Celeste Taylor miraculously returns to Mercury 1 week after short stint with Sun

Needing to make a move since they traded Sug Sutton to the Washington Mystics and were below the roster requirement of 11 players after the WNBA trade deadline, Phoenix had to make a corresponding move to reach the quota and they elected to bring back Taylor.

Taylor, the Indiana Fever’s second-round (15th overall) pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, has played 11 games split between the Fever (five), Mercury (four) and Sun (two) in her first year in the league.

She was waived on June 25 by Indiana and was originally signed by Phoenix on July 12. The 23-year-old averaged 2.5 points, 1.8 assists and 1.0 rebounds per game in her initial stint with the Mercury. Against the Chicago Sky on Aug. 15, Taylor scored a career-high six points.

A few hours after her Mercury contract expired, she opted to sign with the Sun and appeared in two games, scoring two points against the Dallas Wings last Friday.

The Sun didn’t bring the New York native back, so she pulled off a U-turn and is now a Mercury once again. A team is allowed to sign a player to three seven-day contracts in a single season, and Taylor is on her second one with Phoenix.

The Mercury will look to get back on track after Wednesday’s 72-63 loss to the Atlanta Dream when both teams clash in a rematch tonight at 4:30 p.m. PT.