Connecticut Sun re-sign 5-time WNBA All-Star DeWanna Bonner to 1-year deal for 2024 season
The Connecticut Sun continued its active free agency by re-signing five-time WNBA All-Star DeWanna Bonner on a one-year deal, the team announced Tuesday.
Bonner was an unrestricted free agent and reportedly had interest in both the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury, but the 14-year veteran ultimately remained in Connecticut alongside fiancée and four-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas. Bonner has played for the Sun since 2020 when she was traded by Phoenix for three first-round draft picks.
Bonner and Thomas were centerpieces of the Sun in 2023, and both were named WNBA All-Stars in the same season for the first time since Bonner joined the team. The 6-foot-2 forward started every regular-season game and averaged a team-high 17.4 points with 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game. She also joined Tamika Catchings as one of two players in WNBA history to record at least 6,800 points, 2,800 rebounds, 1,000 assists, 550 steals and 300 blocks in her career.
“We’re excited to have DB return to the Sun,” Sun coach Stephanie White said in a release. “She’s a Hall of Fame player whose legacy extends beyond the court. She’s a cornerstone of everything we do, and we are grateful to have her back.”
The Mercury drafted Bonner with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2009 draft, and she won two WNBA championships (2009, 2014) over a decade with the franchise. Bonner was the league’s Sixth Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons from 2009-11, and she earned her first All-Star selection in 2015. She was also the comeback player of the year in 2018
Bonner had two more All-Star seasons in Phoenix in 2018-19 before she was traded to the Sun. She has earned two All-Star selections in four seasons with Connecticut (2021, 2023). Bonner set a franchise record in 2023 for points in a single season with 697, and her 41 points against the Las Vegas Aces on June 8 were the most by a Sun player in a single game.
Prior to the WNBA, Bonner played for Auburn from 2005-09 and was the SEC Player of the Year in her senior season. She still holds Auburn’s program records for career and single-season points, and the Tigers retired her No. 24 jersey on Jan. 21.
The Sun have been one of the most active teams since the WNBA free agency signing period began on Feb. 1. The team also re-signed 2022 Sixth Player of the Year Brionna Jones on Monday, and it has executed two trades for veteran guards. Connecticut acquired veteran guard Tiffany Mitchell and a second-round draft pick from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Natisha Heideman, and they sent Rebecca Allen to the Mercury to sign former UConn star Moriah Jefferson.
