Chicago Sky Face 'Uphill Battle' in Free Agency, Per WNBA Insider
It's hard to argue that any WNBA team had more of a rollercoaster 2024 than the Chicago Sky.
The Sky's high point had to have been the 2024 WNBA Draft, when they selected former South Carolina Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso with the No. 3 pick then chose LSU Tigers icon Angel Reese with the No. 6 pick.
Chicago nailed both picks. Reese is already one of the league's elite forwards and was the steal of the draft, and while Cardoso wasn't as dominant as many might have believed, she still proved that she'll be a force in the years to come.
However, these rookies' success didn't turn the Sky into a contender. They finished the year with a 13-27 record, lost their last five games and 12 of their final 14 contests, then fired first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon after the season ended.
The Sky have rebounded by hiring Tyler Marsh as their next head coach, which has received a lot of praise. However, they still have tough sledding ahead of them in free agency, according to a January 4 article from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Annie Costabile.
"The remaining six teams, including the Sky, will face the uphill battle of selling free agents on an unproven product sans the bells and whistles other franchises can offer," Costabile wrote.
"The Sky, Wings, Sparks, Sun, Dream and Mystics have new coaches in place. Unlike the Fever, who poached coach Stephanie White this offseason, their rosters are less than stable. Their six GMs don’t have a realistic case to make for winning now, which will be a priority for most free agents signing those one-year deals."
Costabile later added, "The Sky’s free-agency discussion gets interesting when it comes to the frontcourt because of the development of young stars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Pagliocca has a slew of star bigs to pursue, including Brionna Jones and Natasha Howard. Neither would be expected to come off the bench in favor of Reese and Cardoso."
Forget rebuilds and prolonged roster projects. With the anticipated new CBA in 2026, GMs have one thing to sell FAs this year: right now. https://t.co/gmxwsAutaS pic.twitter.com/SEaf0xIK2Q
— Annie Costabile (@AnnieCostabile) January 5, 2025
While this news isn't ideal for Sky fans, the team wasn't likely to compete for a 2025 WNBA Championship anyway. But a solid season that shows improvement from 2024 could help attract future free agents to Chicago.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.