How the Phoenix Mercury’s ‘think outside the box’ roster-building created a winner

The PHX Arena crowd reached a crescendo Friday night as Alyssa Thomas picked up her 10th rebound, tying her own record for most triple-doubles (six) in a single season and extending her all-time mark to 21. And as Thomas moved up the court, she found first-year guard Monique Akoa Makani on the left side of the floor for another piece of history.

Akoa Makani sank her fourth triple of the game off of Thomas’ pass, making the Phoenix Mercury the first WNBA team with four rookies who each hit at least four 3-pointers in a single game.

The moment represented the twin successes of Phoenix’s season: the star power of Thomas and the depth provided by its rookie class. After the departures of Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner and the trades for Satou Sabally and Thomas cleaned out the Mercury roster, leaving them with two players remaining from 2024, Phoenix needed a complete overhaul in 2025.

Thomas’ arrival — along with Satou Sabally’s — in the offseason was widely celebrated, yet the Mercury’s four rookies came in with little fanfare. None of them was drafted by Phoenix, and three went undrafted altogether. But without a single pick in the 2025 draft, the Mercury needed a creative way to find depth to surround their All-Star trio of Thomas, Sabally and Kahleah Copper. They scoured the world for professional players who had succeeded in other leagues but had yet to find their way to the United States.

“I give our front office a ton of credit,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Thinking outside the box a little bit.”

Historic performances on any given night, every single time you walk into @phx_arena.

✖️ AT records her 6th triple-double of the season

✖️ 5 players score in double figures

🎥 Roll the tape! pic.twitter.com/sqXVWMDCga

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 23, 2025

Rookies have accounted for 35 percent of Phoenix’s minutes this season. That’s a stat usually associated with rebuilding teams, like in Dallas, where first-years have played 37 percent of the Wings’ minutes. But the Mercury (22-14) are chasing the No. 2 seed and in position to host a first-round playoff series.

In a season when Copper has missed 15 games and both Sabally and Thomas missed time, Akoa Makani has started the most games for Phoenix. Fellow rookie Kathryn Westbeld has appeared in the most games. Although they are WNBA rookies, they aren’t professional rookies. That’s by design. Even in this new generation of prodigious college talent, it’s challenging for rookies to come in and immediately make a positive impact at 22 or 23 years old. There are a handful in each draft who manage to do so.

The Mercury needed a handful in their rotation alone. So they went older and found players who had already played at high levels professionally, if not the highest level of the WNBA, and trusted that the transition would be easier. Similar to college teams getting older and building through the portal, Phoenix went after players closer to the average WNBA age of 28 years old instead of ones who would need time to develop. Westbeld is 29, as is Kitija Laksa. Lexi Held is 25, and Akoa Makani 24.

“The league had been missing on some players overseas,” director of player personnel Preston Fawcett said. “We kind of viewed it as like the developmental league for the WNBA, and we thought that there was a lot of talent over there that had been forgotten about or not looked at closely enough. So our group did a really good job of identifying pieces that would fit around A.T., Satou and Kah.”

Assistant general manager Fleur McIntyre said they promised Thomas space when she chose to come to Phoenix, so the new additions would have to be able to shoot the 3 and defend.

Akoa Makani, a Cameroonian national, has been the most impactful. She had played for six seasons in the French league. Suiting up with and against players like Marine Johannès and Julie Allemand convinced her that she had the ability to play in the WNBA, even if she had never set foot in the U.S. She won the starting point guard job and has maintained it all season, making 41 percent of her 3-pointers and defending opponents’ best guards, including Sabrina Ionescu and Paige Bueckers.

The Mercury have a net rating of plus-10.5 points per 100 possessions with Akoa Makani on the floor, the best on the team.

Mo got this place ON THEIR FEET! pic.twitter.com/iFYNW6Mlc9

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 23, 2025

Westbeld was another important acquisition. Phoenix envisioned her as a small-ball center even though she had been a forward her entire career and has unleashed her as a volume 3-point shooter. Westbeld has taken 115 3s with the Mercury after just 68 in her college career at Notre Dame and 44 in her last European season. That spacing threat (32.2 percent from 3-point range) allows Westbeld to play next to Thomas, and her defense has kept her in the rotation.

“She’s got this toughness about her,” McIntyre said. “She plays angles so well and she’s just so smart. She’s unbelievable as a help defender. She’s great in verticality, and she’s a sneaky good shot blocker.”

