8 thoughts on the Chicago Sky at the Olympic break

CHICAGO - The Chicago Sky are in the playoff hunt, and are in a good position to make the postseason as the No. 8 seed in the WNBA.

Not bad for a rebuilding team, huh?

But, where do things stand at midseason?

With lingering questions on the future of the team, some newly acquired shooters and more, here are eight thoughts on the Chicago Sky as the Olympic break comes to a close.

If I had to pick, my rookie of the year is…

Angel Reese.

Here’s why.

The Sky are in a full on rebuild. The team’s roster is not one that reflects a great team, and most of the roster will most likely be turned over in two years, let alone next year. General manager Jeff Pagliocca made sure of this when he traded Marina Mabrey for picks and players.

With all that in mind, the Sky should not be in the playoff picture. They are, and it’s because of Angel Reese.

She’s the Sky’s MVP and what she’s doing makes her rookie of the year.

Reese’s competition is Caitlin Clark. There’s no other rookie that comes close to the two of them in the race for rookie of the year. Clark is turning in an all-time great season, too. 

But, Reese is literally carrying a rebuilding team to the playoffs.

My argument doesn’t focus on the players. Reese and Clark have both broken WNBA records and accomplished plenty of firsts around the league. Their resumes are really good.

The Sky tore down an 18-win team with a new head coach and two first-round picks. The Fever are continuing to build their 13-win team from last season, and have their main pieces in place.

The Fever have Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell – all three were WNBA All-Star Game this season – as well as NaLyssa Smith, Erica Wheeler, Katie Lou Samuelson, Lexie Hull and Kristy Wallace. That’s a talented team already with offensive and defensive pieces.

The Sky have Chennedy Carter, whose career Teresa Weatherspoon revived, Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and a collection of players who might not even be on the roster come 2025.

The fact they're in a good spot to make the playoffs is nothing short of impressive. Reese the face of that drive.

Kamilla Cardoso is turning in a good, borderline great season

Something that gets lost in the weeds of such a wild WNBA season is Kamilla Cardoso’s rookie season.

It could be one that touches great by the end of the regular season.

Measuring the success of a great center isn’t as simple as looking at a statsheet. On paper, Reese is having the better season. In realty, this is also true. But, Reese doesn’t affect the Sky’s defense the same was Cardoso does.

Cardoso might not be in top five in rebounding, but there isn’t a stat that exists which tracks altered shots.

How many times has Cardoso centered the defense in the post? How many times has she turned a good look into a bad look?

Don’t read this and takeaway that Reese is a bad defender. Reese doing great for a rookie in a league that’s not designed for immediate rookie success, and like I said before she’s my rookie of the year pick.

But, Cardoso does so much defensively that gets overlooked. 

Cardoso is just that much of a difference maker on defense.

More on Mabrey’s trade

Midseason trades were pretty rare in the WNBA.

Th5e Chicago Sun-Times reported Mabrey asked out of Chicago after that role changed, which isn’t too surprising. Mabrey went from the No. 1 offensive option to a facilitator and all-around contributor.

Mabrey was leading the Sky in assists with her 4.5 average on the season but has struggled being that top scoring player. Mabrey joins a Sun team that sits at No. 2 in the WNBA rankings and needed 3-point shooting.

Going from the promise that you’d be the top option alongside Kahleah Copper to a contributor in a rebuild had to have been difficult to endure. The Sky will undoubtedly miss Mabrey, too. She was the kind of player that could go for 30 on any given night.

She scored 20 or more points seven times this season, even after her role shifted.

It was the best for both parties involved. Mabrey was a professional. It was refreshing to hear her perspective in postgame interviews and her honest assessments about what happened. She will be missed in Chicago from a production standpoint.

She’ll have a chance to win a title in Connecticut.

The return the Sky got for Mabrey gets an A grade

This could be an A+ soon depending on how the next few months shake out.

Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca executed a good haul. He received guards in Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson along with Connecticut’s 2025 first-round round draft pick and rights to swap first-round round draft picks in 2026

Entering this season, Mabrey was in the second season of a three-year, $620,000 contract. It was the largest contract on the team, but she was paid to be the game-changing scorer under then-head coach James Wade.

