WNBA trade grades: Sky nail deal for Rickea Jackson, Sparks go all in on playoff run with Ariel Atkins

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The Chicago Sky's extremely busy offseason continued Sunday when the team announced it had traded Ariel Atkins to the Los Angeles Sparks for Rickea Jackson. In what is surely a relief for Sky fans, no draft picks were involved in this deal.

"It's thrilling to acquire one of the great young talents in this league in Jackson," Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in a statement. "Rickea is only going to continue to ascend, and the organization is excited to witness that growth firsthand."

Jackson is the latest arrival in Chicago this spring, joining free-agent signings Skylar Diggins and Azurá Stevens. The Sky also acquired Jacy Sheldon from the Washington Mystics in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick. On the flip side, though, the Sky dealt All-Star forward Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream for their 2027 and 2028 first-round selections.

Now that this trade is official, let's grade it for both teams.

Sky grade: A-

• Chicago receives: Rickea Jackson

Trading the No. 3 pick (Sonia Citron) and a 2027 first-round swap for Atkins last offseason was a disaster, and the Sky and Pagliocca have rightfully received plenty of criticism for poor trades in recent days and years. Flipping Atkins for Jackson is a clear win, however, and deserves praise.

Ironically, the Sky passed on Jackson during the 2024 lottery and selected Kamilla Cardoso at No. 3 overall. Now, a few years later and after their double-bigs experiment with Cardoso and Angel Reese failed, the Sky have acquired Jackson after all.

There are very few forwards in the league with Jackson's combination of size (6-foot-2), athleticism and skill. She hasn't always been the most consistent player over her first two seasons, but she has tremendous potential as a scorer who can both get to the rim and knock down 3s at a high rate.

After the All-Star break last season, she averaged 16 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 39.3% on 5.8 3-point attempts per game to help the Sparks make a furious playoff push that ultimately fell just a bit short.

Overall last season, 58% of Jackson's shot attempts came either in the restricted area or from behind the arc. She was tied for 18th in the league in restricted area attempts per game (3.5) and shot 64.9% there. Of the players with at least that many restricted area attempts, she was eighth in efficiency. Jackson was also tied for 17th in the league in 3-pointers made (85).

Notably, Jackson was one of just six players with at least 85 makes in the restricted area and 65 makes from 3-point range last season, along with Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray, Nneka Ogwumike and Azurá Stevens.

Jackson still needs to improve her in-between game. She was 35 of 111 (31.5%) on non-restricted area paint attempts -- it's hard to imagine she continues to be so poor there -- and 18 of 51 (35.3%) on mid-range attempts last season. If she can become a bit more efficient there and refine some of her shot selection, Jackson has all the tools to become one of the best scorers in the league.

As of now, Jackson is almost solely a scorer. She doesn't offer much else on the offensive end -- notably, she has more turnovers (154) than assists (123) in her career -- and has a ton of room to improve as a defender. In Chicago, Jackson will be afforded every opportunity to grow and take on more responsibility on both ends, and will get to play with a high-level point guard in Diggins.

Is it possible Jackson never puts it all together offensively and doesn't improve enough in other departments to overcome her inconsistent scoring? Yes. But the athletic gifts and offensive upside are well worth a swing for the Sky, especially in exchange for a player who wasn't going to move the needle for them this season.

Sparks grade: C+

• Los Angeles receives: Ariel Atkins

The Sparks haven't made the playoffs since 2020, and it's clear the front office is ready to end the longest active postseason drought in the league.

Last offseason, the Sparks traded the No. 2 overall pick (Dominique Malonga) to the Seattle Storm in a three-team deal that brought back Kelsey Plum. Now, after bringing back former star Nneka Ogwumike and re-signing Dearica Hamby in free agency, they've flipped Jackson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2024, for Atkins.

Atkins, a two-time All-Star, five-time All-Defensive honoree and 2019 champion with the Washington Mystics, is one of the most reliable two-way players in the league. Her versatility makes her an easy fit in any lineup and will give Sparks coach Lynne Roberts plenty of flexibility.

Despite dealing with injuries and moving to a new team after spending the first seven seasons of her career in D.C., Atkins last summer averaged 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 36.1% on 3.5 3-point attempts for the Sky. As bad as the Sky were last season, they were significantly worse with Atkins off the floor. In 970 minutes with Atkins, they had a minus-8.7 net rating; in 790 minutes without Atkins, they had a minus-19 net rating.

Atkins often gets overlooked because she doesn't put up big numbers and doesn't have a game that lends itself to highlight-reel moments. And as we saw last season with the Sky, she's not able to elevate bad teams by herself. But when surrounded by other All-Star level talents, she is the perfect fourth or fifth starter -- a glue player who can help hold everything together.

In Los Angeles, Atkins will get to return to that type of role alongside Plum, Ogwumike, Hamby and Cameron Brink. Her perimeter defense will be vital next to Plum, and her ability to handle some playmaking responsibilities will ease Plum's offensive burden.

Atkins, who is signing a multi-year deal with Los Angeles, is currently a better player than Jackson and makes a lot of sense for the Sparks. The bigger question is whether the front office has made the right big-picture decisions to punt on their rebuild and significantly accelerate their timeline.

In the last 14 months, they've traded Malonga (No. 2 pick in 2025) and Jackson (No. 3 pick in 2024) for Plum and Atkins. Those deals, along with the Ogwumike and Hamby signings, will almost certainly make them a playoff team this season. But they don't currently profile as a contender -- at least not an inner circle one -- and Plum is 31, Ogwumike is 35, Atkins is 29 and Hamby is 32. That's not the oldest core ever, but this group likely only has two seasons together (and that's assuming Plum re-signs next winter after taking a one-year deal this week).

The Sparks should snap their playoff drought, but they've sacrificed a young core of Jackson, Brink and Malonga to do it. That's a steep price to pay, especially if the postseason run doesn't last as long as they hope.