PHOENIX \u2013 Speculation about DeWanna Bonner\u2019s interest in returning to the Mercury did not seem to concern at least one Phoenix player who is confident in the team\u2019s makeup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaching staff has made the effort every day to strengthen the team chemistry,\u201d rookie Akoa Makani said. \u201cWhoever has to come in is going to fit anyway, so I\u2019m not scared about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Phoenix Suns were active in the NBA trade market, the Mercury found themselves at the center of the rumor mill. After a surprise break-up with the Indiana Fever, reports circulated that former Mercury forward and two-time WNBA champion Bonner would like to return to Phoenix this season.<\/p>\n
The Mercury drafted Bonner with the fifth pick in the 2009 WNBA draft. She spent her first 10 seasons in the league with Phoenix, winning two WNBA championships and three Sixth Person of the Year awards. <\/p>\n
She departed from the Mercury in 2020 via a sign and trade, spending her next five seasons with the Connecticut Sun before signing with the Fever this past offseason. However, after just nine games with the Fever, Bonner is now an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite our shared goals and excitement heading into the season, I felt the fit did not work out and I appreciate the organization\u2019s willingness to grant my request to move on, particularly at this point in my career,\u201d Bonner said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Phoenix would be an inviting destination for Bonner. The Mercury boast the second-best record after splitting two games at home this weekend.<\/p>\n
Bonner may want to return to Phoenix, but is the feeling mutual across the Mercury\u2019s fanbase, the X-Factor? <\/p>\n
\u201cI love DeWanna, she\u2019s a great player. But, I think at this point we\u2019ve got a good young squad,\u201d Mercury fan Caleb Jones said. \u201cI think her best spot might actually be going to Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fan Anthony Tilelli shared a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think she should return because they got a great rotation,\u201d he said. \u201cThey got one of the best benches in the league. Why would you mess everything up for one person to come in? She\u2019s also 37 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
While others question a return, another member of the X-Factor, Michelle Wolfe, was ready to welcome Bonner back with open arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be happy to welcome her back,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cI feel like our team is working really well this year, so it doesn\u2019t need any changes, but she would be a backup that we could use.\u201d<\/p>\n
Journalist Jeff Metcalfe, who has covered the Mercury since the WNBA\u2019s inaugural season, believes it could work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see anything wrong with bringing Bonner in,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cInitially, I thought, \u2018OK, is there going to be any disruption to the chemistry?\u2019 But I think because (Alyssa) Thomas is here and they\u2019ve obviously got a personal relationship and a basketball relationship. I think they would pick that right back up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonner started slow this season, averaging 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game on 34% shooting from the field. However, this may be an indicator of a bad fit in Indiana rather than regression from Bonner.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s still a fantastic shooter and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve seen with these complementary players around Thomas, Satou (Sabally) and (Kahleah) Copper,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cBonner would be another great shooter around them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is Bonner the best option for the Mercury at the moment? Free agent Emma Meesseman is currently wrapping up her obligations overseas and may be looking to sign with another WNBA team.<\/p>\n
Meesseman was the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP with the Washington Mystics. She recently put up 30 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in the EuroBasket women\u2019s quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, Meesseman is the better player right now,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cI think if she were to come, she could complement what the Mercury have right now and fill in some holes they have in the post. I\u2019ve seen Bonner play the four, I\u2019ve even seen Bonner play some five. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s what she likes to do best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever direction the Mercury decides to go, the team has delivered its share of excitement. In its last two wins, they became the first team in WNBA history to make 17-plus 3-pointers in back-to-back games.<\/p>\n
