WNBA season preview: After a roster overhaul, are the Chicago Sky ready to exceed expectations?

1. Health is an absolute for the Sky

For starters, it begins with ensuring that everyone, especially the top players, is healthy. General manager Jeff Pagliocca said at media day that the organization made some serious changes to improve the medical team after a season in which injuries affected their top players, including Reese with a season-ending back injury, Courtney Vandersloot with a season-ending ACL tear and Ariel Atkins, who missed 10 games with a leg injury. Pagliocca explained:

We have overhauled and restructured our medical staff.

Right now, these are daily conversations that we’re having, and… it’s really tough. It’s a physical league, anything can happen at any time, but I mean, it’s hard to play without your best players healthy, but it’s part of the game, and so we have to be prepared, and a lot of that goes into roster construction, making sure that we have reinforcements ready, but yeah, we have people that we really depend on that are very valuable to us now in the medical department. Pagliocca also said that the new practice facility in Bedford Park will be ready in “late spring, early summer”. Currently, the Sky practice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

2. Kamilla is the key on the court for Chicago

Then there is the matter of continuing to maximize Kamilla Cardoso’s caliber in the paint. Last year, she averaged 13.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 52.8 percent from the field. Going into her third season, head coach Tyler Marsh says Cardoso doesn’t have to wait her turn and foresees her taking her game to the next level. Marsh shared:

With Kamilla, there’s a lot of growth that has been had, and there’s still a lot of growth to be had, and so for us, it’s continuing to instill the mindset in her that she doesn’t need to take a backseat to anybody.

She can be one of the elite bigs in this league. She showed glimpses, you know, throughout the last couple of seasons. Of that, we continue to instill belief and faith and trust in her and who we know she is and can be, and it’s a matter of reinforcing that in positions where she can believe that on a daily basis.

And so, it’s a combination of responsibility of Kamilla, it’s a responsibility of us as a staff to do our part in that, and then it’s a responsibility of her teammates to help elevate that level as well. And so, we all know who we have in that number 10 jersey, and, you know, the more that she feels comfortable, understanding who she is in this league. Pardoning the pun, Marsh added, “I think the sky’s the limit for her.”

3. The Sky believe chemistry can be the foundation for success

Obviously, chemistry needs to be built. The Sky haven’t had the luxury of building chemistry over time due to continuous roster changes over the last several years. Nevertheless, Rickea Jackson anticipates the team continuing to gel as they aim to win as many games as possible. She said:

My mission for this season is just to have fun and just win.

I feel like we have a really good group, the energy is really good, and I feel like we’re just gonna continue to grow that chemistry and camaraderie, so I’m just excited to see where this group gets to. Plus, the Sky brings together a roster full of versatility. Diggins brings a solid combination of scoring and playmaking to the backcourt. Jackson provides scoring on the perimeter, whereas Carrington locks it down with perimeter defense. Stevens and Williams complement Cardoso in terms of scoring, rebounding and shot blocking. Carrington, who made the 2024 WNBA All-Defensive Team, saw firsthand the benefits of versatility in the Sky’s first two preseason games, saying: I’m excited. We saw a lot of different people playing different positions in the first two preseason games, so I think that is, conducive to my type of play as well, and I think that it makes you very hard to guard when you’re able to show a lot of different things, and you’re not specifically stuck in the corner, or, nope, you only can be in the short corner, or whatever it might be.

So, I think it’s gonna be really great. It’s gonna force us also to expand our bags and continue to skill develop, because if not, you’re gonna get exposed. So, I’m excited for it. Carrington was out due to recovery from an offseason surgery on her left foot. The Sky lost both their preseason games, 108-104 to the Phoenix Mercury last Saturday and 87-78 to the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Vandersloot and Stevens are back together as the two remaining players from the 2021 championship team. Stevens is coming off a season with the Sparks in which she achieved a career high of 12.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Vandersloot is still recovering from her ACL injury and will back up Diggins when the time comes. For each of them, it is still hard to fathom that it has been five years since they won it all and are back together for another go around.  Vandersloot and Stevens consider each other family. Vandersloot said of her relationship with Stevens: It does feel a little full circle.

Sometimes, we talk about this, that we’re back here to feel so right, because, you know, obviously we spent a lot of time being all together, and, you know, I consider Z, like, family, so to have her back in Chicago was really important to me, it was really special. Stevens credits Vandersloot and her wife, Allie Quigley, a former teammate, as major catalysts in her return to Chicago. “I mean, her and Allie are family to me too,” Stevens said. “So obviously we went together, she was a huge part of me coming back. In terms of talent and mentality, the Sky have it, especially in the long neglected area of shooting. But in terms of synergy, time will tell whether this grand experiment pays off. If they can come out of the gates storming with talent, maintain cohesion and remain healthy, then the Sky have a good shot at a playoff spot, even against worthy playoff teams. Do they have enough to get there? We’ll soon find out. Sky fans, let us know how you’re feeling about the team’s changes, outlook and aspirations in the comments.