The Phoenix Mercury’s Natasha Cloud and Brittney Griner will now be Unrivaled teammates after a multi-team trade on Saturday sent Cloud to the Phantom Basketball Club.
PHOENIX — Unrivaled’s Natasha Cloud was traded twice on Saturday in the 3-on-3 offseason basketball league. The Mercury point guard will now be teammates with Brittney Griner on the Phanton Basketball Club.
Cloud was originally assigned to the Lunar Owls Basketball Club during the league’s “Basketball Club Selection” process on Nov. 20, but she was dealt to the Laces Basketball Club for Courtney Williams on Saturday. The Laces then traded Cloud to the Phantom Basketball Club for Jackie Young and Tiffany Hayes.
Cloud and Griner will team up with Marina Mabrey, Satou Sabally and Katie Lou Samuelson on the Phantom Basketball Club.
Mercury forward Kahleah Copper is also playing in the 3-on-3 league. She was assigned to the Rose Basketball Club alongside Chelsea Gray, Brittney Sykes, Angel Reese, Azurá Stevens and Lexie Hull.
The Unrivaled league, which was founded by former UConn teammates Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, will have each team based out of Miami this upcoming season.
“We wanted a city that was gonna be obviously warm in the offseason,” Stewart told Desert Wave Media. “Something that’s different than an actual WNBA market. And who doesn’t want to be in Miami in the winter months.”
The competition will begin on Jan. 17 and will last nine weeks, including the playoffs. After a round-robin phase, the top-four teams in the standings will make the postseason.
In addition, a 1-on-1 single elimination tournament will be played from Feb. 10-14.
Regular games will feature four 10-minute quarters but the court will be about 2/3 the size of a WNBA court.
“It opens up the floor more, so there’s more space,” Collier told Desert Wave Media. “You still have the up and down where you can still have the natural flow of a basketball game but there’s more room for the best players in the world to showcase their talent.”
“I think having a little bit smaller than a regulation size court is important because it’s gonna make the games quick,” Stewart told Desert Wave Media. “If you’ve ever played full-court 3-on-3 at like a (YMCA) or something like that, you’re using the side baskets and making sure the game is short, it’s quick.
It’s gonna keep the fan and the consumer locked in and action-packed basketball.”
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