Two days before the 2026 WNBA expansion draft, the Chicago Sky pulled a surprise with a trade to hold onto their players.
Chicago swapped its No. 17 pick in the upcoming WNBA entry draft to the Portland Fire for the Fire’s No. 21 pick and traded its No. 26 pick to the Toronto Tempo. In exchange, both expansion teams agreed not to select any of Chicago’s players in Friday’s expansion draft.
The Sky finished the 2025 season with a record of 10-34, which tied with the Dallas Wings for the worst in the league. The team was hit with several injuries throughout the season.
Guard Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL early in the season. Despite being named an All-Star, forward Angel Reese missed several games with a back injury. Guards Ariel Atkins and Hailey Van Lith missed games due to injury as well.
However, 2025 ended on a sour note for more than on-the-court reasons. In a September interview with the Chicago Tribune, Reese said she wanted the Sky to be more successful in free agency.
“I’m not settling for the same s−−− we did this year,” said Reese, a two-time All-Star and the league’s top rebounder in 2024 and 2025. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me.”
She also questioned whether the 37-year-old Vandersloot, who is beloved by the organization, would be ready to lead the Sky to a championship in 2026. Reese was suspended for a half for her comments.
While the season ended with signs of an icy relationship between Reese and the Sky leadership, signs of a thaw have shown up over the offseason. During a Team USA camp in December, Reese said she would return to Chicago. Reese, Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca and Sky head coach Tyler Marsh have communicated throughout the offseason.
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The Sky are eager to put 2025 behind them, and that will start with the accelerated free agency and draft period that began with Friday’s expansion draft. The trade signaled that the Sky want to hold on to the team they have, including both the players signed to rookie-scale contracts and the veterans the Sky hold the rights to.
Still, even if everyone from 2025 is healthy and returns to Chicago, the Sky have significant needs in their backcourt. Vandersloot’s injury exposed the lack of depth the team had at point guard. Reese and Kamilla Cardoso are bigs the team can build around, but it just needs more guards.
The abbreviated free agency period isn’t going to be easy for any team, but the Sky will have to overcome their reputation throughout the league. They’re known for being difficult to play for because they use a suburban park district facility for training and have a smaller staff.
The team is addressing this with a state-of-the-art facility that is expected to open in late spring and more centrally located housing for players. The new collective bargaining agreement also mandates staffing that will put the Sky in step with the rest of the league.
As the Sky try to move forward and focus on the upcoming season, it’s clear the team is under pressure to win. This season marks five years since Chicago won a surprising WNBA championship. It’s up to Pagliocca and Marsh to show that hoisting a trophy isn’t just a memory.
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