The Chicago Sky evidently entered the offseason with the mission to build a winning team around Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. They added Courtney Vandersloot, Rebecca Allen, Kia Nurse, and Ariel Atkins for that purpose.
The latter came to Chicago at a steep price, however. The Sky sent the third-overall pick in this year’s draft, as well as a 2027 second-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick swap to the Washington Mystics for Atkins. The main issue with this move is that Atkins is only under contract for one more year, and the Sky have no guarantee that she will re-sign for the 2026 season. If she does not, the Sky gave up a bunch of assets for a one-year rental and that could really hurt the team’s future.
However, despite giving up significant draft assets in a risky move, trading for Ariel Atkins could still help the Sky in the long term.
The Sky want to become a free-agency destination
The Sky did attract some players in free agency this year, but none of the biggest names on the market. Chicago was rumored to be in the mix for Jewell Loyd once she requested a trade from the Seattle Storm, but Loyd wanted to go to the Las Vegas Aces instead. The Sky simply were not a destination for players looking to win at the highest level.
That needs to change if the Sky want to build a truly competitive team around Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Building through the draft is one way to achieve that, but relying only on draft picks and internal improvement can be difficult.
So, how do the Sky become a team that some of the top players in the league want to play for? They have to make clear that they can win right now and are serious about building a contender around their young players.
Adding Ariel Atkins for the 2025 season helps establish that. The Sky may not be one of the best teams in the league, but they should be solid and show the rest of the league what the team’s true potential is with talented veterans around Reese and Cardoso.
A trade that included shipping out a lottery pick may not seem to be about the team’s long-term future at first glance, but it can still help the Sky. The easiest way for the Sky to become a contender soon is to attract high-level free agents, much like the Indiana Fever did this offseason. The difference between the Sky and Fever is that the Fever won in the 2024 season and were clearly ready to make the moves necessary to surround Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston with the right players.
The Sky need to build a similar foundation in the 2025 season and prove to players that they will be joining a competitive team if they come to Chicago in free agency. Because of the new CBA, a huge portion of the league will become free agents after this season, and the Sky want to make their bid to attract some big names.