With the start of the 2025 WNBA season this coming Friday, May 16, teams had until the day before, May 15, to cut their rosters down to 11 or 12 players. The Connecticut Sun were one of the teams who still needed to make final roster cuts, and one of those moves was a surprising one. The team opted to make veteran guard Diamond DeShields one of the final roster cuts ahead of the start of the season, as per ESPN.

The decision to cut Diamond DeShields ensured that the Sun would begin the season with four rookies on their opening-day roster. DeShields had signed with the Sun as a free agent in the offseason after spending last year with the Chicago Sky.

A member of the Sky’s 2021 championship team, DeShields was originally selected by the Sky with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft. She played five total seasons with the Sky, and one season with the Phoenix Mercury, before joining the Sun for 2025 training camp. DeShields sat out the 2023 season as she recovered from a knee injury. She was an All-Star in 2019.

With this latest move, the Sun roster now sits at 13 players. Last season’s first round pick, Leïla Lecan, had her contract temporarily suspended until she joins the team following overseas commitments. Since her contract was not fully suspended, she will be permitted to join the Sun at a later point, at which they will have to cut another player.

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With the Sun entering a rebuilding phase, the team hired Rachid Meziane, the Belgian national team head coach, to take the helm this season.

All three of the Sun’s 2025 draft picks will be on the roster to begin the season. They had two first round picks in Aneesah Morrow and No .7 and Saniya Rivers at No. 8, and a third round pick in Rayah Marshall at No. 25. The fourth rookie to make the Sun roster was Ivory Coast native Kariata Diaby who signed as a free agent.

Last season, the Sun advanced to the WNBA Semifinals where they were eliminated by the Minnesota Lynx. The core group of that team, which included Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris and Brionna Jones, left either through free agency or by sign-and-trade.