With the second-best record in the league and room to improve, no matter what the Mercury decides to do, one thing is certain \u2013 fans should be excited about the future of the franchise.<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2025\/06\/30\/dewanna-bonner-interest-phoenix-mercury-gaining-steam\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanonical Tag:<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Tag\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArticle Content:<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCould DeWanna Bonner find her way back to the Phoenix Mercury?<\/p>\n Dorian Waller, Cronkite News PHOENIX \u2013 Speculation about DeWanna Bonner\u2019s interest in returning to the Mercury did not seem to concern at least one Phoenix player who is confident in the team\u2019s makeup.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coaching staff has made the effort every day to strengthen the team chemistry,\u201d rookie Akoa Makani said. \u201cWhoever has to come in is going to fit anyway, so I\u2019m not scared about that.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Phoenix Suns were active in the NBA trade market, the Mercury found themselves at the center of the rumor mill. After a surprise break-up with the Indiana Fever, reports circulated that former Mercury forward and two-time WNBA champion Bonner would like to return to Phoenix this season.<\/p>\n The Mercury drafted Bonner with the fifth pick in the 2009 WNBA draft. She spent her first 10 seasons in the league with Phoenix, winning two WNBA championships and three Sixth Person of the Year awards. <\/p>\n She departed from the Mercury in 2020 via a sign and trade, spending her next five seasons with the Connecticut Sun before signing with the Fever this past offseason. However, after just nine games with the Fever, Bonner is now an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite our shared goals and excitement heading into the season, I felt the fit did not work out and I appreciate the organization\u2019s willingness to grant my request to move on, particularly at this point in my career,\u201d Bonner said in a statement.<\/p>\n Phoenix would be an inviting destination for Bonner. The Mercury boast the second-best record after splitting two games at home this weekend.<\/p>\n Bonner may want to return to Phoenix, but is the feeling mutual across the Mercury\u2019s fanbase, the X-Factor? <\/p>\n \u201cI love DeWanna, she\u2019s a great player. But, I think at this point we\u2019ve got a good young squad,\u201d Mercury fan Caleb Jones said. \u201cI think her best spot might actually be going to Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n Fan Anthony Tilelli shared a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think she should return because they got a great rotation,\u201d he said. \u201cThey got one of the best benches in the league. Why would you mess everything up for one person to come in? She\u2019s also 37 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n While others question a return, another member of the X-Factor, Michelle Wolfe, was ready to welcome Bonner back with open arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be happy to welcome her back,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cI feel like our team is working really well this year, so it doesn\u2019t need any changes, but she would be a backup that we could use.\u201d<\/p>\n Journalist Jeff Metcalfe, who has covered the Mercury since the WNBA\u2019s inaugural season, believes it could work.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see anything wrong with bringing Bonner in,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cInitially, I thought, \u2018OK, is there going to be any disruption to the chemistry?\u2019 But I think because (Alyssa) Thomas is here and they\u2019ve obviously got a personal relationship and a basketball relationship. I think they would pick that right back up.\u201d<\/p>\n Bonner started slow this season, averaging 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game on 34% shooting from the field. However, this may be an indicator of a bad fit in Indiana rather than regression from Bonner.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s still a fantastic shooter and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve seen with these complementary players around Thomas, Satou (Sabally) and (Kahleah) Copper,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cBonner would be another great shooter around them.\u201d<\/p>\n Is Bonner the best option for the Mercury at the moment? Free agent Emma Meesseman is currently wrapping up her obligations overseas and may be looking to sign with another WNBA team.<\/p>\n Meesseman was the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP with the Washington Mystics. She recently put up 30 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in the EuroBasket women\u2019s quarterfinals.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, Meesseman is the better player right now,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cI think if she were to come, she could complement what the Mercury have right now and fill in some holes they have in the post. I\u2019ve seen Bonner play the four, I\u2019ve even seen Bonner play some five. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s what she likes to do best.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever direction the Mercury decides to go, the team has delivered its share of excitement. In its last two wins, they became the first team in WNBA history to make 17-plus 3-pointers in back-to-back games.<\/p>\n With the second-best record in the league and room to improve, no matter what the Mercury decides to do, one thing is certain \u2013 fans should be excited about the future of the franchise.<\/p>\n This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Content\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTracking snippet:<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Snippet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Dorian Waller, Cronkite News June 30, 2025 PHOENIX \u2013 Speculation about DeWanna Bonner\u2019s interest in returning to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[4552,2340,3248,20022,160,62989,1502,20021,62,67,132,68,232,82718,65582],"class_list":{"0":"post-491310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-alyssa-thomas","9":"tag-dewanna-bonner","10":"tag-fans","11":"tag-kahleah-copper","12":"tag-mercury","13":"tag-monique-akoa-makani","14":"tag-phoenix-mercury","15":"tag-satou-sabally","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-wnba","21":"tag-wnba-trades","22":"tag-x-factor"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115835763867896556","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJune 30, 2025<\/p>\n