Drafting players is always somewhat of a gamble. You look at someone’s performance in college or overseas and hope it translates to the professional level in the United States. In the WNBA it is especially difficult to get the draft right, as many rookies do not get big opportunities, and some don’t even make their team’s roster.
With the league thriving and three new expansion teams joining—the Golden State Valkyries will get on the court for the 2025 season, and franchises in Portland and Toronto will follow—that should soon be not such a big problem anymore.
Still, every WNBA team has made draft selections that did not work out and passed on some great players. The Chicago Sky have had some great players but are no exception in this department. They missed out on some All-Stars in the draft as well.
3. Chelsea Gray
The Chicago Sky went into the 2014 WNBA Draft looking for a big to help the team overcome Sylvia Fowles’s injury. Accordingly, they drafted Markeisha Gatling with the tenth overall pick.
The 2014 draft was strong. Eight of the twelve players picked in the first round have been All-Stars at one point in their careers. The Sky picked one of the four players who didn’t become All-Stars. To their credit, there was only one future All-Star left when they made their pick, and they were not looking for a guard.
Still, it must hurt to have passed on Chelsea Gray, who went to the Connecticut Sun with the 11th pick. The Sky unfortunately did not get much out of their first-round pick that year. They waived Gatling after her rookie season. After that, she played three more WNBA seasons with the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream before taking her talents overseas.
Meanwhile, Chelsea Gray won three WNBA titles, was the 2022 Finals MVP, and made six All-Star appearances.
2. Arike Ogunbowale
The 2019 WNBA Draft has produced four All-Stars so far: Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale, Napheesa Collier, and Ezi Magbegor. Except for Young, they were all available when the Sky made their pick. Chicago had the fourth overall pick that year and selected Katie Lou Samuelson, who was widely expected to become a sharp-shooting, impactful wing at the WNBA level.
While she is a fine role player, she never turned into a star and also did not make a huge impact in Chicago. The Sky traded her for Azura Stevens after just one season.
That year, the Sky missed out on drafting a player who quickly turned into one of the W’s most prolific scorers. Arike Ogunbowale’s team may not have been overly successful yet, but she has made her name known in basketball circles. Since 2019, Ogunbowale has been an All-Star four times and won two All-Star Game MVPs for her performances against Team USA. She led the league in scoring in 2020 and finished second in 2024, just behind A’ja Wilson, while leading the league in steals per game.
Ogunbowale was drafted right after Samuelson, and even if the Sky had solid reasons for their choice, it must sting to miss out on such a talented scorer.
1. Napheesa Collier
In 2019, the Sky did not only miss out on one of the best current scorers in the WNBA but also one of the best two-way players. Napheesa Collier has been great at the WNBA level for years, being named an All-Star three times before the 2024 season. 2024 was when she truly burst onto the scene, though, and captured the attention of the newer WNBA fans.
Collier won the Defensive Player of the Year award and finished second in MVP voting behind A’ja Wilson, who put together a historic season. On top of that, Collier backed up her individual success with team success and led the Minnesota Lynx to the WNBA Finals.
She has firmly established herself as one of the top players in the league and will likely lead her team on another great run next season.