Just 12 hours after a scrimmage and 6 days before the season opener Corey Gaines and the Phoenix Mercury made a few more roster cuts. The team has let go Amanda Johnson (2012 No. 33 pick), forward Chastity Reed, and local point guard product Dymond Simon out of Arizona State.
These moves are not the last as the team needs to cut the roster down to 11 total players by May 17th in preparation for the season opener against the Minnesota Lynx.
Johnson and Simon were not full participants in Training Camp, did not play in the exhibition against the Japanese National Team, and were reaches to make the roster. As profiled on draft day Johnson is an elite shooting center that Coach Gaines thought would be a perfect fit in fast breaks as the trailer shooting threes. Then there was Simon who was a part of an overhaul at point guard that now features three options in rookie Samantha Prahalis and newcomers Alexis Hornbuckle and Andrea Riley.
Reed was an interesting cut as she looked good in the scrimmage as a mid-range shooting forward. She plays with a lot of energy and passion. Unfortunately she played a position that was not of major need and was let go because of that.
This is what the roster looks like as of right now:
PG - Andrea Riley
PG - Alexis Hornbuckle
PG - Samantha Prahalis
SG - Diana Taurasi
SG - Alexis Gray-Lawson
F - DeWanna Bonner
F - Candice Dupree
F - Charde Houston
F - Penny Taylor (Injured, out for the year)
C - Nakia Sanford
C - Krystal Thomas
C - Avery Warley
C - Zane Tamane
Of the 13 players left only Taurasi, Taylor, Dupree, and Sanford have more than four years experience in the WNBA. The youth movement has begun and the future of the team could be in the players that make the roster this season.
Two more cuts are coming soon and they will likely come from the center pool that currently has four player. As the Mercury host Media Day on May 16th more information on roster moves is surely to come out.