Ron Hoskins/NBAE through Getty Photographs
The Connecticut Solar signed eight-time All-Star Tina Charles on Sunday, based on ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
Alexa Philippou @alexaphilippou
Breaking: 8x WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympian Tina Charles is signing with the Connecticut Solar, sources instructed ESPN
Charles returns to the franchise that first drafted her No. 1 general in 2010, the place she spent the primary 4 seasons of her profession and received MVP in 2012 pic.twitter.com/tFwTqpxO9b
Per Philippou, Charles is signing a one-year cope with the crew that she began her WNBA profession with in 2010.
It has been a busy offseason for the Solar, as they sent DiJonai Carrington and the No. 12 general choose within the 2025 WNBA draft to the Dallas Wings on Saturday. Additionally they previously traded Alyssa Thomas and Ty Harris to the Phoenix Mercury.
Thomas and Harris had been despatched to the Mercury in trade for Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen and the No. 12 general choose within the 2025 WNBA draft. Connecticut then packaged the No. 12 choice with Carrington with a purpose to land Jacy Sheldon, the No. 5 general choose within the 2024 draft, in addition to the No. 8 choice within the 2025 draft.
As for Charles, the previous MVP will now return to the crew that she final performed for in 2013.
“In the present day marks an unbelievable second in our crew’s historical past as we welcome again one of many biggest gamers to each grace the WNBA,” Solar Basic Supervisor Morgan Tuck mentioned, per the team’s official website. “Tina not solely helped outline the success of this franchise throughout her early years, however she additionally set the bar for excellence, each on and off the courtroom. Her ardour, management, and dedication to the sport have left an unbelievable mark on our league, and we could not be extra excited to have her return to the crew the place all of it started.”
Charles is without doubt one of the most completed gamers in WNBA historical past, sitting at No. 1 on the league’s all-time rebounding leaderboard. She’s additionally No. 2 on the league’s all-time scoring checklist, solely trailing 11-time All-Star Diana Taurasi.
The 36-year-old might not carry out on the similar stage in comparison with her All-Star days, however Charles has confirmed that she will nonetheless be a key starter. In 39 appearances with the Atlanta Dream in 2024, she averaged 14.9 factors and 9.6 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per sport whereas capturing 45.6 % from the sector.
Because the Solar proceed to retool their lineup after coming off a semifinal look within the playoffs, they introduced again a WNBA icon on Sunday.