Alyssa Thomas Reportedly Finalizing New Mercury Contract in 2026 WNBA Free Agency

Six-time WNBA All-Star Alyssa Thomas is returning to the desert after agreeing to a new deal with the Phoenix Mercury.

Per Sean Hurd of ESPN and Andscape, Thomas is finalizing a contract with the Mercury in free agency.

When two franchise legends walk out the door, a rebuild typically follows. In the case of the Mercury, they got better.

Last winter, general manager Nick U'Ren spent little time reminiscing about the success Phoenix enjoyed with Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner together. Instead, he went out and added Thomas and three-time All-Star Satou Sabally. Sami Whitcomb, Kitija Laksa and Kalani Brown arrived to provide more depth to a top-heavy roster.

The result was the Mercury going from 19-21 in 2024 to 27-17 this past year.

Thomas was instrumental in the turnaround. During the regular season, she averaged 15.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 9.2 assists. Her best performance came in a losing effort to the Indiana Fever on July 30. She had 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes.

The 33-year-old remained one of the WNBA's elite two-way perimeter players, providing steady playmaking along with suffocating defense. She finished third in the MVP voting behind the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier.

As valuable as Thomas was for them, the Mercury experienced the same problems the Connecticut Sun did when they had the 6'2" point forward in a starring role. Her flaws become more and more troublesome the deeper her team gets into the postseason.

Thomas has gone 2-of-26 from beyond the arc for her career, and she's a sub-40 percent shooter outside of 10 feet, per Basketball Reference.

In the 2025 WNBA Finals, the Las Vegas Aces were all too willing to sag off Thomas and focus on Phoenix's other shooters, and she didn't have the scoring range to capitalize.

The series pretty much ended when A'ja Wilson's late heroics propelled Las Vegas to a 3-0 lead. In Game 3, Thomas nearly had a triple-double (14 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists), but she was held without a field goal in the fourth quarter. Her only shot attempt was a missed layup inside the final 30 seconds.

Thomas is unquestionably a winning player. She has competed in the Finals on three different occasions over a 12-year career. However, she also possesses some limitations that prevent her from being the No. 1 star on a team with championship aspirations. The contrast between her and Wilson was striking in that regard.

Re-signing Thomas is a huge boost to the Mercury's 2026 outlook. It's nonetheless important to build a roster that accounts fully for her strengths and weaknesses.