Mercury Sign Celeste Taylor to a seven-day contract

The Phoenix Mercury have signed rookie guard Celeste Taylor to a seven-day contract.

Taylor, the 15th pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft (by Indiana), appeared in five games this season prior to being waived by the Fever on June 25th.

The Mercury are adding a 5-11 guard who was most recently named a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist, in tandem with garnering Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Taylor also earned conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2022-23 at Duke, in the ACC, while also setting a program record for steals (11) in an NCAA tournament game.

She ranked top-50 in the nation in total steals three times in her collegiate career, including 38th her Senior year with 77 in 31 games played.

Also of note: each of her last four seasons in college, she led her team in “stocks” (steals + blocks).

She is good with on-ball pressure, as well as screen navigation and general awareness on the defensive end of the floor — she competes.

In catch-and-shoot scenarios, she had a points-per-shot mark of 0.98, which ranked a solid 68th percentile per Synergy.

In tandem there, she excelled playing off spot-ups, and her drives really popped in her Senior season.

She also scored 104 points at the rim on 64.1% and posted a 1.28 points per shot there, which ranked 90th percentile.

A lot of said shots at the rim came via drives. Someone pick-and-roll (0.72 PPP), some off of handoffs (0.83 PPP), some in transition (1.047 PPP) — where she ranked 60th percentile or better in points per possession marks respectively last season.

Off the spot-ups, she was adept with drives off closeouts, which is where her finishing at the rim was a major plus.

Taylor is a fiery competitive player who will get after it defensively in a way akin to Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper.

In alignment there, Taylor is also a player who will get out and run, to help up the pace of play, and defend in a way that’s conducive to that style of play with activity and multiple efforts that result in defensive successes.

Defensive feel, activity, and playmaking on that end of the floor are at her foundation, but finding consistency in dynamics pertaining to the offensive end will be where it’s determined how much minute volume she can shoulder.

Particularly, though she isn’t a “true” lead guard, she helps to fill the gaps on the margins while Sug Sutton and Diana Taurasi are out.

I will be watching for just how often the ball is in her hands in the minutes she does garner, as well as what she’s able to do in the pick-and-roll context.

Only eight attempts from deep in that particular context, but she was comfortable pulling up against under’s or soft switches, in the pull-up pockets.

That’s obviously a very small sample size and volume, but I am curious if she has the same level of confidence in letting it fly, and what her general discernment against soft(er) coverages on the W level will entail.

In all, she has the makings of a main rotation WNBA player, who happens to be in search of opportunity.

Phoenix should be a solid landing spot for Celeste Taylor to begin laying the foundation for a WNBA career, with potential for more opportunity should her fit in their context hit as its potential suggests it can.

In all, on a “trial,” style of contract and opportunity extended by the Mercury, this is a solid dice roll – if it hits, there is an opportunity to add to your context, if it doesn’t, they’ve bridged the gap to the All-Star/Olympic Break with a viable player in-place of players who are injured at the moment on the perimeter.