Kia Nurse has agreed to join the Seattle Storm, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Projected to be fully healthy, she brings veteran scoring alongside Jewell Loyd. It’s the first deal the club has gotten to the finish line, after a tumultuous couple of days. To this point, free agency hasn’t quite gone Seattle’s way, after they failed to retain Breanna Stewart and to woo Courtney Vandersloot.
BREAKING: Former Phoenix Mercury guard Kia Nurse is signing with the Seattle Storm, a source told ESPN. Nurse spent the last two years in Phoenix — one of which she was recovering from an ACL tear — after being traded from the New York Liberty
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) February 3, 2023
Nurse, 26, tore the ACL in her right knee in the 2021 playoffs, forcing her to miss the entirety of the 2022 season. The devastating injury occurred during an intense semifinal series with Las Vegas, which Nurse’s Phoenix Mercury would go on to win in five games.
Nurse enjoyed a prolific college career at the University of Connecticut, winning national championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons. She averaged at least 25.0 minutes per game in each of her four seasons with the Huskies, and she averaged 13.5 points on 44.0 percent shooting from three as a senior in 2017-18.
Nurse was selected 10th overall by New York in the 2018 draft. She spent her first three professional seasons with the Liberty, being named as a WNBA All-Star in 2019. The native of Canada was traded to Phoenix in February of 2021, part of a three-team deal involving Seattle that sent former Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard to the Liberty.
In her lone season with the Mercury in 2021, Nurse averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds on 36.0 percent shooting.
