The DiJonai Carrington trade marks the end of the Connecticut Sun as we know them

It was always going to be a summer of turnover for the Connecticut Sun, who saw head coach Stephanie White leave for the Indiana Fever — and entered WNBA free agency with Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, and Brionna Jones all as unrestricted free agents. But, the roster turnover the team is currently in the midst of is one of epic proportions.

Thomas, who was cored last month, will play for the Phoenix Mercury next season after 11 years in Connecticut, thanks to a sign-and-trade that brought back guards Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen. Ty Harris, the team’s starting point guard last season, was also sent to Phoenix as part of that trade — and later to the Dallas Wings in the Satou Sabally trade.

Brionna Jones, a three-time WNBA All-Star who spent her entire 7-year career with the Sun, signed with the Atlanta Dream as a free agent. And, in December, backup point guard Veronica Burton was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the franchises’s expansion draft.

DiJonai Carrington was the starter from last year’s team most expected to see back in orange next season — but early Saturday morning, Rachel Galligan of Winsidr reported the restricted free agent was being traded to the Dallas Wings in a deal that brought back Jacy Sheldon and the 2025 No. 8 draft pick. Carrington is fresh off of a career year that saw her emerge as one of the league’s best defenders, and ultimately win Most Improved Player. Now, she’ll reunite with fellow backcourt mate Harris in Texas.

The trade officially means that the only returners from last year’s rotation are Marina Mabrey and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Veteran All-Star guard DeWanna Bonner is also an unrestricted free agent, but it appears highly unlikely she’ll re-sign with the Sun given the direction things are headed.

The Sun finished with the league’s third-best record last season and were one game removed from another trip to the WNBA Finals. Now, just four months later, the team is poised to be unrecognizable. As it currently stands, the 2025 roster is headlined by Cloud, Sheldon, Mabrey, and Nelson-Ododa — but it wouldn’t be shocking if one (or more) of those players were flipped.

Lexie Brown, a Los Angeles Sparks guard, posted on X that the Sun was “probably the best team that never won a championship.” But, despite being one of the WNBA’s winningest franchises over the past decade, they were never able to get over the hump.

The unfortunate reality for Connecticut is that the Mohegan Sun Arena is not a comparatively desirable place for players to play — the team lacks its own practice facility (and hasn’t announced plans to build one) and is not in a major media market. Uncasville, Connecticut is a town of less than 18,000, and the Mohegan Sun Tribe that runs the organization hasn’t invested in the team the way other WNBA ownership groups have. Given that teams like the Mercury, Storm, and Valkyries already have their own facilities — and teams like the Sparks, Sky, and Fever have announced plans to build them — Connecticut has fallen squarely behind.

The Carrington trade was one of the last dominos to fall, but it punctuates the end of an era of sustained winning that never achieved the ultimate goal. Where the Sun go from here remains to be seen — it’s plausible that more veteran players like Mabrey and Cloud won’t want to be a part of this type of rebuild, and it will be challenging for the Sun to acquire free agents for the aforementioned reasons.

New general manager Morgan Tuck and head coach Rachid Meziane have tough tasks ahead of them, as keeping the franchise competitive despite the turnover will remain a priority given the league’s growing popularity, and the Sun’s strong winning culture. In December, Tuck told SB Nation the team was very open-minded heading into free agency.

“There are some players that we have a little bit more pull [with], and some where, hey, they get to choose where they go,” Tuck said. “So it’s hard to say exactly, but it’s very open at this point, and we have to use the next month or so to get it from open to a little bit more focused and pointed into a direction that we feel is the best way to go.”

Now, just a few months later, it certainly seems like that direction is closer to a reset than anything else.