Brionna Jones signs multi-year contract to bring her back to Connecticut Sun

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On Feb. 5, the Connecticut Sun announced that Brionna Jones signed a multi-year contract.

“I think the culture that we’ve built in my four years that I’ve been here, just seeing how we’ve grown from my first season to now, I think that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to come back. I love this team. I love the organization and everything that we stand for so I’m excited to be back and be a part of that family again,” Jones said. 

Head coach and general manager Curt Miller said that re-signing Jones was a priority throughout the process. 

“Bri Jones was a huge priority prior to [Alyssa Thomas’] injury. AT’s injury obviously magnified our desire to have Bri Jones back with the Sun,” said head coach and general manager Curt Miller.

“She’s coming off a tremendous season, a legitimate candidate for most improved last season in the whole league, and just really got to show the league, the fans, the media, how talented she is and the type of success that she’s had internationally,” he added. 

Jones was drafted eighth overall in the 2017 WNBA Draft by Connecticut and 2021 will be her fifth season with the team. 

After averaging less than 10 minutes per game in each of her first three seasons, Jones was tasked with stepping up into the starting center role after teammate Jonquel Jones opted out of the 2020 season. 

And step up she did. Brionna Jones started 21 of 22 regular-season games and posted career-high numbers across the board, including 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 assists per game. She tallied a career-high 20 points twice, against the Seattle Storm on Aug. 4 and the Indiana Fever on Sept. 5. 

“She’s coming off a tremendous season, a legitimate candidate for most improved last season in the whole league, and just really got to show the league, the fans, the media, how talented she is and the type of success that she’s had internationally,” Miller stated. 

In the offseason, Jones has been working on her outside shot, something she’s been able to do in practice while playing overseas. 

Miller was complimentary of her shot and what she will be doing in the coming season, saying, “She’s got tremendous touch. Obviously led all of college basketball her senior year in field goal percentage, one of the premier field goal percentage shooters in the bubble last year … I feel like you’re going to see continued improvement in that 15- to 17-foot range and the occasional three when necessary.”

Looking ahead to the 2021 season, the Sun will look different. Miller noted on Feb. 2, prior to Jones’ re-signing, that with Thomas out with an injury, the team has an opportunity to play Brionna Jones and Jonquel Jones at the same time. 

“It’s going to be exciting just to have a different look on the court between both of us because we played the five position completely different. So I think just being able to be on the court with JJ is going to be exciting this season,” Brionna Jones said. 

Miller noted, “The one thing last year that I can speak of in the bubble is, as good of a year as Bri Jones had with AT on the floor at the same time, she could be double-teamed. Our spacing wasn’t quite as spread out. Well, you put a shooting post player on the floor with Bri Jones, and now you’ve got to expect driving lanes, harder to double, better spacing overall.”

Jones knows that she and Jonquel play two different styles, something that the team will able to use to its advantage. 

“I think it’s still important to have that low-post presence because I know JJ, she likes to float to the three and she likes the mid-range area, so I think just still continuing to have that presence in the low post is going to be important. Also, I just want to work on stretching my game too and get to the mid-range, just be as confident as I was at the end of the season, going into the beginning of the season,” she said.