It was well over a year ago that Connecticut Sun post Jonquel Jones began the recruiting process to get then-free agent DeWanna Bonner to come to the Mohegan Sun.

“(I was) constantly texting, constantly talking about the team and how good we could be together,” Jones said Thursday. “Just that she’s the missing piece for us to take it over the edge and win the (WNBA) championship. Just buttering the bread. I buttered the bread correctly.”

Jones, however, opted out of last season due to COVID-19 concerns, and a much has changed since she last played with Connecticut in 2019. She’ll finally get to play alongside Bonner. She’ll also be starting alongside fellow post Brionna Jones, a former reserve who had a breakout 2020 season during Jonquel's absence.

That's the good news. The bad: The Sun's self-described "engine," starting forward Alyssa Thomas, will miss the season after suffering an Achilles injury in January.

Jonquel Jones and Connecticut have plenty of adjustments to make, but have had less than three weeks with work together. The Sun open the WNBA's 25th regular season on Friday night at the Atlanta Dream (7:30 p.m. streamed live on Twitter).

“We have a lot of individual parts that we love, but we have to mesh them together,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said. “Coaches, players, fan base, media, we all have to be a little patient as this all meshes together.”

Jonquel Jones didn’t start practicing until Wednesday. She arrived late due to her overseas commitments with Russian superpower UMMC Ekaterinburg and had to go through the WNBA’s quarantine protocol.

Bri and Jonquel Jones have been teammates for three seasons but haven't played much together. Jonquel can stretch defenses with her shooting range while the former is most comfortable near the basket.

“We have to get JJ acclimated to playing with Bri Jones,” Miller said. “It’s obvious that (Jonquel) provides great spacing because she is our best three-point shooting big. ... We also don’t want to play a 6-foot-6 kid at 25 feet (from the basket) the whole game either. JJ is also really talented with her back to the basket and is one of the premier rebounders in the world.”

She also has to get used to playing with starting guard Briann January, who also joined the Sun last season, as well as Bonner. Guard Jasmine Thomas is the only remaining player from Connecticut's 2019 WNBA finalist team to start alongside Jones.

“We get a whopping two practices for (Bonner and Jones) to be together before we play for real,” Miller said. “It’s a work in progress. ... Our May is going to be very experimental to say the least as we try to get everybody used to playing with each other.”

Bonner, a forward-wing, earned All-WNBA second team honors last season. Jonquel Jones is looking forward to playing with her.

“I think it’s going to be good,” Jones said. “DB is a person that’s easy to get along with. She’s selfless. ... It’s still a lot of learning, still a lot of growing, but I expect to be something that definitely thrives and that we’re successful.”

Miller said the Sun must run their offense through the inside like they did last season, another change that happened during Jones’ absence. They were among the league’s worst shooting teams after the departures of shooters Shekinna Stricklen and Courtney Williams, both now with Atlanta.

January, a starting combo guard, had her first practice with Connecticut on Thursday after arriving late in camp due to her overseas commitments. Natisha Hiedeman, a third-year reserve, had been the only point guard in camp.

The Sun will also be without Jasmine Thomas for the time being. She flew back on Wednesday, one day after helping Fenerbahce win Turkey’s Women's Basketball Super League championship. She's in quarantine and must have six consecutive days of negative tests before she can join the team.

Connecticut is depending on a young and inexperienced bench to provide more offense this season, too. Hiedeman is the only one who has played more than one WNBA season.

“Curt kind of hit on it (Thursday) in practice,” Jones said, “People talking about our bench and saying that our bench isn’t as good as some of the other benches in the league.”

• The Sun return home to play the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday in its first game at Mohegan Sun Arena since Game 4 of the 2019 WNBA Finals. Connecticut will limit attendance to approximately 2,300 for full-and-partial season ticket holders until the Olympic break, at which point it will make a decision about possible expansion when play resumes in August. Fans must wear masks and be socially distanced throughout the arena.

n.griffen@theday.com