How does the 2023 Mercury rank among the worst in team history?
The Phoenix Mercury have had a disappointing year, as fans and players are both let down by the team’s struggle to one of their worst finishes in more than ten years.
The Mercury’s win percentage of .237 at 9-29 is the third lowest in the team’s 20+ year history. To provide context, yengols.com studied the franchise’s toughest seasons from their first year in 1997 to compare with the current 2023 WNBA season.
The Mercury will conclude their season with back-to-back games against the Las Vegas Aces. They will play at home on Friday at 7 p.m. and then travel to Vegas for the season finale at noon on Sunday. Arizona sportsbooks have Phoenix listed as an 18.5-point underdog for the home game on Friday night.
Phoenix Mercury’s Worst Records
Arizona betting apps have listed Las Vegas as the front runner to win the WNBA championship with odds of -155, while the New York Liberty are close behind at +140. The rest of the teams have odds of +3000 or higher to win the title.
Mercury is on track to become a top draft pick.
On Thursday, the Mercury held the lowest winning percentage in the 12-team league, putting Phoenix in position to secure the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. This would mark the first time since the 2013 WNBA Draft when they selected forward Brittney Griner, who has since become an eight-time All-Star and holds the record for most blocked shots in WNBA history.
Multiple media sources have pinpointed college athletes Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Paige Bueckers of UConn as standout prospects for the WNBA team that lands the top pick. Caesars Sportsbook Arizona has ranked Connecticut and Iowa among the top three teams with the highest chances of winning the national championship. Defending champions LSU hold the top spot with +220 odds, followed by UConn at +500. South Carolina and Iowa are tied for third place with +1000 odds.
Given Phoenix’s track record of drafting top talent, such as landing Diana Taurasi in 2004, the Mercury are well-positioned to potentially select another future Hall of Famer in the 2024 draft.
Author
For more than seven years, Peterson Christopher has been deeply involved in the Arizona sports and sports betting scene. He currently holds the position of lead writer at yengols.com, building on his past writing contributions to ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly, and the Green Valley News.
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