Unconventional rookies step up for Phoenix Mercury

Instead of having their pick of the latest college stars and young international standouts, general manager Nick U’Ren and the team’s front office got creative, scouting players from various overseas leagues to fill out the roster.

Most of the team’s rookies have had their chance to step up and prove their value to their team. Due to injuries, several have gotten chances to make the starting lineup and play key minutes in crunch time. 

Overall, despite their limited WNBA experience, Phoenix’s rookies have been one of the most positive surprises for the new-look Mercury.

“I’ve been really impressed with all of them at different times,” Tibbetts told reporters after practice on May 29. “They all bring a certain level of toughness, which we love; that’s what we love about them. And then offensively, they’ve got different talents, and they’re trying to find opportunities to be successful.”

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Reliable guards

After the blockbuster trade to acquire Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas, and the move to sign Sami Whitcomb, Phoenix’s roster still had a hole at point guard. Although Tibbetts and U’Ren emphasized a more positionless style of play that didn’t necessitate having a standout point guard on the team, the roster construction still worried some fans.

That’s where Monique Akoa Makani stepped in.

The Cameroonian guard had an efficient season in France, where she averaged 14.9 points on 44.8% 2-point shooting and 41.8% 3-point shooting. She also contributed 4.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.1 steals per game.

Akoa Makani was an early favorite to make the roster in training camp, earning the start in the Mercury’s first preseason game. She’s built on her performance ever since.

Through six games, Akoa Makani is averaging 9.7 points, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals. She leads the team and all rookies (with more than one attempt) with a 3-point percentage of 46.4%.

“I think a lot of people in our league are trying to figure out what she can and can’t do. Part of the reason me throwing her out there is I want to figure out what she can and can’t do,” Tibbetts told the media pregame in Seattle. “I believe in her shooting. She shot 48% this past year in catch-and-shoot situations overseas, so those numbers tell me that she can shoot it.”

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Her rookie partner in crime in the backcourt is Lexi Held. After a standout career at DePaul, Held received an invite to the Chicago Sky’s training camp in 2022. She didn’t make the cut but went overseas to play professionally.

Following a season in Hungary in which Held averaged 15.5 points, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals, Phoenix gave her another opportunity to prove she belonged in the WNBA, and Held has capitalized on it since.

Held serves as a sparkplug off the bench, providing consistent defense and a smart shot selection that allows her to take threes in rhythm with the offense or make a break for the hoop and create for herself.

“Lexi is a baller,” Thomas told reporters postgame in Seattle. “She comes in. She’s fearless. A lot of people don’t know who she is, but she comes out there and plays her game, and I think she surprises a lot of people.”

Both players have a consistent impact on offense, but it’s their defensive approach that has made them such good fits with Tibbetts’ philosophy and the team.

Akoa Makani and Held are the first line of defense, tag-teaming the opposing team’s primary ball handler. As soon as the ball crosses half court – and sometimes even before – they’re playing aggressive on-ball defense with active hands and sliding feet. With Akoa Makani and Held typically rotating in and out for each other, there’s no dropoff in defensive pressure up top.

Held and Akoa Makani got the chance to prove what they were made of in Game 1, splitting time defending the Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins. Their second game didn’t get any easier, with the Los Angeles Sparks’ Kelsey Plum being their primary defensive assignment. Still, they faced the challenge head-on, making both players work for every bucket.

“I thought they did great,” Tibbetts told the media after the season opener. “We think both of them are super talented, fearless, and they’re going against one of the best guards in the league. … Skylar does a good job of getting into the paint and drawing fouls, and she likes contact, but so does [Monique] and [Lexi]. And so I thought, for the first night home opener, they did a fabulous job.”

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Experienced rookies

While the Mercury’s backcourt rookies are still relatively young, their two primary frontcourt rookies, forward Kathryn Westbeld and wing Kitija Laksa, have plenty of high-level basketball experience under their belts at age 29.

After finishing her career at Notre Dame, Westbeld competed for a spot on the Sparks’ roster in 2018 to no avail. Since, she’s been building a resume of professional experience all over the world. Her latest stint was in Hungary, where she averaged 18.4 points on 55.6% shooting from inside the arc, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists. 

Following the announcement that Natasha Mack would miss the first two to three weeks of the season, Phoenix bumped Westbeld up into the starting center spot. Additionally, her versatility has allowed her to fill any of the three frontcourt roles.

“Kat has probably played more five overseas,” Tibbetts said pregame against Chicago. “The question was, was she going to be able to handle the physicality of the W, but I think for her, she has the ability to play the five, the four and the three … Her toughness and just her willingness to fight and just recognizing help, that doesn’t get talked about a lot. She doesn’t have great size, but she makes up for it with her brain and her anticipation.”

