The Connecticut Sun are trading 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones to the New York Liberty, multiple reports said Sunday.
The 6-foot-6 forward is a four-time All-Star, four-time member of the All-WNBA Team and a three-time member of the league’s All-Defensive Team.
Connecticut is making the trade following Jones requesting a move to New York earlier in the offseason, per ESPN.
Reports said that the Dallas Wings are involved as a third team in the trade, which is not yet finalized. The Liberty will acquire Jones and Wings forward Kayla Thornton; Dallas will receive forward Natasha Howard and guard Crystal Dangerfield from New York; and Connecticut will receive the sixth overall pick in the WNBA draft, Liberty guard Rebecca Allen and Wings guard Tyasha Harris.
Jones has played in 196 games with 149 starts over six seasons with the Sun after originally being drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2016 WNBA Draft (No. 6 overall). She finished 17th in the league in scoring in 2022, averaging 14.6 points per game.
The Sun have finished either first or second in the East the past four seasons with two WNBA runner-up finishes in that time frame.
Connecticut lost in the best-of-five WNBA Finals last September against the Las Vegas Aces, three games to one, with Jones pacing her squad with 20 points in the team’s only win, 105-76 in Game 3.
Jones joins a New York team that snuck into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed last fall but dropped its first-round series against the Chicago Sky. The Liberty hope to contend for a championship this year with former No. 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu (2020) returning following an All-WNBA season.
–Field Level Media