As Chicago Sky rookies surge, their supporting cast is still undetermined

Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon and general manager Jeff Pagliocca always reject the term “rebuilding” to describe the state of the organization. Both are new to their roles and likely associate the word “rebuilding” with “losing.”

But in a literal sense, the Sky are rebuilding. The team returned only three players to start the 2024 season and are adapting to Weatherspoon’s new vision based on defensive toughness and dominance in the paint.

So far this season, several players have emerged as clear fits for the new system: breakout guard Chennedy Carter and rookie bigs Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese. 

But in year one of the Weatherspoon era, it’s not yet clear what pieces should fit around them.

Weatherspoon’s early changes to the starting lineup

The 2024 season began with two of the team’s few familiar faces playing primary roles. Weatherspoon tapped fourth-year Chicago Sky guard Dana Evans as starting point guard, touting her as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. And Pagliocca brought back Diamond DeShields, the Sky’s 2018 lottery pick, to return to the starting lineup. 

But the experiment with familiarity didn’t last. 

Though Evans averaged 14 points per game in her first seven games, Weatherspoon began closing out games with veteran point guard Lindsay Allen. Evans’ minutes declined from 30 to 22.8 per game; her scoring average fell from 14 to 7.1.

DeShields’ trajectory was similar. She averaged 15.5 points in her first two games. But it wasn’t until Aug. 28 that she scored in double digits again.

After a knee injury caused her to sit out the 2023 season, the former 2019 All-Star is shooting a career low 33.1% from the field and 16.3% from three.

“You just gotta keep shooting,” DeShields said of the slump. “I’m well aware of the percentages and how poorly I’ve been shooting, but … I operate under the belief that the tables always turn.”

By mid-June, though, Weatherspoon had replaced both DeShields and Evans in the starting lineup. Carter emerged as one of the best paint scorers in the WNBA. And Allen’s assist-to-turnover ratio, a key measure of a point guard’s effectiveness, ranks her among the league’s best.

Evans’ and DeShields’ roles get even smaller

Since moving to the bench, neither Evans nor DeShields has carved out a consistent role. Evans has played fewer than ten minutes in seven games, while DeShields has played nine such games. 

“I feel like I started off the season well, and then once things changed, I think that messed with me mentally and that affected my game,” Evans told The Next during the Olympic break.

Dissatisfied, Evans requested a trade mid-season, but the Sky were unable to make a deal.  

As is often the case in such a competitive league, a case could be made that Evans and DeShields deserved bigger roles.

Evans has shot well from three on a team that sorely lacks outside shooting, and both are disruptive defenders on a team that prides itself on aggressive defense.

But neither has played well enough to make the case a slam dunk. Since moving to the bench, field goal percentages declined further for both players, who rank at the bottom of the team in efficiency. Their steals per game averages also declined (even on a minutes-adjusted basis).  

“I’ve been struggling a little bit with my confidence,” DeShields told reporters at a shootaround in July. “I guess I underestimated the challenges rhythmically. That was the first time I ever missed a full season.”

Finally getting her shot: Onyenwere succeeds as a starter

At the beginning of the season, Weatherspoon often described fourth-year Michaela Onyenwere as the team’s most versatile player. 

A 6’0 small forward, Onyenwere is quick enough to guard perimeter players, and strong enough to guard dominant bigs. Offensively, she can post up smaller players as well as create shots on the perimeter. 

But before the Olympic break, Onyenwere’s main contributions came from the sidelines. During timeouts, she was often the first to leap off the bench, celebrating or uplifting her teammates. The former Rookie of the Year averaged only 6.5 minutes per game in June and 11.6 in July. 

Then the Sky traded Marina Mabrey and a spot opened up in the starting lineup. With DeShields and Evans out of favor, Onyenwere earned the spot. Her success as a starter shows that what the Sky rotation had been lacking — a taller, two-way wing — may have been there all along.

Onyenwere has scored over 15 points in each of her last five games, shooting 55% from the field and 50% from three. She’s also been one of the most active cutters in an offense that often struggles to stay moving.

What does the future hold for Evans, DeShields and Onyenwere?

Onyenwere, Evans and Deshields will all become free agents after this season. While Onyenwere’s success in a starting role makes a re-signing more likely, the future seems less certain for Evans and DeShields.

With Chennedy Carter out due to illness, Weatherspoon had another opportunity to add one of them back to the starting lineup.

Instead, she went with Rachel Banham, a veteran three-point shooter who came to Chicago in the Mabrey trade. That trade also brought over another point guard in Moriah Jefferson, possibly foreshadowing the end of Evans’ tenure with the Sky.

So while the Sky appear confident in their young core, they’re still searching for the right players to support them and complete their roster.