Sun trade ex-UConn star Moriah Jefferson, Rachel Banham to Sky in exchange for Marina Mabrey

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Sun have acquired veteran guard Marina Mabrey in a trade with the Chicago Sky, the team announced Wednesday. In exchange, Chicago receives point guard Moriah Jefferson, guard Rachel Banham and a first-round draft pick in 2025.

Chicago will also have the rights to swap first-round picks with Connecticut in 2026. The Sun acquire Mabrey with another season remaining on her contract, which is worth $208,000 in 2024 and $210,000 in 2025. She will be the third highest-paid player on the Sun’s roster behind All-Stars Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones.

Mabrey helps fill a key need for the Sun as a consistent outside threat, averaging 14 points per game in 2024 on 34.4% shooting from 3-point range. She is also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, both of which are career highs. She was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks with No. 19 overall pick in 2019, then was traded to the Dallas Wings the following season. Mabrey received votes for Most Improved Player and Sixth Player of the Year in 2021, and the Wings then traded Mabrey to the Sky in 2023.

The Sun send Banham to Chicago just three days after she set a WNBA record for 3-pointers by a bench player with eight in an 96-69 win over the Phoenix Mercury. Banham, a nine-year WNBA veteran, spent the first four years of her career in Connecticut after she was drafted No. 4 overall in 2016, and she returned to the Sun as a free agent in 2024 after four seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. She averaged 13 minutes and 4.9 points shooting 36.5% on 3-pointers over 20 appearances with the Sun this year.

Jefferson grappled with a lingering left ankle injury at the start of this season and underwent arthroscopic surgery on June 24. The team said the point guard would be reevaluated after three weeks to determine whether she could return to play, and Jefferson will also get the three-week Olympic break to rest and recover. The former UConn star averaged 6.8 minutes per game in nine appearances for the Sun.