WELCOME BACK, RENEE! PDF Print E-mail
Written by Bob Phillips   
Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Photo by Brian Pohorylo

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The Connecticut Sun have acquired Renee Montgomery in the biggest deal in franchise history.
The Connecticut Sun have pulled off one of the biggest deals not just in franchise history, but in the history of the WNBA, by acquiring former UConn great Renee Montgomery and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft from the Minnesota Lynx for point guard Lindsay Whalen and the No. 2 overall selection in the 2010 draft.

A UConn legend who collected 1,977 points and 626 assists while leading the Huskies to two Final Fours, Montgomery averaged nine points and 2.1 assists last year as a rookie with the Lynx. Drafted No. 4 overall by the Lynx in 2009, Montgomery scored a career-high 24 points against the Sun last Aug. 7. She also had a career-high nine made field goals in that game.

Whalen, a Minnesota native and a former star for the University of Minnesota Gophers, is the Sun’s all-time assist leader with 964 dishes. A hard-nosed, gritty player, Whalen helped Connecticut reach the WNBA Finals in each of her first two seasons in the league, 2004 and 2005. Connecticut had consecutive 26-win seasons in 2005 and 2006, recording more wins in a single season than any team in Eastern Conference history.

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The popular Lindsey Whalen goes home to Minnesota in the blockbuster deal. (photo by Gary Hamilton)
While on face value, the transaction looks like a classic swap of hometown heroes, with the Sun gaining youth and potential and the Lynx gaining experience, the key to the deal lies in the exchange of first-round picks in the upcoming draft. The Sun have successfully positioned themselves to land UConn star Tina Charles, the 6-4 center out of Christ the King High School in Queens where she was the Gatorade National Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year. Last year, she led the Huskies to an undefeated season in which they defeated every opponent by double digits, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 NCAA Final Four tournament.

"We had a rare opportunity to leverage a high draft pick and turn it into a bigger, more encompassing deal," said Sun vice president and general manager Chris Sienko. “While we are always reluctant to change an integral piece of our core group, we had to look at this as a unique chance to make a significant impact now and in the future. There is no doubt our fans will miss everything Lindsay has brought to the Sun over the past six years, though this new chapter could be even more exciting.”

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Can Tina Charles be in the Sun's future plans?
Ten years from now, this transaction might be compared to the Celtics' swindle of the Golden State Warriors in 1980. Sitting in the No. 1 position, and having drafted Larry Bird the two years previous (although Bird played his senior year at Indiana State, leading the Sycamores to the national championship game vs. Michigan State and Magic Johnson), the cagey Red Auerbach sent the No. 1 overall pick in the draft to Golden State for Robert Parish and Golden State’s first-round pick (No. 3 overall) which they parlayed into McHale, who had been the apple of Auerbach’s eye all along. Golden State chose Joe Barry Carroll, a center out of Purdue, with the overall No. 1 pick, while the Utah Jazz took Louisville’s Darrel Griffith No. 2.

“Today's trade is one of the most important and difficult decisions we have made in the history of our franchise,” commented Sun coach Mike Thibault. “Six years ago, we traded a popular point guard [Shannon Johnson] for the draft pick we used to select Lindsay Whalen. [Lindsay] became a catalyst for a lot of the success this franchise has enjoyed during her time here, and we owe her a great deal of gratitude.”

Needless to say, with Montgomery and possibly Charles joining a healthy Asjha Jones, the Mohegan Sun Arena will be rocking in 2010.
 
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