2022 Phoenix Mercury season

2022 Phoenix Mercury season
CoachVanessa Nygaard
ArenaFootprint Center
Attendance7,974 per game
Results
Record15–21 (.417)
Place4th (Western)
Playoff finish8th seed; Lost in 1st Round to the Las Vegas Aces
Team Leaders
PointsSkylar Diggins-Smith – 19.7 ppg
ReboundsBrianna Turner – 6.8 rpg
AssistsSkylar Diggins-Smith – 5.5 apg

The 2022 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, against the Las Vegas Aces and ended in the 1st round of the WNBA Playoffs against the same team. The season was marred by a number of issues, including injuries and the absence of Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug charges.

On December 6, 2021, the Mercury announced that they would not be renewing Sandy Brondello's contract and parted ways with her as Head coach. On January 24, 2022, the Mercury announced that Vanessa Nygaard had been hired as Brondello's replacement.

The Mercury got off to a quick start to the season, winning two of their first three games. However, that momentum did not last as they then went on a seven game losing streak. They ended May 2–7. They were able to end their losing streak in June and win four of their first six games that month. However, they lost three and won three of their final six to end the month 7–5. July was another up and down month as the team struggled to build momentum and couldn't build a streak. They finished the month 4–5. Diana Taurasi suffered a quad strain during their game against the Connecticut Sun on August 2. The Mercury announced that she would miss the rest of the regular season with the injury. On August 11, 2022, the Mercury announced that Skylar Diggins-Smith would miss the final 3 games of the season due to personal reasons. Despite injuries to two of their prominent players, the Mercury entered the final day of the season with a chance at qualifying for the playoffs. Despite a final day loss and a 2–4 August record, the Mercury finished in eighth place in the standings and qualified for the final playoff spot.

The Mercury faced first seed Las Vegas in First Round of the playoffs. The first two games of the series were in Las Vegas and the Mercury lost both games, preventing the series from returning to Phoenix. Neither game was close with the Mercury losing by sixteen points in Game One and thirty-seven points in Game Two.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2022 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/team/country
3 26 Maya Dodson United States Notre Dame
3 32 Macee Williams United States IUPUI

Trades and Roster Changes

Date Transaction
December 6, 2021 Parted Ways with Head coach Sandy Brondello
January 11, 2022 Extended a Qualifying Offer to Shey Peddy
January 13, 2022 Sign Shey Peddy to a Qualifying Offer
Waived Megan Walker
Extended a Qualifying Offer to Kia Nurse
January 24, 2022 Hired Vanessa Nygaard as Head coach
January 31, 2022 Traded Kia Vaughn to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for a 2023 Third Round Pick
February 1, 2022 Re-Signed Sophie Cunningham to a One-Year Deal
February 3, 2022 Traded Bria Hartley, the 20th Pick in the 2022 WNBA draft, and a 2nd Round Pick in 2023 to the Indiana Fever, as well as a 1st Round Pick in 2023 to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Diamond DeShields from Chicago
Signed Jennie Simms to a training-camp contract
February 4, 2022 Signed Tina Charles to a One-Year Deal
February 5, 2022 Signed Kia Nurse to One-Year Deal
February 13, 2022 Signed Leaonna Odom to a training-camp contract
March 1, 2022 Signed Kiana Williams to a training-camp contract
March 2, 2022 Hired Crystal Robinson as an assistant coach
March 10, 2022 Signed Kristine Anigwe to a training-camp contract
March 31, 2022 Hired Nikki Blue and Cinnamon Lister as Assistant Coaches
April 12, 2022 Signed Sam Thomas to a training-camp contract
April 13, 2022 Signed Maya Dodson and Macee Williams to rookie-scale contracts
Signed Mael Gilles and Vivian Gray to training-camp contracts
April 16, 2022 Signed Emma Cannon to a training-camp contract
April 21, 2022 Waived Macee Williams
April 30, 2022 Waived Mael Gilles
May 3, 2022 Waived Emma Cannon, Kiana Williams, Jennie Simms, and Vivian Gray
May 4, 2022 Signed Megan Gustafson to a training-camp contract
May 5, 2022 Temporarily Suspend Brianna Turner and Diamond DeShields due to Overseas Commitments
Waived Maya Dodson and Leaonna Odom
May 6, 2022 Signed Emma Cannon and Jennie Simms to Hardship Contracts
May 10, 2022 Activated Brianna Turner and Diamond DeShields from their Temporary Suspensions
Released Emma Cannon and Jennie Simms from their Hardship Contracts
May 14, 2022 Signed Brianna Turner to a Contract Extension
May 25, 2022 Signed Karlie Samuelson to a Hardship Contract
May 30, 2022 Released Karlie Samuelson from her Hardship Contract
June 9, 2022 Signed Jennie Simms to a Hardship Contract
June 23, 2022 Released Jennie Simms from her Hardship Contract
June 24, 2022 Waived Kristine Anigwe
June 25, 2022 Waived Tina Charles
June 28, 2022 Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to 7-day contracts
July 4, 2022 Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to their 2nd 7-day contracts
July 11, 2022 Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to their 3rd 7-day contracts
July 18, 2022 Signed Reshanda Gray
Signed Jennie Simms to a Hardship Contract
July 21, 2022 Signed Kaela Davis to a 7-Day Hardship Contract
July 29, 2022 Signed Kaela Davis to a 2nd 7-Day Hardship Contract
August 8, 2022 Signed Yvonne Turner to a Hardship Contract
August 10, 2022 Temporarily Suspend Skylar Diggins-Smith
August 11, 2022 Signed Kaela Davis to a Hardship Contract

