It sounds like Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey is here to stay. The veteran guard, who reportedly requested a trade last year but saw her request denied, told reporters on Wednesday that she plans to return to Uncasville next season.
Marina Mabrey just answered one big Connecticut Sun question
The Sun guard, who will be a free agent this fall, plans to re-sign with Connecticut.
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Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
“So yeah, I’ll be back next season,” Mabrey said, per The Next Sun reporter Gabby Alfveby.
Mabrey averaged 14.2 points, 4.3 assists, and 4 rebounds this past season. And while she wasn’t particularly efficient — the 28-year-old guard shot 36.2% from the field and 27% from three — she was one of the go-to options on the roster.
Mabrey will stick with a young rebuilding core in Connecticut
The Sun, who lost nearly their entire rotation last offseason, are fresh off the first year of a rebuild.
With one game left to play, Connecticut finished with an 11-32 record, but saw substantial improvement after rookie guard Leila Lacan joined the team midseason. They ended up winning 5 of their last 10 games, and saw massive improvements on both ends of the floor post All-Star break.
Leila Lacan, Saniya Rivers, and Aneesah Morrow — the team’s three rookies — all had strong Year 1 campaigns. Morrow demonstrated that she was a formidable rebounder, Rivers an elite defender, and Lacan exactly the player the Sun hoped she’d be when they drafted her in 2024. The Sun also acquired Aaliyah Edwards in a midseason trade — where she fits in the future remains to be seen.
Lots of questions continue to surround Connecticut — the primary one being the future location of the franchise, which is currently up for sale.
But Mabrey just answered one big question surrounding the future of the Sun: whether or not she’ll be returning for Year 2 under Rachid Meziane.
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