Mercury bolster line-up with Currie trade, Robinson signing


Ahead of their Friday match-up against the Minnesota Lynx, the Phoenix Mercury have added more depth to their roster after trading for Monique Currie and signing center Angel Robinson on Wednesday.

For the Currie trade, the Mercury gave away Shay Murphy and Sophie Brunner. Currie averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.1 APG for the San Antonio Stars while shooting 35.9 percent from three-point area.

Currie was a starter for the Mercury in the 2015 season when Diana Taurasi sat out.


The rights to Robinson, a naturalized player for Montenegro, was acquired by the Mercury in 2016 in a trade which brought Noelle Quinn to the Seattle Storm.

Robinson is a EuroLeague Women veteran who can provide size, rebounding, and inside points for the Mercury. She averaged 16.7 PPG and 13.7 RPG for Montenegro in the recent 2017 FIBA EuroBasket Women.

That makes the Mercury roster even deeper as they try to contend for a title this season. The Mercury made the semi-finals last year, but were swept by the Lynx in three games.

Here's how the Mercury's rotation looks after completing the moves:

G - Diana Taurasi/Leilani Mitchell
G - Danielle Robinson/Yvonne Turner/Alexis Prince
F - Camille Little/Monique Currie/Stephanie Talbot
F - Cayla George/Emma Cannon
C - Brittney Griner/Angel Robinson

Having Currie in the line-up means the Mercury gets another scoring option should their usual scorers struggle from the floor. Robinson could give Griner some rest while assuring Phoenix doesn't sacrifice that much height when they go to their bench.

The Mercury are currently 7-5 in the team standings, tied for fourth with the New York Liberty. The pair of moves they made will give them more depth moving forward.

For the Stars, the departure of Currie means they will have to deal with a regular backcourt rotation of Moriah Jefferson, Kelsey Plum, and Kayla McBride. Things have not gone well for the Stars this season, and after they let go of one of their leading scorers, they will have some more figuring out to do.


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