In the immediate future, Chicago recoups the draft capital it gave for Mabrey, adds two veteran players who can shoot efficiently from 3-point range and creates financial flexibility.

The biggest asset of the entire swap could be the 2026 pick swap.

Seven of the 10 players on Connecticut’s roster have contracts that expire after the 2024 season. If the Sun don’t win a title this season – or maybe even if they do – most of that roster could move on elsewhere. That could potentially set up a rough 2025 season for the Sun, meaning a high chance at a top pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft lottery.

If that pans out, the Sky could have a top-three pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft to go along with a core of Reese, Cardoso and two more first-round picks from the 2025 WNBA Draft. That’s an A+ for Jeff Pagliocca.

More about the Sky’s other players

Mabrey is gone, it looks like the Sky are giving Michaela Onyenwere a chance in the starting line up. She was efficient when she saw the court in the games leading up to the Olympic break.

That leaves the starting five as: Onyenwere, Linday Allen, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Chennedy Carter.

Moriah Jefferson, acquired in the Mabrey trade, will be on a minute restriction to start as she works back from an injury. I'm intrigued to see how Rachel Banham figures into Weatherspoon's lineups as a shooter.

Onyenwere told me last Friday Banham's quick trigger will help the team, especially when it comes to spacing the floor. Onyenwere also played with Jefferson and has no worries with how her game will mesh with the players already on the Sky's roster.

For everyone else, it's business as usual when the team returns to the court Thursday.

Names to keep in mind for the 2025 WNBA Draft

Considering the Sky have still been rumored to be in trade talks surrounding Evans and Allen is on a one-year deal, keep these names down ahead of the 2024-2025 NCAA season as potential Sky targets:

• Oliva Miles, PG, Notre Dame
• Georgia Amoore, PG, Kentucky
• Te-Hina Paopao, PG, South Carolina
• Sonia Citron, SG, Notre Dame
• Rori Harmon, PG, Texas

Miles and Citron aren’t far over in South Bend. But, they’re different players. Citron is a shooter; Miles is a pure point guard.

Whatever the Sky do, they need to compliment the post identity they’ve made a commitment to this past offseason. The rebounding is there, and so is the post offense, but they have to find ways to improve spacing and passing.

Citron and Miles would fit perfectly. Citron is a shooter who can also score at multiple levels that also rebounded 5.5 boards per game. Miles can score on all three levels, but also averaged over eight assists and seven rebounds per game. That’s a true facilitator.

Above all, the Sky need to infuse young talent into their guard rotation. The 2025 draft will give them plenty of choices to do so.

Mabrey’s trade also resets the Sky’s financial outlook

It’s all about some perspective. Front Office Sports did as best you can. 

FOS used this example: Jackie Young is the WNBA’s highest-paid player making $252,450 per year. Within a couple of years, the WNBA’s lowest-paid players will sign what not long ago were record-breaking contracts for the league. 

FOS wrote that as recently as 2010 a rookie minimum salary was $35,190, and the maximum salary was $101,000.

Consider that Mabrey was in the second season of a three-year, $620,000 contract. The Sky no longer have that on their books. That’s big considering the next league collective bargaining agreement will give the Sky more flexibility.

FOS noted that there’s still a cap on how much players actually make in the WNBA, overall salaries should skyrocket in the next CBA. The conversation about equal pay continues, but should take a step forward.

The WNBA’s current CBA runs until 2027, but gives the option for an opt-out in 2026. It’s fair to assume that opt-out happens of the league has a new media rights deal that could increase salaries.

Mark down 2026

Assume the WNBA Players Association opts out of its CBA in 2026. The new media rights deal comes begins, and salaries will skyrocket.

The conversation around equal pay in women’s sports has been ongoing for the last decade. WNBA players have stressed they aren’t asking for the same salaries as NBA players, but they just wanted something more.

Now, with a new media rights deal on the way, equal pay in the WNBA could take a massive step forward.

"It's clearly on the tip of everyone's tongue," former Seattle Storm guard and Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird told me in 2019. "We want to make that conversation continue to go."

With a core of Reese and Cardoso in place, the Sky could pay them what they’re worth, draft young talent around them and sign a big-name free agent to complete the rebuild.

Circle that year with very bold circles.