Roster

2022 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 9 Cunningham, Sophie 6' 1" (1.85m) 170 lb (77kg) 1996-08-16 Missouri 3
G 33 Davis, Kaela 6' 2" (1.88m) 170 lb (77kg) 03-15-1995 South Carolina 4
G 1 DeShields, Diamond 6' 1" (1.85m) 172 lb (78kg) 1995-03-05 Tennessee 4
G 4 Diggins-Smith, Skylar (S) 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 1990-08-02 Notre Dame 8
F 12 Gray, Reshanda 6' 2" (1.88m) 192 lb (87kg) 06-01-1993 California 5
C 42 Griner, Brittney (inactive) 6' 9" (2.06m) 205 lb (93kg) 1990-10-18 Baylor 9
C 10 Gustafson, Megan 6' 3" (1.91m) 195 lb (88kg) 12-13-1996 Iowa 3
G 0 Nurse, Kia Injured 6' 0" (1.83m) 168 lb (76kg) 1996-02-22 Connecticut 4
G 11 Peddy, Shey 5' 7" (1.7m) 147 lb (67kg) 1988-10-28 Temple 3
G 25 Simms, Jennie 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 04-21-1994 Old Dominion 1
G/F 3 Taurasi, Diana Injured 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1982-06-11 Connecticut 17
G/F 14 Thomas, Sam 6' 0" (1.83m) 170 lb (77kg) 06-14-1999 Arizona R
F 21 Turner, Brianna 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 1996-07-05 Notre Dame 3
G 22 Turner, Yvonne 5' 10" (1.78m) 131 lb (59kg) 1987-10-13 Nebraska 3
Head coach
Vanessa Nygaard (Stanford)
Assistant coaches
Crystal Robinson (SE Oklahoma State)
Nikki Blue (UCLA)
Cinnamon Lister (Cal State Northridge)
Athletic trainer
Hannah Breck (Boston University)
Strength and conditioning coach
Derrick Nillissen (Iowa Wesleyan)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Depth

Pos. Starter Bench
C Brianna Turner Reshanda Gray
Brittney Griner (inactive)
PF Sophie Cunningham Megan Gustafson
SF Diana Taurasi Diamond DeShields
Sam Thomas
SG Shey Peddy Jennie Simms
Kia Nurse
PG Skylar Diggins-Smith (inactive)

Schedule

Preseason

2022 pre-season game log
Total: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
April: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 April 28 Seattle L 78–82 Tina Charles (16) Kristine Anigwe (8) Skylar Diggins-Smith (8) Footprint Center
2,759 		0–1
2 April 30 @ Los Angeles L 84–87 Kiana Williams (25) Kristine Anigwe (11) Cannon
Simms (3) 		Matadome
N/A 		0–2
2022 pre-season schedule

