The Chicago Sky added the No. 11 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft on Sunday night, the team announced in a recent tweet.
The Minnesota Lynx earned the full rights to the Sky's 2026 1st-rounder in exchange. The Lynx acquired the rights to swap 1st-round selections in the trade that would eventually lead to the Sky selecting Angel Reese in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Chicago still owns the 2026 1st-round pick swap with the Connecticut Sun, which it gained in the trade that sent guard Marina Mabrey to Uncasville in exchange for the guard pair of Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson.
The Sky may have upped training camp competition with latest move
Chicago picked sparingly in the draft during the second half of the James Wade era, but has recently made a larger push towards a youth movement under new general manager Jeff Pagliocca.
The Sky now hold the rights to four selections in this year's draft, including two in the first round. They last made four draft selections in 2017, when a team fresh off the Elena Delle Donne trade took South Carolina center Alaina Coates and Michigan State guard Tori Jankoska in the 1st round. Should its recent gambles pay off, Chicago can kickstart a new era in Sky basketball after a recent chapter that saw a hometown hero guide them to their first WNBA championship.
The Sky could be in range for a few potential gems later in the first round, including NC State's Saniya Rivers and South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao. Chicago's foundation for the future will start and end with adding guard talent around their home-run selections from 2024 in Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The Sky can also look to the near future to find their final gem as they continue to add to their youthful core through the draft.
As talented as their selections can be, they will need to prove their worth against plenty of new veteran additions that can boost the Sky's offense and shooting potential.
Chicago will have two open roster spots heading into the 2025 WNBA Draft. It has three players under training camp contracts, including a familiar face in forward Morgan Bertsch. Its nearly $200,000 in cap space will give them a little bit of wiggle room to add a few players on smaller contracts and take on a little bit of dead cap if they need to.