The new-look Connecticut Sun open the WNBA season on Sunday when they host the Washington Mystics at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., at 1 p.m. (NBCSB).

Six players, including the entire starting five, are gone from last year’s squad that went 28-12 and lost to the Minnesota Lynx in five games in the WNBA semifinals. DeWanna Bonner. DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, Brionna Jones, Tiffany Mitchell, and Alyssa Thomas combined for more than 80 percent of the team’s scoring.

Thomas, Carrington, and Harris were moved as part of a four-team trade, with Thomas headed to Phoenix, and Carrington and Harris to Dallas. Bonner signed a one-year deal with Indiana, and Jones a one-year deal with Atlanta.

Among the new faces hoping to lead the Sun back to the postseason for the ninth straight season are veterans Tina Charles, Lindsay Allen, and Jacy Sheldon, as well as 2025 first-round picks Aneesah Morrow (LSU) and Saniya Rivers (NC State). Leïla Lacan, the 2024 first-round pick from France, is also joining the team this year.

It’s a homecoming for Charles, 36, who spent the first four years of her career with the Sun after they drafted her No. 1 overall out of UConn in 2010. The eight-time All-Star was named Rookie of the Year, then went on to win MVP honors in 2012.

“I’m really excited to be here,” said Charles. “I have a lot of history here from my collegiate time to my first four years professionally.

“I’m very thankful toward the end of my career to be here, to be playing for this franchise as they’re entering a new chapter.”

Among the holdovers are Marina Mabrey and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Mabrey, who averaged 14.9 points last season, had requested a trade in the offseason, but the Sun are hoping the acquisitions will keep the seventh-year guard out of Notre Dame content. She had nothing but praise for the rookies.

“They’ve been like sponges,” said Mabrey. “They’ve brought energy that is irreplaceable. They come in, they’re smiling, they’re working hard. They want to learn. They bring exactly what they do best to the table also, so it’s hard to not want that around you, it’s hard to not want that on the court, just because they’re new.

“It’s refreshing, and although they’re going to make mistakes, it’s easy to work through that when you have the mentality that they have.”

Coach Stephanie White, who went 55-25 and led the team to the semifinals in her two seasons, also departed for Indiana to coach the Fever, where she wlll be reunited with Bonner.

The Sun hired Rachid Meziane to take over for White. He led Belgium to a fourth-place finish in the 2024 Olympics, and also served as the coach of the French women’s club Villeneuve D’Asco since 2019. He led the team to a Ligue Feminine de Basketball championship and a EuroLeague runner-up finish during the 2023-24 season.

Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.