Regular Season

2022 game log
Total: 15–21 (Home: 11–7; Road: 4–14)
May: 2–7 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–5)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 May 6 Las Vegas L 88–106 Skylar Diggins-Smith (25) Taurasi
Simms (4) 		Diana Taurasi (9) Footprint Center
7,167 		0–1
2 May 11 Seattle W 97–77 Tina Charles (22) Tina Charles (11) Diggins-Smith
Peddy (6) 		Footprint Center
6,098 		1–1
3 May 14 @ Seattle W 69–64 Diana Taurasi (24) Brianna Turner (14) Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) Climate Pledge Arena
12,453 		2–1
4 May 17 @ Las Vegas L 74–86 Tina Charles (17) Tina Charles (9) Skylar Diggins-Smith (6) Michelob Ultra Arena
2,536 		2–2
5 May 19 Dallas L 84–94 Diamond DeShields (22) Tina Charles (11) Shey Peddy (5) Footprint Center
6,151 		2–3
6 May 21 @ Las Vegas L 80–100 Diamond DeShields (19) Brianna Turner (8) Diana Taurasi (7) Michelob Ultra Arena
5,572 		2–4
7 May 25 @ Los Angeles L 94–99 Skylar Diggins-Smith (28) Tina Charles (7) Diamond DeShields (9) Crypto.com Arena
4,020 		2–5
8 May 29 @ Atlanta L 54–81 Diamond DeShields (23) Brianna Turner (8) Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) Gateway Center Arena
3,138 		2–6
9 May 31 @ Chicago L 70–73 Tina Charles (25) Brianna Turner (9) Skylar Diggins-Smith (8) Wintrust Arena
5,133 		2–7
June : 7–5 (Home: 4–2; Road: 3–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
10 June 3 Connecticut L 88–92 Diana Taurasi (32) Skylar Diggins-Smith (6) Skylar Diggins-Smith (6) Footprint Center
7,180 		2–8
11 June 5 Los Angeles W 81–74 Skylar Diggins-Smith (29) Brianna Turner (9) Diana Taurasi (7) Footprint Center
10,151 		3–8
12 June 10 Atlanta W 90–88 Diana Taurasi (23) Brianna Turner (13) Diana Taurasi (6) Footprint Center
7,650 		4–8
13 June 12 @ Washington W 99–90 (OT) Skylar Diggins-Smith (27) Brianna Turner (10) Diana Taurasi (7) Entertainment and Sports Arena
4,200 		5–8
14 June 14 @ Washington L 65–83 Diamond DeShields (21) Diamond DeShields (8) Skylar Diggins-Smith (8) Entertainment and Sports Arena
3,088 		5–9
15 June 15 @ Indiana W 93–80 Tina Charles (29) Brianna Turner (10) Shey Peddy (7) Indiana Farmers Coliseum
1,824 		6–9
16 June 17 @ Dallas L 88–93 Tina Charles (27) Tina Charles (9) Skylar Diggins-Smith (10) College Park Center
3,140 		6–10
17 June 21 Minnesota L 71–84 Skylar Diggins-Smith (25) Tina Charles (7) Skylar Diggins-Smith (6) Footprint Center
6,394 		6–11
18 June 23 @ Minnesota L 88–100 Tina Charles (26) Brianna Turner (8) Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) Target Center
8,004 		6–12
19 June 25 @ Dallas W 83–72 Skylar Diggins-Smith (26) Diamond DeShields (10) Shey Peddy (6) College Park Center
4,240 		7–12
20 June 27 Indiana W 83–71 Diana Taurasi (27) Brianna Turner (8) Shey Peddy (5) Footprint Center
5,044 		8–12
21 June 29 Indiana W 99–78 Skylar Diggins-Smith (17) Brianna Turner (11) Diggins-Smith
Taurasi (7) 		Footprint Center
5,833 		9–12
July : 4–5 (Home: 4–1; Road: 0–4)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
22 July 2 @ Chicago L 75–91 Skylar Diggins-Smith (25) Diamond DeShields (9) Shey Peddy (6) Wintrust Arena
8,028 		9–13
23 July 4 @ Los Angeles L 75–78 Skylar Diggins-Smith (22) Cunningham
Peddy (6) 		Diana Taurasi (6) Crypto.com Arena
3,340 		9–14
24 July 7 New York W 84–81 Cunningham
Taurasi (23) 		Skylar Diggins-Smith (7) Skylar Diggins-Smith (9) Footprint Center
6,158 		10–14
25 July 12 @ Minnesota L 107–118 (2OT) Sophie Cunningham (36) Shey Peddy (10) Skylar Diggins-Smith (10) Target Center
6,503 		10–15
26 July 14 Washington W 80–75 Skylar Diggins-Smith (29) Cunningham
Taurasi (7) 		Skylar Diggins-Smith (9) Footprint Center
5,994 		11–15
27 July 17 Atlanta L 75–85 Diana Taurasi (23) Sophie Cunningham (9) Shey Peddy (5) Footprint Center
7,963 		11–16
28 July 22 Seattle W 94–78 Skylar Diggins-Smith (35) Peddy
Taurasi (7) 		Diana Taurasi (7) Footprint Center
14,162 		12–16
29 July 28 Los Angeles W 90–80 Diana Taurasi (30) Brianna Turner (7) Skylar Diggins-Smith (6) Footprint Center
8,124 		13–16
30 July 31 @ New York L 69–89 Sophie Cunningham (21) Shey Peddy (12) Skylar Diggins-Smith (11) Barclays Center
6,433 		13–17
August : 2–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
31 August 2 @ Connecticut L 63–87 Cunningham
Diggins-Smith (15) 		Brianna Turner (6) Diggins-Smith
Peddy (4) 		Mohegan Sun Arena
6,130 		13–18
32 August 4 @ Connecticut L 64–77 Skylar Diggins-Smith (16) Brianna Turner (12) Brianna Turner (7) Mohegan Sun Arena
6,215 		13–19
33 August 6 New York W 76–62 Diamond DeShields (25) Cunningham
DeShields
Simms (8) 		Brianna Turner (4) Footprint Center
11,724 		14–19
34 August 10 Minnesota L 77–86 Sophie Cunningham (24) Shey Peddy (10) Diamond DeShields (10) Footprint Center
7,307 		14–20
35 August 12 Dallas W 86–74 Diamond DeShields (24) Cunningham
DeShields
Peddy (5) 		Shey Peddy (8) Footprint Center
8,047 		15–20
36 August 14 Chicago L 67–82 Gustafson
Simms (12) 		Megan Gustafson (10) Yvonne Turner (4) Footprint Center
12,383 		15–21
2022 season schedule

