2020 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2020 WNBA season will be the 23rd season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season will tip off on July 25, 2020, versus the Los Angeles Sparks.[1]

2020 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach	Sandy Brondello
Arena	Originally: Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance	0 per game
Results
Record	6–5 (.545)
Place	5th (Western)
← 2019 season 2021 season →

During the off-season, it was announced that Talking Stick Resort Arena would be undergoing renovations and the Mercury would be forced to play their home games at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the 2020 season.[2]

This WNBA season will feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[3] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[5][6]

Transactions

WNBA Draft

See also: 2020 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	10	Jocelyn Willoughby	United States	Virginia
2	18	Te'a Cooper	United States	Baylor
3	29	Stella Johnson	United States	Rider

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 11, 2020	Traded F DeWanna Bonner to Connecticut in exchange for the 7th and 10th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft in addition to a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft.[7]
February 12, 2020	Traded the 5th and 7th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft in addition to a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft to Dallas in exchange for Skylar Diggins-Smith.[8]
February 13, 2020	Re-signed C Brittney Griner[9]
	Signed G Bria Hartley[10]
February 19, 2020	Acquired F Jessica Breland and F Nia Coffey in exchange for G Briann January, the 17th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, and the team's second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[11]
February 24, 2020	Signed C Kia Vaughn[12]
April 17, 2020	Acquired G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from New York in exchange for the draft rights to G/F Jocelyn Willoughby.[13]
July 12, 2020	F Jessica Breland medically excused for 2020 season.[14]

Roster

Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 51 Breland, Jessica 6' 2" (1.88m) 166 lb (75kg) 02-23-1988 North Carolina 8 F 10 Coffey, Nia 6' 1" (1.85m) 182 lb (83kg) 06-11-1995 Northwestern 3 G 9 Cunningham, Sophie 6' 1" (1.85m) 170 lb (77kg) 08-16-1996 Missouri 1 G 4 Diggins-Smith, Skylar 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 08-16-1996 Notre Dame 6 C 42 Griner, Brittney 6' 9" (2.06m) 205 lb (93kg) 10-18-1990 Baylor 7 G 14 Hartley, Bria 5' 8" (1.73m) 148 lb (67kg) 09-30-1992 Connecticut 6 F 11 Smith, Alanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 180 lb (82kg) 09-10-1996 Stanford 1 G/F 3 Taurasi, Diana 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 06-11-1982 Connecticut 15 F 21 Turner, Brianna 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 07-05-1996 Notre Dame 1 C 1 Vaughn, Kia 6' 4" (1.93m) 205 lb (93kg) 01-24-1987 Rutgers 10 G 2 Walker-Kimbrough, Shatori 5' 9" (1.75m) 140 lb (64kg) 05-18-1995 Maryland 3	Head coach Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney) Assistant coaches Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Penny Taylor (Australia) Athletic trainer Hannah Breck (Boston University) Strength and conditioning coach Derrick Nillissen (Iowa Wesleyan) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
East ATL CHI CON IND NY WAS West DAL LV LA MIN PHO SEA

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log Total: 6–5
July Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 July 25 Los Angeles Sparks L 76–99 Taurasi (16) Griner (9) Diggins-Smith (6) IMG Academy 0 0–1 2 July 29 Indiana Fever L 100–106 Hartley (26) Tied (7) Tied (5) IMG Academy 0 0–2 3 July 31 Las Vegas Aces W 102–95 Tied (22) Turner (9) Taurasi (10) IMG Academy 0 1–2
August Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 August 2 New York Liberty W 96–67 Hartley (27) Turner (11) Taurasi (9) IMG Academy 0 2–2 5 August 4 Atlanta Dream W 81–74 Taurasi (20) Turner (7) Taurasi (6) IMG Academy 0 3–2 6 August 6 Chicago Sky W 96–86 Tied (22) Griner (8) Taurasi (6) IMG Academy 0 4–2 7 August 8 Seattle Storm L 68–74 Griner (20) Griner (8) Taurasi (5) IMG Academy 0 4–3 8 August 10 Dallas Wings W 91–79 Diggins-Smith (26) Griner (13) Diggins-Smith (7) IMG Academy 0 5–3 9 August 12 Chicago Sky L 71–89 Tied (15) Griner (6) Diggins-Smith (4) IMG Academy 0 5–4 10 August 14 Atlanta Dream W 96–80 Hartley (24) Griner (8) Hartley (5) IMG Academy 0 6–4 11 August 16 Dallas Wings L 89–95 Griner (29) Taurasi (9) Hartley (6) IMG Academy 0 6–5 12 August 19 Los Angeles Sparks IMG Academy 0 0–0 13 August 21 Minnesota Lynx IMG Academy 0 0–0 14 August 23 Washington Mystics IMG Academy 0 0–0 15 August 26 Connecticut Sun IMG Academy 0 0–0 16 August 28 Washington Mystics IMG Academy 0 0–0 17 August 30 Minnesota Lynx IMG Academy 0 0–0
September Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 18 September 1 Las Vegas Aces IMG Academy 0 0–0 19 September 3 Indiana Fever IMG Academy 0 0–0 20 September 5 New York Liberty IMG Academy 0 0–0 21 September 9 Connecticut Sun IMG Academy 0 0–0 22 September 11 Seattle Storm IMG Academy 0 0–0
2020 season schedule

Standings

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.
1	Seattle Storm	10	1	.909	–	4–0
2	Las Vegas Aces	8	2	.800	1.5	3–1
3	Los Angeles Sparks	7	3	.700	2.5	2–2
3	Minnesota Lynx	7	3	.700	2.5	0–3
5	Chicago Sky	7	4	.636	3	3–1
6	Phoenix Mercury	6	5	.545	4	2–3
7	Indiana Fever	4	6	.400	5.5	3–1
8	Connecticut Sun	4	7	.364	6	2–2
8	Dallas Wings	4	7	.364	6	1–3
10	Washington Mystics	3	7	.300	6.5	2–3
11	Atlanta Dream	2	9	.182	8	1–3
12	New York Liberty	1	9	.100	8.5	1–2

References

1. "2020 Phoenix Mercury Schedule". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
2. "Phoenix Mercury Change In Home Court For 2020 Season". All About Arizona News. July 25, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
3. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
4. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
5. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
6. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
7. "MERCURY ACQUIRES THREE FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS FROM CONNECTICUT". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
8. "Mercury Welcomes Skylar Diggins-Smith to The Valley". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
9. "Brittney Griner Will Continue to Call The Valley home". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
10. Metcalfe, Jeff (February 13, 2020). "Phoenix Mercury continue roster remake, signing guard Bria Hartley". USA Today. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
11. "Breland, Coffey acquired from Atlanta in exchange for Briann January". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
12. "Kia Vaughn Chooses Phoenix in Free Agency". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
13. Metcalfe, Jeff (April 17, 2020). "Phoenix Mercury trade WNBA first-round draft pick for veteran Walker-Kimbrough". USA Today. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
14. "MERCURY'S BRELAND MEDICALLY EXCUSED FROM 2020 SEASON". mercury.wnba.com. WNBA. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.

External links

• Official website