2022 Phoenix Mercury season

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^[1] 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.

2022 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach	Vanessa Nygaard
Arena	Footprint Center
Attendance	7,974 per game
Results
Record	15–21 (.417)
Place	4th (Western)
Playoff finish	8th seed; Lost in 1st Round to the Las Vegas Aces
Team Leaders
Points	Skylar Diggins-Smith – 19.7 ppg
Rebounds	Brianna Turner – 6.8 rpg
Assists	Skylar Diggins-Smith – 5.5 apg
← 2021 season 2023 season →

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.^[2] On January 24, 2022, the Mercury announced that Vanessa Nygaard had been hired as Brondello's replacement.^[3]

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.^[4] On August 11, 2022, the Mercury announced that Skylar Diggins-Smith would miss the final 3 games of the season for personal reasons.^[5] 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[6]
January 13, 2022	Sign Shey Peddy to a Qualifying Offer [7]
	Waived Megan Walker[8]
	Extended a Qualifying Offer to Kia Nurse[9]
January 24, 2022	Hired Vanessa Nygaard as Head coach[10]
January 31, 2022	Traded Kia Vaughn to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for a 2023 Third Round Pick[11]
February 1, 2022	Re-Signed Sophie Cunningham to a One-Year Deal[12][13]
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[14]
	Signed Jennie Simms to a training-camp contract[15]
February 4, 2022	Signed Tina Charles to a One-Year Deal[16]
February 5, 2022	Signed Kia Nurse to One-Year Deal[17]
February 13, 2022	Signed Leaonna Odom to a training-camp contract[18]
March 1, 2022	Signed Kiana Williams to a training-camp contract[19]
March 2, 2022	Hired Crystal Robinson as an assistant coach[20]
March 10, 2022	Signed Kristine Anigwe to a training-camp contract
March 31, 2022	Hired Nikki Blue and Cinnamon Lister as Assistant Coaches[21]
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[22]
April 21, 2022	Waived Macee Williams
April 30, 2022	Waived Mael Gilles [23]
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[24]
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[25]
May 30, 2022	Released Karlie Samuelson from her Hardship Contract
June 9, 2022	Signed Jennie Simms to a Hardship Contract[26]
June 23, 2022	Released Jennie Simms from her Hardship Contract
June 24, 2022	Waived Kristine Anigwe
June 25, 2022	Waived Tina Charles[27]
June 28, 2022	Signed Reshanda Gray and Jennie Simms to 7-day contracts[28]
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[29]
July 29, 2022	Signed Kaela Davis to a 2nd 7-Day Hardship Contract
August 8, 2022	Signed Yvonne Turner to a Hardship Contract[30]
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. No. 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) 1995-03-15 South Carolina 4 G 1 DeShields, Diamond 6' 1" (1.85m) 172 lb (78kg) 1995-03-05 Tennessee 4 G 4 Diggins, 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) 1993-06-01 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) 1996-12-13 Iowa 3 G 0 Nurse, Kia  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) 1994-04-21 Old Dominion 1 G/F 3 Taurasi, Diana  6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1982-06-11 Connecticut 17 G/F 14 Thomas, Sam 6' 0" (1.83m) 170 lb (77kg) 1999-06-14 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 (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended 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 v t e	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

	First round 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
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

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	[31]
	Western Conference Player of the Week	July 18	[32]
	All-WNBA First Team	September 15	[33]