With each passing year, Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault's conversations with his Sacramento Monarchs counterpart would get progressively shorter.

Thibault would ask John Whisenant what it would take for Kara Lawson to get dealt to Connecticut. It got to the point that when Whisenant saw Thibault's number on his phone he would answer "we're not trading her."

When Sacramento folded, there was nothing standing between Thibault and signing Lawson as an unrestricted free agent.

With the Sun in need of more consistent perimeter shooting from the guard position, Lawson seems like an ideal fit for the rebuilt Connecticut Sun.

Lawson and Thibault got to know each other when Thibault was an assistant coach and Lawson a reserve guard on the gold medal winning U.S. Olympic basketball team. That familiarity along with the fact that the Sun have the same head coach and general manager since the franchise relocated from Orlando in 2003 appealed to Lawson. So did what she sees as championship potential and the team-first atmosphere of the players on the Connecticut roster.

"I think that is really important and that is another thing I think I looked at the roster and these players get it," Lawson said. "At the pro level, depending on the teams some players are worried about other things. The players in my experience with all of them, they are worried about winning and that was important. I wanted to be around those type of players and that type of environment and coaching staff. That is going to be key especially with the league going to 12 teams, every team is talented now, every team looks good on paper. The teams that get it and are the tightest knit groups are the ones who I think are going to make the playoffs."

With the addition of Lawson, Renee Montgomery and DeMya Walker and Tina Charles set to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick, the Sun will have a different look from the squad which missed the playoffs last season.

Thibault is feeling pretty good about his nucleus featuring Asjha Jones, Sandrine Gruda, Anete Jekabsone-Zogota, Tan White, Lawson, Montgomery, Walker and Charles. Tamika Whitmore could also be a part of the nucleus assuming she shows up to training camp in better shape than she did a year ago.

Don't expect reserve point guard Kiesha Brown to be back and the status of Erin Phillips is also up in the air.

"With the cap issues, I don't know if we can sign her (Brown)," Thibault said. "She has a veteran salary and the other one hanging up in the air is Erin. I don't know what's going to happen on that one. She is a reserve player, she qualifies for the veteran minimum. She hasn't signed (a contract). Right now it is at kind of a standstill."

It could make for an interesting battle for the final two or three roster spots with Amber Holt, Kerri Gardin, Chante Black, the Sun's second-round pick and possibly Whitmore fighting to make the cut.