Offseason signings include familiar faces

The Sun were active during free agency despite returning most of last season’s roster, trading Rebecca Allen to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for point guard Moriah Jefferson and sending Natisha Hiedeman to the the Minnesota Lynx to add veteran guard Tiffany Mitchell. Both will make their Sun debuts at this year’s training camp, but playing in Uncasville is a sort of homecoming for Jefferson as a former Uconn star. The seven-year WNBA veteran helped the Huskies to four consecutive national championships from 2012-16, and she reunites in Connecticut with former teammate Morgan Tuck, the Sun’s director of franchise development.

Jefferson was named to the WNBA All-rookie team in 2016, but she missed at least 13 games in each of the following three seasons due to a string of major knee injuries. She played three years with the Dallas Wings from 2019-21 and one with the Minnesota Lynx before signing with Phoenix in 2023. With the Mercury, Jefferson had her most complete season since her rookie year, appearing in a career-high 39 games. She averaged more than 10 points per game for just the third time in the WNBA, also recording 3.6 assists, two rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.

Rachel Banham is also a familiar face for Sun fans after signing a two-year deal with the team as a free agent. Connecticut drafted the 5-10 guard No. 4 overall in the 2016 draft, though she averaged less than four points per game across four seasons before she was traded to the Minnesota Lynx in 2021. Banham averaged at least five points in each of her four years with the Lynx including a careerhigh 7.9 in 2022, and she shot 40.2% from 3-point range in 2023. Only Tyasha Harris shot above 40% for the Sun from outside last season, so Banham offers a different look now as a reliable, developed veteran.