RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A 12-point swing in the fourth quarter separated the Mercury and Sky on Monday night at Wintrust Arena, with the former capitalizing on the mistakes of the latter to earn a 106-101 victory.
The trade deadline separated them even more: The Sky stood pat, while the Mercury swung for the fences.
The Mercury landed the biggest name on the market, acquiring five-time All-Star guard Kelsey Plum from the Sparks for young guard Monique Akoa Makani, a first-round draft pick in 2027 and a second-rounder in 2028. It was only the fourth time in league history an All-Star was traded in-season.
Mercury general manager Nick U’Ren framed the move as opportunistic.
‘‘I approach the [trade] deadline very opportunistically,’’ he said. ‘‘Sometimes that means selling, sometimes it means buying, sometimes it means a little bit of both. Every deadline is what deals come our way. This was something we wanted to pounce on.’’
Why the Mercury wanted Plum needs very little explaining. She’s one of the best scorers alive — she scored a cool 20 points off the bench in her first game in a Mercury uniform — and her work ethic is revered around the league.
The question was more about timing.
Plum will be a free agent after this season, and she reportedly wasn’t expected to stay in Los Angeles. The Mercury could have waited to court her in free agency and given up nothing. U’Ren signaled they wanted to cut the line and start pitching her now.
‘‘The chance to get Kelsey into our four walls and have her feel what we’re all about, have her feel our staff, our players and our organizational dynamic, was really important to us,’’ U’Ren said. ‘‘So we wanted to be aggressive in getting her here as early as possible.’’
U’Ren and coach Nate Tibbetts are hoping that Plum buys in for the long term and that it helps the Mercury’s playoff chances.
‘‘We’ve got to go on a run,’’ Tibbetts said. ‘‘We understand that. Our goal is to play good basketball. But we also want to make this a place that KP wants to be for a while. This isn’t just a 14- or 15-game rental in our mind; this is something we want to build upon.’’
Plum, meanwhile, is just getting her bearings. She was in shock when her agent called to tell her about the trade, and everything since has happened fast. She likened her last 48 hours to the Spider-Man multiverse.
‘‘It’s just a lot of different dimensions going,’’ she said.
Bringing her down to earth are some familiar faces. She played for Tibbetts with USA Basketball last fall and has won gold medals with Mercury stars Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper on the national team.
Monday marked her return after a month out with a lower-leg injury. Even on a minutes restriction, she adapted seamlessly, going 3-for-5 from three-point range and dishing out four assists in addition to her 20 points.
‘‘When you play hard and compete, the game just opens up for you,’’ she said.
The Mercury entered the game in the same hole as the Sky. Both teams came into the season expected to make the playoffs. Both had injuries throw them off-course, with the Sky losing leading scorer Rickea Jackson and the Mercury playing most of the first half of the season without Sami Whitcomb.
Only one of them left Wintrust Arena with momentum. The victory moved the Mercury up to 10th place, still 5½ games out of a playoff spot. The Sky dropped to 11th and six games back with a loss they could ill-afford as they try to use this homestand to keep their playoff hopes alive.
‘‘It hurts, obviously, as a team that’s fighting for the same thing that we are,’’ Sky coach Tyler Marsh said. ‘‘They came onto our home court and took one, so it’s a credit to them. But for us, we’ve got two more opportunities to protect home court.’’
Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who had a double-double but shouldered the blame for mistakes down the stretch, echoed the disappointment.
‘‘This obviously was a huge game just in where we are [and] where they are in the standings, everything,’’ Vandersloot said. ‘‘We knew how important this is. You score 101 points on your home floor, you're supposed to win. . . . This one hurts.’’
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