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We’re just seven games in to the 2025 WNBA season and the Chicago Sky find themselves in a mess of a situation.
After a 79-52 drubbing at the hands of the Indiana Fever Saturday night, the Sky are 2-5 with their only wins coming against the lowly Dallas Wings. Even without Caitlin Clark, the Fever made quick work of Chicago.
To make matters worse, veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot suffered a bad-looking knee injury in the first quarter of last night’s game. While there’s no word yet on the severity of the injury, Chicago’s all-time leading scorer needed to be helped into the locker room and would not return to the contest.
In front of 19,496 fans at the first ever WNBA game at the United Center, the Sky laid an egg. Angel Reese was a non-factor with just four points on 2/7 shooting. Reese is now shooting just 30.9% from the field as she continues to struggle in her sophomore season.
Kamilla Cardoso and Ariel Atkins were just as disappointing, with Cardoso totaling eight points on 2/5 shooting and Atkins scoring just four on 2/11 from the field. Chicago shot 32% as a team and no one had more than eight points.
Said performance, against a supposed rival, was about as uninspiring as it possibly could have been. The Sky have now lost by a combined 62 points in their two meetings with the Fever this season.
For the Sky, their problems run much deeper than the disappointment of one game. Reese and Cardoso don’t seem to mesh together at all on the court despite both being selected in the first round of last year’s draft. They’re both post players, and the opposition knows that. Add in the fact that the Sky have struggled shooting the three this year (29.6%, 11th in the league) and there’s very little room for Reese and Cardoso to operate down low.
With poor perimeter shooting and an inability to finish near the basket, Chicago’s offense is in total shambles to start this season. First year head coach Tyler Marsh is already feeling the heat from fans online, with some already calling for his removal just seven games into the season.
Chicago’s issues extend beyond this season as well, given the Minnesota Lynx control the franchise’s first round pick in 2026. So even though this could be a very long year for Chicago, there’s no salvation in the form of a potential high draft pick next season.
And, in addition to giving up the number three overall pick in this year’s draft to acquire Atkins from Washington, the Sky also sent 2027 first round pick swap rights and their 2027 second round pick to the Mystics.
The moves to acquire veteran pieces in Atkins and Vandersloot were supposed to make the Sky competitive right now when coupled with the assumed development of the Reese and Cardoso combination. That hasn’t happened so far. With the team looking disheveled on the court, Vandersloot injured, and no draft capital in their pockets, the future looks bleak for the Chicago Sky.
