Trade deadline season is one of the busiest times on the WNBA calendar, and few teams have found themselves at the center of speculation quite like the Phoenix Mercury. While rumors continue to surround the franchise, Alyssa Thomas isn’t spending much time thinking about what could happen next.
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The forward recently spoke to The IX Sports ahead of the trade deadline, where she was asked about what was going through her mind as Phoenix continues to be in trade discussions. Her response was simple.
“Nothing,” she said. “I don’t know what to expect. I think the main goal is just focused on what we have to do to try and make our playoff push.”
Her comments come at an extremely pivotal time for Phoenix. After making the WNBA Finals last year off an impressive postseason run following a 27-17 record in the regular season, the team has woefully underperformed this year. The Mercury currently sit at just 10-18, the 12th seed, and are 5.5 games back of the final playoff spot, currently held by the Washington Mystics.
However, the blame for that cannot be put on Thomas, who, after being 3rd in voting for MVP last year, has been brilliant this season, putting on regular all-around performances. She averages 14.4 points on solid efficiency, along with seven rebounds and 8.3 assists as well as some of the best defense in the league. On top of this, she has made it clear that her future is committed to Phoenix.
“Obviously I signed a long-term contract,” Thomas said. “I don’t think you can look at the whole picture right now. Right now, like I said, we’re focused on what this season holds and trying to make this final push with the little games that are left.”
She re-signed with the team this past offseason on a three-year, $3.6 million deal, and is under contract until the end of the 2028 season.
Latest Report Offers Clarity on Alyssa Thomas’ Future in Phoenix
Regardless of what Alyssa Thomas thinks, if recent reports are to be believed, she might not have to worry about Phoenix selling on key players. According to The Athletic‘s Annie Costabile, while talks involving Thomas did gain traction earlier in the season, they have since gone cold.
“There were trade talks including Thomas during the Mercury’s losing streaks earlier this season, according to multiple league sources, but they have since gone cold,” Costabile wrote.
For now, it seems that nothing can be predicted with certainty for the Mercury, and head coach Nate Tibbets shares Thomas’ mindset; he’s not focusing on it.
“I think you never know what to expect at the deadline,” head coach Nate Tibbets said at Tuesday’s practice. “Again, my focus is the basketball. If there’s anything that I need to know about, Nick [U’Ren] will hit me then in our front office… Typically, I think at the deadline, most of the time in the W, there’s not a lot of moves. So yeah, I would expect us to just continue to focus on us and get better. That’s my focus.”
However, it does seem like there are targets the team is pursuing. According to Costabile’s report, they might have interest in Dallas Wings forward Alanna Smith. Smith, who was drafted by the Mercury, never gained real playing time with the team, but emerged as a defensive star with the Minnesota Lynx, being named co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2025. However, her time with Dallas has not been great, as she has been relegated to limited time off the bench.
However, buying low on Smith required the team to figure out several financial questions.
“The Mercury have $857,740 in cap space remaining this season, which means they’d have to send salary back to Dallas or otherwise clear room to land Smith,” Costabile wrote.
Only time will tell what happens, but in the meantime, Alyssa Thomas has made it clear that her focus is on the basketball court, away from speculation.