Laksa was the most well-known of the bunch. Born in Latvia, she played at South Florida and was Seattle’s 2020 first-round pick. She had been playing for EuroLeague clubs including Fenerbahce and Beretta Famila Schio, and Fawcett said their models pegged her as a top-10 shooter in the world. Held was on the other end of the spectrum. She had one major college offer and was undrafted out of DePaul but improved her athleticism and her ability to read the floor; she particularly impressed in Australia, putting her on Phoenix’s radar.

Laksa and Held had bigger roles when Copper was out and before the Mercury acquired DeWanna Bonner. Held was also sidelined with a pneumothorax in her right lung, keeping her out for five weeks. Still, when Akoa Makani missed a game with a concussion, the pair combined for 18 minutes in a win over Seattle, and Tibbetts has continued to give Held spot minutes for her defense.

The shooting has been the rookies’ primary contribution. Collectively, they have made 145 3-pointers, most in WNBA history for a non-expansion team. Akoa Makani is second in the league in 3s this season among first-years, and Westbeld is also in the top six.

“Obviously, some of them aren’t playing as much as they were early in the year,” Tibbetts said. “But that doesn’t take away from the impact that they’ve had. … They’re fearless, they’re ready to shoot it whenever they’re open, and we need that from them.”

With the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, the league’s first expansion team in 17 years, 43 players have made their WNBA debut in 2025. Continued expansion, both of the league and the schedule itself, will require franchises to look harder to find more capable players. Relying on a seven-player rotation might work when the schedule is 32 games, but not when it stretches to 44 or beyond.

There is a long list of players who have been invited to WNBA training camps but never made a roster. When someone has become settled in their lifestyle playing overseas, the first battle is convincing them to even make the trip. Akoa Makani and Murjanatu Musa — who played 12 games before being waived in July — had never even stepped foot in the U.S. Westbeld and Held had been in training camps where they felt like live bodies, invited only to give the team’s real players others to scrimmage against.

Three things worked for Phoenix: First, the organization invested in multiple trips overseas. Tibbetts joked that the players were tired of seeing him, but the players appreciated the personal touch. The Mercury personnel made the effort. Director of basketball operations Kyra Vidas made everything comfortable when they got to Phoenix for camp, taking care of tasks like organizing their rental cars and stocking their refrigerators.

Secondly, they felt like the Mercury understood their games and had a realistic role for them. Westbeld credited Fawcett for seeing her versatility and how she could be reimagined as a small-ball center. They envisioned Akoa Makani and Held as a combined 40-minute disruptor at the point of attack. Laksa appreciated that they went deep on scouting, and Fawcett credited the organization for giving him every possible video and statistical platform.

Finally, having so many holes to fill was an asset. Beyond the big three and Sami Whitcomb, no one else was guaranteed a roster spot. Phoenix realistically provided chances for multiple players to make the roster, which didn’t exist across the league.

“Having the opportunity to compete in training camp, that’s all anyone ever asked for, is a fair chance to make a team,” Westbeld said.

Sami stays lethal from behind the arc! pic.twitter.com/ZNwqlPobd9

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 23, 2025

As the Mercury rookies realize their delayed WNBA dreams, Phoenix reaps the reward of having players on cost-controlled contracts in the prime of their careers. Westbeld and Held are infinitely better than when they starred in the NCAA and have proven their commitment to the game by sticking with the overseas grind. Akoa Makani and Laksa are more prepared for the WNBA stage after high-level European games. They can all continue to develop within the Mercury organization.

“They formed a really important backbone of our culture,” general manager Nick U’Ren said. “The moment’s not too big for them, they’re never too high, they’re never too low. They’re professional. They set a great tone for us culturally, and the coolest thing has been to see our veterans and our stars — they’ve earned their respect.”

Phoenix won’t be the last team to rely on young veterans to fill out its roster. With the improvement in player experience and salaries, more international players are flocking to the WNBA. Roster sizes make it challenging to develop rookies directly out of college and keep them on the team when they aren’t directly contributing. Players growing their games for a few seasons before signing them provides an advantage.

The WNBA remains the dream for many players around the world. The Mercury were able to provide enough of them with the right fit this offseason and have needed their contributions as they pursue a return to the postseason and their first playoff win since 2021. Their pathway provides a template for other teams in upcoming years.

“We’re not the first team to do this, we’ve looked at what New York has done. They’re kinda the gold standard of attracting talent from overseas,” Fawcett said. “The way we look at it, there’s no way we found everyone. There are still a lot of players out there that are capable WNBA players.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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