Dom Amore: With CT Sun setting, Liberty’s superteam is a bandwagon ready for boarding

“What it’s going to look like is pretty analytical,” Stewart said. “There’s going to be a reason why we’re doing everything we’re doing, what works in the NBA and what he sees works in The W.”

New York  is the favorite to win the title (+220 on ESPN), while the Sun are the longest longshot (+50000).

Last season, the illusion of parity vanished when the Liberty put a 48-point pasting on the rebuilding Sun. Connecticut has been down this road before, sort of. The Whalers left in 1997, leaving state hockey fans choices in New York or Boston. The Rangers parked their AHL affiliate in Hartford, and the Wolf Pack have endured all these years.

No such choices this time. When the WNBA said “no so fast” to a deal struck in Boston, and “never-gonna-happen” to investors who would have put the team in Hartford, the Mohegan Tribe reached a deal to send the team to Houston.

“We’re going to be the team of the Northeast for the foreseeable future,” Stewart said.

The Liberty have the star power to be such a wide-reaching brand, Jones, the dominant center among them.

“I would love that, we would welcome them in,” Jones said. “We understand that Connecticut Sun’s fans are loyal and basketball fans to their core. So if they want to come down to New York and be in Barclays (Center) and cheer for us, we would welcome them, because I understand how special this fan base is.”

Since the Mohegan Tribe purchased the failing Orlando franchise and moved it to Connecticut in 2003, it has been one of the more commercially-successful franchises in the league– the first, in fact, to turn a profit, in 2010. As the league experienced a growth spurt over the last few years, the value of franchises skyrocketed and the league’s appeal for TV rights dollars rose. Under those circumstances, the WNBA outgrew an arena and a women’s basketball market that once helped to save the league.

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The Sun have a loyal base, and the 8,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena has proven to be the perfect size for it. Many fans come from Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts, as well as Eastern Connecticut. Plenty of free parking and the casino to visit before or after, it has been ideal. And always, there was the little-franchise-that-could mentality when the Liberty came in from New York.

Can that be put aside?

“I don’t know,” said Sun president Jen Rizzotti, letting out a long laugh. “Maybe. They should, right? I know it’s been a little bit of a rivalry because of the proximity and the geography, but I think our fans appreciate good basketball. (The Liberty) are going to be good, and they’re going to have the opportunity to be able to get to games. I know it’s different from the convenience of coming here, parking for free and walking in, but even if it’s not in person, I would hope our fans stay connected.”

The Liberty’s home arena is a long drive from Mohegan, a long, but uncomplicated trip via public transportation, via MetroNorth and the No.4 subway train. For fans in Connecticut, once the Sun leave, it will be the only was to see former Huskies like Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and the rest.

In an attempted to mollify the jilted New England fans, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at the WNBA Draft that women’s basketball fans here “won’t go away.” The next round of expansion probably will not be until 2032, and if it includes New England, it will likely be Boston, not Hartford.

So if you live in Connecticut, love women’s basketball, want to see the former Huskies legends play in The WNBA, the Liberty are the only bandwagon in town, for hundreds of miles around, and it’s waiting at the station.

“We’re still in the area and we’re close enough that people can still get down and see a game,” Jones said. “The brand is continuing to grow, from before I got here to now. While I’m sad to see the Sun go, it’s a unique opportunity for the Liberty.”