Few things in basketball are constants from year to year, but the target placed on the defending champion’s back never goes away. This year, the Phoenix Mercury carry that burden. Training camps are set to open across the league in the next week, and Phoenix will begin preparing for the season without its franchise cornerstone.

Diana Taurasi — winner of three WNBA championships and five WNBA scoring titles — will sit out the entire 2015 WNBA season to rest her body after more than a decade of year-round basketball, playing in the WNBA, for her Russian club team and the U.S. Women’s National Team. The reigning WNBA Finals MVP made the highly publicized decision during the offseason while playing overseas, with the long-term goal of prolonging her basketball career at the forefront of her mind. Taurasi plans to return to the Mercury in 2016.

But while Taurasi may be watching the Mercury’s games from a different vantage point than in years past, she still plans to pay close attention to the franchise she’s been a part of since 2004.

“Obviously I’m going to stay in contact with all of them,” said Taurasi while attending USAB Training Camp in Las Vegas. “They’re not only my teammates, that’s my good friends. I’m going to keep my space. Like any team they’ve got to find their own chemistry, but I’ll make sure to be calling [DeWanna Bonner] and [Candice Dupree] all the time and keeping tabs on [Brittney Griner], so I’m going to be there.”

Taurasi attended the three-day mini camp in Las Vegas from May 4-6, but did not play as she is still recovering from a surgery she underwent in early April that repaired a broken bone in her hand. Taurasi was seen wearing a small, protective cast on her left hand.

The loss of Taurasi for the 2015 season looms large for Phoenix, but her decision doesn’t eliminate the Mercury from being a factor in the Western Conference. Taurasi believes the defending champions are still in a good position to contend in 2015. The Mercury return a talented roster featuring Bonner, Dupree, Griner and a solid supporting cast, including several veteran offseason additions.

“I looked at the roster the other day,” Taurasi said. “That’s a 20-win team. That team, by the end of the season, will be ready to contend for that title I think. And Sandy [Brondello] will make sure they’re prepared, put everyone in the right spots. I think adding Monique Curry, Leilani Mitchell, Cayla Francis – I mean we’re talking about players that have been doing it for a long time. Proven vets. That’s going to be our strength, the depth of that team.”

The Mercury open training camp on May 17 and will take the court for its first preseason game on May 26 against the Seattle Storm.