When it comes to selecting top talent in the WNBA draft, it’s never as simple as taking a player and assuming the franchise will find success afterward. It takes investment, team building and staff building for the vision you’re looking to make a reality for seasons to come, ideally alongside those draft picks.
The last few first round picks in the WNBA are a testament to that logic and how fruitful it can be. For the Indiana Fever, they’ve gotten both Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark in the first round in 2023 and 2024, complementing the two stars with the exact type of player the other needed to be successful on the floor. In 2022, the Atlanta Dream took Rhyne Howard and have since been fringe postseason competitors.
You keep going down the list of past number one or just past top 5 picks in the league, and you’ll get a picture of positive development of those picks on teams like the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty, who have gotten the most possible from their lottery picks in recent seasons.
For the Chicago Sky, 2024 was an experiment in seeing what would happen when you hire a coach players love to play for and build around your biggest draft picks in Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The result of that experiment was almost, but not quite, making the postseason, and then firing that coach your players loved so dearly.
Teresa Weatherspoon’s firing was one of a few decisions that made many who watch and follow the WNBA scratch their heads. Weatherspoon was beloved by your star rookie in Reese and your veteran journeywoman in Chennedy Carter, so giving her the boot after just one season of work seemed extremely short sighted by new GM Jeff Pagliocca, who hired Weatherspoon as one of his first acts as general manager.
But, Chicago’s season deserves a ton more attention for its basketball than the very confusing offseason decisions by the front office. Between the historic rebounding that Reese was able to post and the resurgence of Carter as the team’s far and away best option at shooting guard, the Sky figured some stuff out. That stuff was huge as their aspirations weren’t necessarily a ring, but more so just finding what worked and what didn’t for Reese, Cardoso and the makeshift roster that had them floating around the eight seed for much of the year.
The future of Chicago is certain to focus on one area of play that left them unable to get out of the “feisty but unserious” tier in the league in 2024 – shooting. The Sky were abysmal from the field and it was obvious from three point range, where the team shot just 32.3 percent. Overall, Chicago shot 42.2 percent from the field which landed them second to last in field goal percentage in 2024 – the Dream were the last place team in that statistic.
The team could look to free agency to address that issue – players like Kelsey Mitchell, Erica Wheeler, Gabby Williams, or even Carter could bring some shooting to the Sky that they just don’t have available on their roster. With the highest cap room in the league right now at just over $133,000, the team could sign a vet to a one year deal and see what some spacing can do for Reese and Cardoso.
Shooting from the Sky’s two rookies will be hugely important to the team’s development as well. Reese shot just 39.1 percent from the field on a whopping 12.3 attempts per game, revealing just how key her ability to shoot is in 2025 and beyond. Cardoso on the other hand shot 52.1 percent from the field on 7.6 attempts per game as she continued to thrive at the 5 for Chicago. So, if Reese can manage to turn her jumper and layup form from slightly off to a lot more squared and consistent, Chicago can be a true matchup problem for frontcourts across the league.
That Angel Reese dagger 3 in the wnba finals gonna hit like crack pic.twitter.com/CbObkrvvSr
— M ⁵ 🐮 (@moooopal) November 13, 2024
That might just explain why Pagliocca and the rest of the Sky’s front office decided to move on from Weatherspoon and set their sights on one of the best developmental coaches in the league – Tyler Marsh – to be their new head coach. Marsh is credited for helping Aces guard Jackie Young go from a sub-30 percent three point shooter to a certified sniper from three in 2022 and 2023, helping Las Vegas win back-to-back championships as a result.
During his introductory press conference, Marsh emphasized that while he doesn’t wish to take away from what Cardoso and Reese already do so well – especially on the glass – he’s looking forward to developing their other skills to elevate the rest of the Sky.
“We want Angel and Kamilla to be good at what they do, and highlight their strengths,” Marsh said. “Even though they’re the cornerstones of this franchise, championship teams are built 1-12. Everybody brings value.”
Marsh and Pagliocca both emphasized that Chicago’s goals for 2025 after a disappointing 2024 campaign include honing in on defensive holes and getting as much shooting back into the fold as possible. But for Marsh, what’s most important for him as he grows his relationships with the Sky roster and helps build out a coaching staff is establishing an “egoless” culture, something Chicago can thrive within as such a young and developing team.
“The word that keeps coming up is selflessness, and that applies to our staff as well,” Marsh said. “We have to be an egoless staff. We may disagree when it’s just us, but when we go out on the court and present game plans to players, we wanna be a unified front. Having a serving mindset.”
