Sun season preview: Last ride in Uncasville

One last time. And we’ll teach them how to say goodbye.

It sadly looks like Hamilton on Broadway will outlive the Connecticut Sun, who will move to Houston (pending approval by the WNBA Board of Governors) for 2027 and beyond.

We knew it was coming for quite some time now, but it still stings to talk about. The Sun are putting on a brave public face, but things like the YouTube channel have already gone silent, word is it's largely a bare bones operation behind the scenes. Head coach Rachid Meziane is among those that might never make it to Houston, as Galatasaray announced he will coach their team next winter.

But we’ll have time to mourn when the summer is over, let’s live in the present and get ready for what could be an exciting swan song for the Sun. The chances of a Hollywood ending and going out with their first WNBA title are extremely slim. 

Brittany Griner will be a big piece for
the Sun in 2026 (courtesy Connecticut Sun)

How slim? 500-1 at your neighborhood sportsbook, dead last in the now 15-team WNBA. While I wouldn’t put any portion of your savings on the Sun being the last team standing, there’s hope that Connecticut will be much more competitive than it was last season, at least in the pre-Lacan era of last spring that saw them at 3-20 after a lopsided home loss to Los Angeles in mid-July.

The Sun finished 8-13 from there on out, and - although it still wasn’t always pretty - it was competitive. Things will look much different in 2026 with Marina Mabrey in Toronto, Tina Charles retired, and Bria Hartley no longer on the roster. Veterans Haley Peters, Lindsay Allen, and Migna Toure are gone, as is 2025 draft pick Rayah Marshall, leaving the returners as Saniya Rivers, Aneesah Morrow, Leila Lacan, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, and Aaliyah Edwards.

But if you think that’s a lot of turnover, you should have seen what Meziane faced when he first came to town last year.

Obviously the league prognosticators (and sportsbooks) don’t see it this way, but if you followed this blog last season, it could be a case of addition by subtraction, particularly in the case of Mabrey, who had the worst advanced metrics of any WNBA player in 2025 (ironically, the Sun just signed her closest competitor for that crown in Hailey Van Lith).

Even in the twilight of her career, Charles led the Sun at 16.3 points per game and will be tough to replace. Hartley also had a big part in many of Connecticut’s victories and was a great find off waivers, but was inconsistent shooting and sometimes a defensive liability.

The big and somewhat shocking signing of the offseason was Brittany Griner, an 8-time All-Star and runner-up for league MVP twice, most recently 2021 when Jonquel Jones won it for the Sun. The 35-year-old has been through a lot (it’s still shocking to look at her career stats and see 2022 designated as “Did Not Play: detained abroad”) and struggled last season after signing with Atlanta.

But she apparently wants to finish her career in her native Houston and with the Sun having oodles of cap space and badly needing a veteran (it could be that Griner and Kennedy Burke will be the only two Sun players not born this century that see minutes this season), it was a good fit.

“The right fit matters, and that transition from Phoenix to Atlanta, I’ll be honest, it was rough for me a little bit; the mental side of it,” Griner told the Hartford Courant. “It was an adjustment, and there was some growing I had to do on my part. But I feel really good about (Connecticut). I’m in the right headspace. I feel like I went into and knew what I wanted, I knew what I was looking for, and you don’t know what you don’t know until you know.” 

And she’s looked rejuvenated in the preseason, playing loosely and hopefully free of the pressure she felt in Atlanta. How many minutes she’ll play is an open question, but two seasons ago in Phoenix, she was an All-Star and averaged 17.8 points per game.

The other veteran pickup, Burke, had a bit of a breakout 2025 for the Liberty, shooting 41.4% from behind the arc, by far her career best. She did shoot just 25.9% the season before, and it remains to be seen how open she’ll be without Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart around her, but there’s certainly a big upside for a player who has never been a regular starter in her six seasons in the WNBA.

Otherwise, it’s a very young roster. Diamond Miller - the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft - is now with her third team in less than a year, but just turned 25. She had trouble getting minutes on a loaded Minnesota team, and looked like her confidence had been shaken in Dallas, but - like Griner - there isn’t much pressure on her in Connecticut and hopefully that will help her flourish.