Playoffs

2022 playoff game log
First Round vs. Las Vegas Aces
Lost Series: 0–2
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 August 18 @ Las Vegas L 63–79 Diamond DeShields (18) Brianna Turner (16) Shey Peddy (5) Michelob Ultra Arena
8,725 		0–1
2 August 21 @ Las Vegas L 80-117 Kaela Davis (23) Brianna Turner (7) B. Turner
Simms
Davis
Gustafson (3) 		Michelob Ultra Arena
9,126 		0–2
2022 playoff schedule

Standings

#
Team
 W L PCT GB Conf. Home Road Cup
1 x – Las Vegas Aces 26 10 .722 – 15–3 13–5 13–5 9–1
2 x – Chicago Sky 26 10 .722 – 15–3 14–4 12–6 9–1
3 x – Connecticut Sun 25 11 .694 1.0 11–7 13–5 12–6 5–5
4 x – Seattle Storm 22 14 .611 4.0 10–8 13–5 9–9 6–4
5 x – Washington Mystics 22 14 .611 4.0 11–7 12–6 10–8 5–5
6 x – Dallas Wings 18 18 .500 8.0 8–10 8–10 10–8 5–5
7 x – New York Liberty 16 20 .444 10.0 10–8 9–9 7–11 6–4
8 x – Phoenix Mercury 15 21 .417 11.0 7–11 11–7 4–14 3–7
9 e – Minnesota Lynx 14 22 .389 12.0 8–10 7–11 7–11 4–6
10 e – Atlanta Dream 14 22 .389 12.0 5–13 8–10 6–12 3–7
11 e – Los Angeles Sparks 13 23 .361 13.0 6–12 7–11 6–12 3–7
12 e – Indiana Fever 5 31 .139 21.0 2–16 3–15 2–16 2–8

