Tina Charles and the Phoenix Mercury have agreed to a contract divorce. Shortly after the announcement, there were reports that Charles would join the Seattle Storm.
“After discussions with Tina and her agent, it was best for both parties to go our separate ways at this time,” Phoenix GM Jim Pitman said in a statement released Saturday. “Due to circumstances both in and out of our control, our season has not gone according to our plan, and we will continue to pursue all avenues for improvement.”
Phoenix has gone through the entire season without center Brittney Griner, who is currently being detained in Russia after officials claimed they found cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17. The State Department reclassified Griner as “wrongfully detained” in May.
Even without Griner, the Mercury were supposed to be a force to be reckoned with, boasting former WNBA MVP Charles, Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith, but it never came together.
Charles is currently averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She will join a Seattle team that is 11-6 coming into Saturday. It is unclear what Charles’s role would be with the Storm, whether she’d slide into the starting lineup or be an absolute force off the bench.
The UConn alum will become another solid front-court option that can score in the paint for the Storm. She’ll join Breanna Stewart and Ezi Magbegor on the frontline. However it will be interesting to see what the Storm do with Charles as Magbegor has been the starting center up to this point. Through 14 games this season, Magbegor is averaging 12.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.6 blocks while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor.
In addition to scoring in the paint, Charles can also shoot from the outside, so floor spacing should not be an issue. Another thing that the former Huskies star does well is a rebound. Charles is not the same player that Magbegor is on the defensive end, but she can certainly hold her own.
Adding Charles could take away minutes from Magbegor, but when you have a chance to get a future Hall of Famer, you have to make the move. Seattle is a veteran laden squad and has a good coaching staff, so in theory it should be a seamless transition. With a veteran point guard like Sue Bird, she’ll ensure everybody gets enough touches to be in rhythm offensively.
Charles was the 2012 WNBA MVP and an eight-time All-Star. She’s also a three-time Olympic gold medalist and won two NCAA titles with UConn.
In addition to the Mercury, Charles has also played for the Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty, and the Washington Mystics. Charles is averaging 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for her career. She also boasts 44% from the field and 32% from beyond the arc shooting splits over her 12 year WNBA career.
With Sue Bird announcing that this will be her last WNBA campaign, the Storm are doing everything in their power to ensure they give her the best odds of ending her career on a high note. And adding a versatile frontcourt player like Charles might be just what Seattle needs to get them over the hump in the postseason.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83