After that, it’s the names you saw through the ups and downs at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2025. While the pressure should be off of Griner and Miller, it will be on Leila Lacan, who was nothing short of a revelation last year, turning the Sun from one of the worst teams in WNBA history into a competitive unit, largely with her defense and ability to get to the rim. 

But she doesn’t turn 22 until June and expecting her to lead the Sun to the playoffs seems a bit much. Luckily teammates Saniya Rivers and Aneesah Morrow will also be on the second trip through a WNBA campaign, and both hope to improve on inconsistent offensive outputs. Aaliyah Edwards only averaged 17 minutes per game, but stands to play more in 2026 as she looks to be more of an offensive threat.

You add in the “veteran” Olivia Nelson-Ododa, the only Sun player to be with the team since 2024. At 25, Nelson-Ododa keeps improving and is loved by the advanced metrics in the minutes that she gets.

Rounding out the roster will likely be the newly acquired Hailey Van Lith to back up Lacan. Unlike Nelson-Ododa, the advanced metrics are not her friend, she finished second-to-last behind Mabrey among WNBA regulars in win shares, but did show flashes of what she can be in a Sky victory at Mohegan Sun Arena early last season. With the pressure off (stop me if you’re sensing a theme here), Van Lith might be able to be productive.

Rookie draft picks Nell Angloma, Gianna Kneepkens, and Charlisse Leger-Walker might mix in at some point (especially Angloma), but probably won’t be counted on as much as Lacan, Rivers, and Morrow will last season. Angloma has a huge upside, but is just 19 and will start the season in France as Lacan did last year. Kneepkens can shoot, something the Sun will definitely need this season at some point if she can keep up with the speed of the WNBA. Leger-Walker’s roster spot might be in jeopardy with the Van Lith acquisition, but we shall see.

So here we go. Hopefully the Connecticut Sun will not go gentle into that good night, starting Friday night, with a tough assignment in Brooklyn against the New York Liberty.

KEY PLAYER: Brittany Griner - Reading much into two preseason games where minutes and defense are often limited can possibly be unwise, but BG looked like she was having fun out there (much like Tina Charles last season). She might have more in the tank than people think, especially with a move to Houston on the horizon. Sometimes Charles was having a little too much fun and her and Mabrey took pretty much all the shots, so we hope that Griner will share the ball, too, but her energy should be infectious for the young players that grew up with her being a legend in the early part of her career.

UNDER THE RADAR PLAYER: Aaliyah Edwards - Edwards didn’t really have a defined role last season, especially coming to Connecticut mid-season, but should be able to see plenty of time at the 4 spot to gobble up rebounds (especially on the offensive end). Her lack of outside game is concerning (especially with the supporting cast around her), but she brings energy, which was sorely lacking many times early last season.

STAT TO WATCH: Shooting - No reason to get cute here, the Sun were dead last in shooting from both three-point range (30.2%) and inside the arc (45.9%), so it stands to reason they were last in offensive efficiency as well. Mabrey was a big contributor to that, shooting just 27.0% on three-pointers at a very high volume. Hartley was 36.7% from three, but just 35.6% from two. 

The question is a chicken or egg one, though, in some regards, were those percentages so low because they had no help around them? That’s what Burke will be up against this season, but Lacan and Griner should help her out a little.

ROSTER PROJECTION: Starters - Lacan, Rivers, Burke, Edwards, Griner.

Bench rotation - Miller, Morrow, Nelson-Ododa, Van Lith, Kneepkens (Angloma as the season progresses)

WORST CASE SCENARIO: Griner has an up and down season and can’t stay healthy, while Burke struggles being near the top of opponents’ scouting reports. That leaves all the youngsters to try to carry the slack and they’re just not ready to do it yet, with the offensive woes leaving the Sun at the bottom of the WNBA on the way to Houston.

BEST CASE SCENARIO: Lacan continues her upward trajectory and becomes an All-Star, while a rejuvenated Griner joins her as the Sun surprise everyone by being one of the best defensive teams in the WNBA and making the playoffs in their final season. Out of nowhere, a buyer comes in and the league agrees to keep the team in Hartford (OK, that’s a little much).

PREDICTION: 21-23 and sneaking into the 8th playoff spot (we can dream)

Let’s have some fun over the next few months.