Alexa PhilippouApr 10, 2026, 12:24 PM ET
- Covers women's college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
Guards Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes have agreed to terms to join the Toronto Tempo, their agent Marcus Crenshaw of The FAM Sports Agency told ESPN on Friday.
With each agreeing to two-year deals at about the max in Year 1, they are the first known million-dollar backcourt pairing under the WNBA's new collective bargaining agreement and a huge splash for the expansion team.
Mabrey was selected by the Tempo in last week's expansion draft and as their sole unrestricted free agent selection was subsequently designated as a core player. Sykes is Toronto's first major free agent signing after spending the 2025 campaign with the Washington Mystics and Seattle Storm.
Mabrey was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Sparks out of Notre Dame in 2019. After stints in Dallas and Chicago, Mabrey, a 5-foot-11 guard, spent all of last year with the Connecticut Sun and averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. She scored 20 or more points in nine games.
Mabrey, who was traded by the Sky to the Sun during the 2024 season, asked for a trade before the 2025 season, but Connecticut denied her request.
Sykes, a 5-foot-9 guard, is coming off the first All-Star nod of her career. The four-time all-defensive team selection averaged 14.1 points, 4.0 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game last season, which she began with the Mystics before being moved at the trade deadline to the Storm.
Before her time with the Mystics, Sykes, the seventh overall draft pick in 2017 out of Syracuse, played for the Atlanta Dream and Sparks.
