The Connecticut Sun and Toronto Tempo tipped off the final run to the WNBA trade deadline with a swap headlined by Aneesah Morrow.
The sun has set on Aneesah Morrow's WNBA career in Connecticut.
With the league's annual trade deadline looming this weekend, the Connecticut Sun and Toronto Tempo announced a deal that would send the sophomore Morrow up north in exchange for Maria Kliundikova and a second-round pick in 2028. Toronto also waived Tima Pouye in a corresponding move.
"We're thrilled to welcome Aneesah to our organization," Tempo general manager Monica Wright declared in a statement. "She's a relentless competitor who impacts the game in so many ways, particularly with her ability to rebound at a high level. We believe she's one of the emerging frontcourt talents in this league, and we're excited to see her play in a Tempo uniform."
Up The Tempo
The maiden voyage of the Tempo (10-18) has seen its share of highlights, namely through the shooting antics of Marina Mabrey. A rash of injuries, however, has derailed their playoff hopes: a 32-point loss to Minnesota on Thursday placed it 5 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and it has dropped all but one of its past 10 as it works without Mabrey's partner in scoring Brittney Sykes.
The injury bug has been particularly cruel to the Tempo's post game: Isabelle Harrison and Nyara Sabally have missed significant time and the rebounding has suffered in turn. Toronto is letting up the most offensive rebounds in the WNBA entering Friday play and they're 13th of 15 teams on the overall board ledgers. The Tempo also allows the most second-chance points in the W at just under 15 a game.
Morrow should help stem the bleeding as she continues to build on a breakout freshman campaign: she's currently tied for seventh in rebounds per game with Nneka Ogwumike of Los Angeles and led the league in defensive rebound percentage last year. The seventh overall pick of the 2025 draft is also up nearly four full points per game compared to last year (11.6) on just over 42% from the field.
Morrow has done all that and more despite concerns about her size, ones she overcame to serve as the NCAA's leading rebounder twice at DePaul and LSU. She's the sixth player in NCAA history to earn the title two times and the first to do it at two different schools.
“She’s undersized, but she doesn’t let that determine her game or determine what she’s capable of,” now-former Sun teamma Aaliyah Edwards said of Morrow back in May, per Emily Adams of the Hartford Courant. “I love that for her, because she just brings that determination, that passion, that drive, just to be relentless with everything she does, and that’s what we need.”
Still working through her rookie contract, Morrow is signed through at least next season while a player option awaits in 2028.
Aneesah Morrow has been traded to the Tempo 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dZyTn4jgHY
— Real App (@realapp) July 31, 2026
CT You Later
Morrow was viewed as one of the most desirable assets on the final roster of the Sun (7-22), which is working through its farewell tour of Uncasville before moving south to resurrect the Houston Comets brand. Connecticut is in prime selling territory as the penultimate team on the current WNBA leaderboard,
Trading Morrow was a move that prepped for the Comets' future: Kliundikova is not expected to appear in this WNBA season and has spent of the year stationed with UMMC Ekaterinburg in her native Russia. Kliundikova averaged 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 34 appearances (1 start) with last year's Minnesota Lynx before the Tempo took her in the joint expansion draft.
The trade deadline is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET and the Sun might be done yet: eyes will likely linger on free agent-to-be Kennedy Burke while other young veterans like Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa could also garner interest as the countdown to transactional extinction continues.
Both teams will be on the floor shortly after the deadline's passing on Sunday: Connecticut will be in North Texas to face the Dallas Wings (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) while the Tempo is further out west to face the Golden State Valkyries down by the Bay Area (9:30 p.m. ET, TSN).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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