.”
While the Sun reached the WNBA semifinals in each of the last two seasons after playing in the 2022 WNBA Finals, they are going to look much different in 2025. Head coach Stephanie White left for the Indiana Fever, and many of the recognizable names from last year’s roster are no longer on the team.
DeWanna Bonner (Fever) and Brionna Jones (Atlanta Dream) left in free agency, while Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix Mercury), DiJonai Carrington (Dallas wings) and Ty Harris (Dallas Wings) were traded.
“The coach parted ways,” Crenshaw said. “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 also doesn’t have a long history with the Sun seeing how she arrived last season after the Chicago Sky granted her trade request by moving her to Connecticut in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 pick swap, and guards Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson.
Connecticut team president Jennifer Rizzotti highlighted how much the team gave up to acquire Mabrey as one reason it doesn’t want to trade her ahead of the 2025 campaign.
“The reasons that we have for not trading Marina are rooted in positivity,” Rizzotti said. “It’s rooted in a desire to build around her, have her here, have her be the catalyst for what we want to do offensively, taking advantage of her versatility, knowing that the style that [coach] Rashid [Meziane] plays with will suit her game, and knowing that we can put her in an individual situation to be really successful as this current CBA closes and a new one opens.”
Mabrey has one more season remaining on her contract, which is notable because a new collective bargaining agreement will be in effect in 2026.
There is a world where Mabrey could be a veteran leader for a team looking to surprise in 2025 after also adding Tina Charles, Diamond DeShields, Natasha Cloud, Jacy Sheldon and Lindsay Allen this offseason.
That could also put her in position to sign a more lucrative contract next offseason with the new CBA in place.
Her ability to shoot from the outside stands out, and she played well for the Sun last season while averaging 14.9 points per game and connecting on 42.4 percent of her triples in 16 contests.
But that skill set would also be enticing to other teams if the Sun do eventually grant her trade request and look to move her. If nothing else, they could surely get plenty back in return as they look to continue reshaping their roster.
