DeWanna Bonner could be the WNBA Finals' biggest X-Factor — and she took an unlikely path to the Dream

The veteran joined Atlanta just two months ago and is now one of the biggest reasons why the Dream are in the Finals SAN FRANCISCO — Less than two months ago, on Aug. 22, DeWanna Bonner scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Phoenix Mercury in a 10-point loss to the Atlanta Dream. By then, the Mercury had long since become the first team since 2008 to miss the playoffs in the season following a Finals appearance. And what may be the final season of the 39-year-old Bonner's storied career was nearing a depressing end. Until, two days later, when the Mercury released Bonner just before the deadline for player playoff eligibility from waivers.

Three days after that, on Aug. 27, Bonner signed with the Dream for the remainder of the season. "It happened that Phoenix and her worked out a deal to allow her to make a run in the postseason and that turned into a mini-free agency with a bunch of teams that went after her," Dream general manager Dan Padover said earlier this month. "We were fortunate that we had made a run at her the last few free agencies. She has a great relationship with our players, which helped." Padover took over the Dream's basketball operations in 2022, and over the last four years