Mercury GM Jim Pitman says he expects Skylar Diggins-Smith back in 2023: 'She is under contract'
Phoenix Mercury general manager Jim Pitman said he expects Skylar Diggins-Smith to be a part of the team next year by noting she is under contract with the Mercury for the 2023 season.
Diggins-Smith missed the final four games of the regular season due to personal reasons while the Mercury were competing for a playoff berth amid a rocky year. She was away from the team for the first round of the postseason when the No. 8 Mercury were swept by the No. 1 Las Vegas Aces.
"Sky is under contract for next year, yes," Pitman told media during exit interviews on Sunday. "She's obviously not with us for personal reasons that [I] really can't talk about. But she is under contract, so yes."
#Mercury GM Jim Pitman on status of Skylar Diggins-Smith for 2023 #WNBA pic.twitter.com/RbjIng3k2H
— jeffmetcalfe (@jeffmetcalfe) August 22, 2022
The Mercury experienced a difficult season with Brittney Griner, their all-WNBA center, classified by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained in Russia since Feb. 17. They agreed to a "contract divorce" — essentially a buyout — with free agency signing Tina Charles last month.
Injuries have also played a large role and Pitman said he signed 31 contracts — many hardship or short-term signings — over the season. Diana Taurasi, who was on all three of the Mercury's title teams, missed the end of the season with a right quad injury.
Diggins-Smith's all-WNBA campaign amid controversy
Diggins-Smith, a ninth-year veteran, averaged 19.7 points (ranking third in the league and a near-career best) and 5.5 assists (seventh) in 34 minutes per game. She added four rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, all top-three on the team.
The Mercury acquired the 5-9 point guard in February 2020 after she asked for a trade out of Dallas. She signed a four-year, supermax deal that runs through 2023, when she's due to make a $234,350 base salary. Only Diggins-Smith, Brianna Turner and Diamond DeShields are signed to contracts for next season, per Her Hoop Stats. Taurasi and Griner, who the Mercury are more focused on bringing home than worrying about contracts, are unrestricted free agents.
Diggins-Smith, 32, played to a potential all-WNBA honor in 2022, but there were signs of tension with teammates and rookie head coach Vanessa Nygaard throughout the year. Leaving the team amid a playoff push raised questions on if she would be back in the desert.
What happened with Skylar Diggins-Smith and the Mercury?
The first sign of on-court tension came less than two weeks into the season when Diggins-Smith and Taurasi were in a verbal altercation on the bench. Teammates stepped in between them. Nygaard said afterward is was "passion" and the Griner situation playing a part.
Diggins-Smith tweeted "I'm strong enough to be the villain!" hours later. She missed the team's next two games for what the injury report called a non-COVID-19 illness.
In July, she was not named a starter for the All-Star team, which is selected by a combination of fan, media and player votes. She fell out because of her 14th ranking by players. Players and media do not vote by listing out their top-ranked players; they submit ballots with 10 names on it and players are awarded points. They are then ranked by point totals. Player and media ballots are not released, but it's fair to ask if all players vote and if they vote for teammates or friends they want in the game.
Diggins-Smith was voted in afterward as a reserve by coaches. Taurasi was not, which prompted Nygaard to tell media it will "will not be an All-Star game because Diana Taurasi's not playing." Diggins-Smith quote-tweeted the Mercury's tweet of Nygaard's comments with a clown emoji. Phoenix deleted the tweet, and Diggins-Smith deleted her Twitter account earlier this month.
Her simmering tension with Nygaard appeared to hit its public crescendo on July 31 late in a blowout loss to the New York Liberty at Barclays Center. She could be heard on the broadcast yelling "Please take me out! Please!" to Nygaard on the bench. That same weekend her first collection with Puma launched.
She finished out the road trip by playing two against the Connecticut Sun, including the day a Russian judge sentenced Griner to nine years in prison on drug charges. That was Aug. 4 and players were crying as they took the court. Diggins-Smith told media afterward "nobody wanted to even play today" and questions about Griner were adding to their trauma.
When the club returned to Phoenix, she was listed as out with a non-COVID related illness for the Aug. 6 game. She missed the following game for personal reasons on Aug. 10. The team announced the following day she would miss the remainder of the season due to personal reasons. They suspended her contract dating back to Aug. 10.