Westbeld has contributed where needed, averaging 6.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and a team-high 1.2 blocks, which also leads all rookies.

“I wouldn’t say she’s like this elite-level rim protector,” Tibbetts said postgame versus the Washington Mystics. “But she understands space, and she does a great job of verticality. When you’re inside the restricted area, you have that space and can go straight up and down.”

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Laksa’s path to her rookie season is a winding road that’s worked out so far for her and the Mercury. In 2020, she was drafted 11th overall to the Storm out of South Florida, but decided to have her contract suspended. The next season, she was waived, but got picked up by Dallas in 2023. Again, she made the personal decision to sit out. Dallas gave up her rights last season, clearing the way for Phoenix to sign her to a protected one-year deal this past offseason.

“The dream since college was to play in the W,” Laksa said after her debut. “Today, I’m 29 years old and making my debut. So there has been a bunch of reasons why I probably haven’t been here before. I was waiting for the right place, for the right time, and this is the right place and this is the right time. So it’s a great opportunity for me to take pride in it, to be a Phoenix Mercury.”

Despite arriving late due to overseas commitments and missing the first game, Laksa has slotted in well. She adds depth at the wing, an important spot to fill while Kahleah Copper recovers from a left knee arthroscopy. Laksa is shooting 38.1% from three on 4.2 perimeter shots a game, the most by any of Phoenix’s bench players. She’s also contributed 7.4 points per contest.

Against Chicago, she had a breakout game, going 6-for-9 from the field to finish with 18 points off the bench. Friday, in Thomas’s absence, she made her first career start.

“She’s a shooter. She’s a sniper,” Tibbetts said after Laksa’s debut against Los Angeles. “That’s why we’re excited about her. She’s going to give our really good players space, and she knows how to play. She’s got good positional size.”

Sharpshooters

All four of Phoenix’s rookies who average over 18 minutes per game have set themselves apart with their unique skillsets, but something they all have in common is the ability to light it up from 3-point land.

Together, they’re shooting 39% from the perimeter, almost doubling the 20.9% conversion rate the team’s players with at least a year of experience have.

By filling up the cup from the outside, the rookies are fulfilling Tibbetts’ and U’Ren’s vision of having shooters around Thomas to facilitate the ball to.

“Credit to Phoenix. They did their research,” Thomas said postgame against Chicago. “Before coming here, they told me they were going out there to find shooters, and they definitely delivered on that.”

Against Chicago, Thomas tied the franchise single-game record for assists with 15. Nine of those assists came on made 3-pointers by the rookies.

WNBA Notes: Alyssa Thomas wreaking havoc, DeWanna Bonner struggling to fit

That game also saw Akoa Makani, Held, Laksa and Westbeld all make three perimeter shots, the first time four rookies had done that in WNBA history.

Not only can they make shots in flow with the offense, but they’re also capable of hitting them when the pressure is on. To beat the Mystics, Akoa Makani and Westbeld provided critical makes down the stretch that helped lift Phoenix to the 68-62 win.

“I missed a few before that,” Westbeld said postgame. “So you just got to keep telling yourself, just keep shooting the ball. You can’t get in your head about missing those shots. It’s all about the next shot. And my teammates and everyone’s so confident in me to keep shooting the ball. And AT found me on the wing again, and I just let it fly.”

These four players’ ability to make shots has earned them the trust of the coaching staff and the veteran players on the floor around them.

“I think that’s the fun part of basketball and sports is building belief, building trust, in the person next to you,” Tibbetts said pregame against the Sky. “It says a lot about AT with under a minute to go to drive it and kick it out to Kat in the corner, and her hit a big three. … And then the next possession, AT coming off, throwing it to Satou. Satou drives the nail, and Mo’s wide open, and Mo’s there ready to knock it down. And so we want to win games, we want to compete, but we also want a group that believes in each other.”

As Phoenix struggles with injuries, the play of their first-year players becomes even more crucial. After six games, there’s far more knowledge around the league of what these players are capable of, but if they can continue to play at a high level, Phoenix may have found the perfect mixture of players to support their Big 3.

“As some of our younger players, or newer players to the W, get more minutes, it’s going to get harder because now you’re on a scouting report, and maybe they didn’t think you could play because they just maybe never heard of you,” Tibbetts said pregame versus the Mystics. “And so they’re getting opportunities with some of the injuries that we’ve had, and that’s the exciting part, is now we’re going to get to see how they play when people know who they are, and can they still get it done.”