Notes

(#) – League Standing
x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoff contention
Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings

Playoffs

See also: 2022 WNBA Playoffs
Round One:
Best-of-3 		Semifinals:
Best-of-5 		Finals:
Best-of-5
         
1 Las Vegas Aces 2
8 Phoenix Mercury 0
1 Las Vegas Aces 3
4 Seattle Storm 1
4 Seattle Storm 2
5 Washington Mystics 0
1 Las Vegas Aces 3
3 Connecticut Sun 1
2 Chicago Sky 2
7 New York Liberty 1
2 Chicago Sky 2
3 Connecticut Sun 3
3 Connecticut Sun 2
6 Dallas Wings 1

Bold Series winner

Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Skylar Diggins-Smith 30 30 34.0 .429 .296 .844 4.0 5.5 1.6 1.0 19.7
Tina Charles‡ 16 16 33.1 .441 .364 .800 7.3 2.1 0.8 0.8 17.3
Diana Taurasi 31 31 31.0 .373 .337 .894 3.4 3.8 0.7 0.6 16.7
Diamond DeShields 30 19 25.3 .388 .236 .765 3.8 2.2 1.0 0.5 13.1
Sophie Cunningham 28 20 29.5 .449 .400 .875 4.4 1.6 1.0 0.4 12.6
Shey Peddy 34 24 28.6 .418 .329 .889 3.8 3.4 1.6 0.2 9.9
Kaela Davis≠ 5 0 5.4 .692 .667 .750 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.6
Brianna Turner 35 35 33.4 .607 .000 .500 6.8 2.3 1.2 1.6 4.3
Megan Gustafson 33 0 9.6 .549 .462 .765 1.9 0.5 0.2 0.2 3.8
Jennie Simms≠ 23 4 13.2 .476 .211 .789 2.2 0.9 0.5 0.0 3.4
Yvonne Turner≠ 3 0 11.7 .400 .000 1.000 0.7 2.3 0.0 0.0 3.3
Karlie Samuelson‡ 1 0 10.0 .333 .333 .000 3.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 3.0
Emma Cannon‡ 1 0 6.0 1.000 .000 .500 2.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 3.0
Reshanda Gray≠ 16 0 9.5 .405 .091 .333 1.8 0.6 0.3 0.3 2.0
Kristine Anigwe‡ 10 1 6.5 .500 .000 .500 1.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 1.5
Sam Thomas 24 0 4.9 .211 .067 1.000 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.4


‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Diamond DeShields 2 2 27.0 .432 .333 .714 4.5 2.0 1.0 0.0 19.5
Kaela Davis 2 0 23.5 .483 .000 .800 3.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 16.0
Megan Gustafson 2 0 23.5 .316 .000 1.000 4.5 2.0 0.5 0.5 9.0
Shey Peddy 1 1 26.0 .231 .286 .000 2.0 5.0 2.0 0.0 8.0
Sophie Cunningham 2 2 31.0 .455 .375 .333 2.5 2.0 0.5 0.0 7.5
Jennie Simms 2 2 24.5 .267 .200 .200 3.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 5.5
Brianna Turner 2 2 30.0 .444 .000 .000 11.5 2.5 0.0 0.5 4.0
Reshanda Gray 2 0 8.0 .400 .000 .500 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5
Yvonne Turner 2 1 12.0 .286 .000 .000 3.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 2.0
Sam Thomas 2 0 7.0 .500 .500 .000 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.5

Awards and honors

Recipient Award/Milestone Date awarded Ref.
Skylar Diggins-Smith WNBA All-Star Selection June 28
Western Conference Player of the Week July 18
All-WNBA First Team September 15