LOS ANGELES – The blockbuster trade for All-Star guard Kelsey Plum may have been the offseason move that garnered the most attention for the Los Angeles Sparks, but the team still had a few other strong moves in free agency. One of the Sparks’ top free agent signings for the 2025 WNBA season was Mercedes Russell.
Throughout Mercedes Russell’s WNBA career, she’s been a traditional center getting her points in the paint, but for the upcoming Sparks season she’s got a plan to make herself even more of an offensive threat.
At the behest of new head coach Lynne Roberts, Russell plans to expand her shooting range out to the three-point line, while continuing to be a low post threat, something she feels still has relevancy in today’s game.
“I think for me, it’s just doing the little things to still be relevant. It’s still part of the game. Obviously the game has been evolving as of late, and I’m definitely looking forward to growing my game as a player, as a person,” Russell said during a Zoom call with media on Tuesday.
“Paint points have a been a part of the game and will always be a part of the game, I think that’s why it’s still relevant,” Russell continued. “But I’m definitely looking forward to stretching out, maybe hitting a few threes during the season to make Coach happy for sure.”
Throughout Russell’s seven-year WNBA career, she’s taken only one three-point shot. She didn’t take a single three-point shot during her four seasons in college at Tennessee.
Within the restricted area, Russell has shot 68.3 percent for her career, as per Her Hoop Stats. Outside of the restricted area, that percentage drops to 40.8 percent, and then to 33.1 percent from midrange. But Roberts, who recruited Russell back in college, knows that the ability to expand her shooting range is there.
“She’s a very cerebral player, understands the game, good passer and she can shoot,” Roberts said on the same media call. “I’d like to see if we can extend that range a little bit and get you back behind that line, I know you can do it.”
Mercedes Russell brings title experience to Sparks
When the 2025 WNBA season tips-off, it will be the first time in the past seven years that Russell will not be in a Seattle Storm jersey. After being drafted by the New York Liberty in the 2018 WNBA Draft, and appearing in two games for them that season, she was waived and picked up by the Storm.
Since then, she’s been a reliable center for the Storm whether she was starting or coming off the bench. She was a key player during the Storm’s 2020 championship run averaging 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 61.9 percent from the field.
Russell acknowledged that during free agency she was looking for a team that really invested their players, and that the Sparks fit that bill.
“They just communicated that with me throughout the whole process. It was an easy decision for me, obviously with the brand new staff and just the potential of the roster,” Russell said. “I’m just very excited to work with these teammates. We have depth at literally every position, and I would say a team full of dogs. So I’m excited just to get to work with them and start building that chemistry.”
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