In a trade with the Chicago Sky, the Phoenix Mercury acquired forward Morgan Bertsch and all-star and WNBA champion Khahaleh Copper.
Phoenix: In exchange for forwards Brianna Turner and Michaela Onyenwere, as well as the Mercury’s first-round picks in 2024 (third overall) and 2026, the Chicago Sky sent All-Star and WNBA Champion wing Kahleah Copper and forward Morgan Bertsch to the Phoenix Mercury, the organization announced today. In exchange for the rights to a 2026 second-round pick swap with Phoenix, Chicago will receive its 2025 second-round pick back from Phoenix (which the Mercury got in a four-team transaction prior to the 2023 season).
“It’s not often that you get to add a player of Kahleah’s caliber in her prime,” Mercury general manager Nick U’Ren said. She has a real aptitude for scoring goals and is among our league’s most athletic and exciting players. She is also an exceptional two-way player, a passionate competitor, and a past champion. Her length and activity can cause havoc on the defensive end of the game. We are thrilled about Morgan’s potential to contribute energy and a scoring punch off the bench. She is a deft shooter and an astute defender.
In 2023, the 29-year-old Copper—who has been named an All-Star three times (2021, 2022, 2023)—had her finest statistical season to date, averaging a career-high 18.7 points (7th in the WNBA), 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. In 2022, the 6-1 wing made a career-high 69 three-point field goals and shot a career-best 40.4% from three-point range (4th WNBA, minimum 50 attempts). A superb scorer at both levels, Copper was one of only four players in the top-15 in 2023 for both two- and three-point field goals made, along with Breanna Stewart, Arike Ogunbowale, and Satou Sabally.
A proven winner, Copper led the Sky to its first WNBA title in franchise history in 2021 and was named Finals MVP after averaging 17.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals in the Sky’s four-game defeat of the Mercury. With Chicago, she led the Sky to five straight playoff appearances (2019–23).
Originally selected seventh overall (first round) in the 2016 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics, Copper has spent the last seven seasons (2017–23) with the Sky, leading the team in scoring the last three. The Philadelphia native and Rutgers product won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the 2022 FIBA World Cup and was just named to the team’s 12-person roster, alongside Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, for the 2024 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will take place in Belgium from February 8–11.
Bertsch, a 6-4 forward, averaged 4.4 points and 1.7 rebounds while shooting 45.6% from the field and 44.4% from three-point range in 28 games (five starts) with Chicago last season. Originally selected 29th overall in the 2019 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings, Bertsch played four years at UC Davis, where she averaged 18.3 points and 5.2 rebounds and finished as the Aggies’ (women’s and men’s) all-time leading scorer. Bertsch was named Big West Conference Player of the Year (2019), Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player (2019) and Big West Conference All-Tournament Team (2017, 2018, 2019).
Turner, the 11th overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft, was acquired by the Mercury from the Atlanta Dream on draft night. In five seasons with the Mercury, she appeared in 158 career games (134 starts) and averaged 5.2 points (58.2% shooting), 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. The two-time All-Defensive First Team selection (2020, 2021) holds the franchise records for the most rebounds in a season (302) and most rebounds in a game (21). Onyenwere, the 2021 WNBA Rookie of the Year, was acquired by Phoenix in a four-team trade prior to the 2023 season. Onyenwere appeared in all 40 games (27 starts) for the Mercury last season and averaged 8.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists (all career-highs). She was one of only three players in the league last season to post three 18-plus-point performances off the bench.
The three-time WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury will open the 2024 WNBA season on the road against the Las Vegas Aces on May 14, followed by the Fry’s Food Stores Home Opener vs. the Atlanta Dream on May 18.
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