Chicago Sky and WNBA
Chicago Sky news, scores and features, as well as coverage of the WNBA and women’s college basketball.
“We continue to engage in productive conversations with interested ownership groups in a number of markets,” A spokesperson for the WNBA shared in a statement to the Sun-Times. “The granting of any expansion teams requires a vote by the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors.”
As the reconfigured Sky attempt to become a force again, they have the ultimate power source in Weatherspoon.
Podcast
Equal Play
Leading Iowa to a national championship is the only way the latest GOAT can end her college career.
Clark’s rookie season could result in record viewership, putting the league in its best position ever to negotiate a new rights deal. Its current one expires after the 2025 season.
Maravich’s record stood for more than 50 years before Clark wrote her name over it. Kelsey Plum, now a star in the WNBA, held the NCAA women’s scoring record for seven years before Clark passed it Feb. 6, also at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“The idea that we put as much energy and resource into finding a facility of our own should be an indication that we understand what direction the league is going,” Sky CEO Adam Fox said. “We want to be involved in the movement.”
Clark had an additional year of eligibility that the NCAA granted to all players who played during the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020-21 season.
The 2024 draft in Brooklyn will be the first that fans can attend since 2016.
New coach Teresa Weatherspoon thought she could build her team around Kahleah Copper; now draft picks will play a key role.
Gardner has yet to sign the qualifying offer extended by the Sky in January.
First-year GM Jeff Pagliocca acquired the No. 8 overall pick in the upcoming draft from the Los Angeles Sparks in a sign-and-trade for Julie Allemand, the rights to center Li Yueru, and the Sky’s third-round pick in the 2025 draft.
It was he first such him-vs.-her event of its kind at the NBA’s weekend showcase
On Saturday night in Indianapolis, there will be a new spin on the original that will pit the two-time winner of the NBA’s three-point challenge, Steph Curry, against the reigning three-point champion in the WNBA, Sabrina Ionescu.
The most notable asset is the No. 3 pick, which shows that the Sky were forced to be reactionary in their own rebuild.
Parker, who has three championship rings, averaged 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds a game last season as the Aces got off to a 16-2 start. But she underwent foot surgery, causing her to miss the rest of the season.
According to first-year general manager Jeff Pagliocca, the Sky took a big swing with their Plan A, an attempt to sign stars such as Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike to put around Copper. They struck out and lost Copper, too.
The Sky get the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, a first-round pick in 2026, a second-round pick in 2025 and the right to swap second-round picks in 2026. In addition, they obtained forwards Michaela Onyenwere and Brianna Turner. The Mercury also acquired the rights to forward Morgan Bertsch.
DeShields is ready to make a full return to the court in 2024 after missing the entire 2023 season with a knee injury.
Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, was the 2016 league MVP and spent the first 12 seasons of her WNBA career playing for Los Angeles.
There is one sliver of hope left for the Sky on the free-agent market — 2016 MVP Nneka Ogwumike.
The Sky signed point guard Lindsay Allen after losing out on top target Diggins-Smith to the Storm.
The Sky are working with $951,752 in cap space with seven roster spots to fill, six if they are planning on playing with the league minimum 11-player roster.
Clark is averaging 31.7 points per game this season for the Hawkeyes, which puts her about five games away from passing Kelsey Plum’s 3,527-point scoring record and 10 games away from LSU legend Pete Maravich’s 3,667-point record in the men’s game.
What the Sky have on their side is an established connection between her and coach Teresa Weatherspoon, proximity to her hometown of South Bend, Indiana, and the ability to offer her a max contract.
It’s a pivotal offseason for the Sky’s new regime of GM Jeff Pagliocca and coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
It’s that time again for a Year in Preview column. If having 2024 vision is wrong, we don’t want to be right.
Teresa Weatherspoon will make her WNBA coaching debut with a roster built around three-time All-Star Kahleah Copper on May 15 against the Dallas Wings.
Teams now will play only five games — once against every other team in the conference — which is down from the 10 in the first three years.
Some NBA players liked the energy of the In-Season Tournament, while many WNBA players still aren’t sold on the Commissioner’s Cup.
The Fever took Aliyah Boston last season with the top pick, and she earned Rookie of the Year honors.
As accomplishments and accolades pile up, the Sky’s star still has dreams of Olympic gold in Paris.
“I’ll weigh my options. If I feel really, really good then I’ll play,” she said.