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For Sophie Cunningham, the 2025 WNBA season cannot get here fast enough. The veteran guard was acquired by the Indiana Fever in February from the Phoenix Mercury as part of a three-team trade that involved the Mercury, Fever, and the Dallas Wings.
The Wings sent Satou Sabally and Kalani Brown to the Mercury; The Wings receive guards DiJonai Carrington and Ty Harris, the rights to Kiki Herbert Harrigan, NaLyssa Smith, who was the second overall pick in the 2022 draft, and the no.8 pick from the Indiana Fever in this year’s draft.
Indiana received Cunningham and the No. 19 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
Cunningham welcomed the change of scenery, as she told the New York Post she “got too comfortable” during her six seasons in Phoenix.
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The six-year league vet says that she’s locking in on the pursuit of a championship and is elevating how she goes about her business to bring that goal to fruition.
Speaking to the New York Post:
“I’m also like ready to dial in and get a championship, because that’s something that I haven’t done yet, and so I’m going to do anything in my power to help my team do that.
“… It’s time for me to level up. It’s time for me to level up on my nutrition, how I handle myself, how I treat my body, level up on my training level, up, how I treat my teammates, how I’m going to lead. I just think it’s a year of firsts and I’m excited for all that.”
Last season, Cunningham appeared in 40 games, with 21 starts, averaging 8.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per contest.
Sophie Cunningham looks forward to a bigger role with a new team
New Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said she was looking forward to having an expanded role in Fever head coach Stephanie White’s offense, which will largely be centered around second-year sensation Caitlin Clark.
Cunningham seemed to imply that she felt she was underutilized in the Phoenix Mercury offense. Speaking to the New York Post, she had this to say about her role within the Mercury offense:
“I think I just kind of got too comfortable out here [in Phoenix] in a system that was more, maybe one-v-one, and my role was to get to the corner, or just spot upshoot. I’m going to be a lot more intertwined in their offense … And I love that type of dynamic that the team brings to the motion offense where you know it’s all about reads. It’s all about cutting, and when everyone’s on the same page that’s super hard to guard, especially if everyone can shoot the ball as well.”
Playing with all-time greats Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner means there aren't as many shots to go around. Although Griner averages 12.4 shot attempts for her career, in the five seasons she has played with Cunningham (Griner did not play in 2022), she's averaged 13.9 field goal attempts per contest.
For her career, Taurasi averages 13.9 field goal attempts per game; however, during that same six-season period, she put up 11.31 shots per contest.
In her six seasons with the Mercury, Cunningham averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 182 games. She averaged 5.9 field goal attempts per contest, topping at 9.5 in the 2022 season.
