Chicago Sky don’t extend qualifying offer to Chennedy Carter

The Chicago Sky are moving on from Chennedy Carter after electing not to extend a qualifying offer to the dynamic guard. Carter is now an unrestricted free agent and can begin negotiations with other teams.

After initially joining the Sky on a training camp contract, Carter fought her way into the starting lineup last season. The fourth-year guard often served as the sole source of offense, especially after the departure of Marina Mabrey in a July trade. Carter averaged 17.5 points and accounted for a quarter of the Sky’s scoring after the All-Star break.

If Carter was so integral to the Sky offense, why didn’t the team attempt to re-sign her? The decision hinged on two key factors: offensive style and locker-room identity.

The offense can’t function the way it did last season. The Sky were the second-lowest-scoring team in the WNBA, posted the second-worst offensive rating and made the fewest 3-pointers. Most importantly, they failed to properly funnel their offense through rookie stars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, producing a stagnancy inside the arc that was exacerbated by their lack of shooting behind it.

Carter mostly functioned as a bandage to these problems by creating shots out of nothing and forcing the Sky to pick up the pace in transition. But her style deviated sharply from the ideal system for the Sky.

Carter doesn’t take 3-pointers. She required the league’s fourth-highest usage rate (28.4) to sustain her scoring, which meant the offense catered heavily to isolation guard play that left Cardoso and Reese disengaged and uninspired on the offensive end.

Carter has had success this offseason in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 31.2 points on 51% shooting for Wuhan Shengfan. But her style hasn’t shifted, requiring 24.6 shots per game to sustain that level of scoring while shooting only 23.8% from deep.

Should the Chicago Sky re-sign Chennedy Carter in restricted free agency?

The Sky can’t afford another nonfactor behind the arc in their starting lineup alongside Cardoso and Reese. And they need to improve their length and on-ball facilitation, which would have been a sizable challenge with an undersized shooting guard.

Carter’s fit for the Sky was further eroded by her perceived role in the dissolution of trust within the locker room of former coach Teresa Weatherspoon, who was fired in October after her first season as a WNBA head coach.

Carter is talented enough to compete at the league’s highest level, but no offense would function properly if it followed the formula the Sky employed for her last season. If Carter wants to find her footing in the WNBA, she will need to adapt her on-ball ethos to encompass more pick-and-roll play while also improving her 3-point accuracy.

Teams could extend qualifying offers — a one-year contract with a slight increase from the prior season’s salary — and core designations to restricted free agents between Jan. 11 and Monday. Any restricted free agent who did not receive a qualifying offer by Monday became an unrestricted free agent Tuesday.

The Sky did extend qualifying offers to restricted free agents Michaela Onyenwere, Dana Evans and Nikolina Milić. If no other team makes a higher offer, they would return to Chicago or function as trade assets as the front office looks to maneuver a crucial rebuilding year with new coach Tyler Marsh.

The Sky are expected to re-sign Onyenwere, who has been a locker-room leader in addition to a journeyman wing who can step in to start in a pinch. They also could bring back Evans — who lost the starting point guard role again last season but still shows promise as a potential reserve — or more likely utilize her in a trade to continue building a stronger backcourt.

Milić was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Lynx last April that also secured the No. 7 draft pick — which the Sky used to select Reese — but Milić has not played in the WNBA since 2023.

With this first step completed, the Sky are approaching an integral point in the offseason as they join the race for top free-agent and trade targets such as Lincolnwood native Jewell Loyd. The next two months will determine the foundation of the roster for Marsh’s debut season as the front office prepares for another crucial draft — and an even more pivotal 2026 free-agency window.

Originally Published: January 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM CST