Who will they protect in WNBA expansion draft?

The first mechanism of a complicated — and consequential — WNBA offseason will take place next week.

The league announced that the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will take part in an expansion draft on April 3. This will allow the two newest additions to the league to select from a pool of players who are either under active or suspended contracts; on the draft, retired or reserved lists of a team; or core-eligible.

The Fire and Tempo can select one such player from each of the 13 preexisting teams in the league. Additionally, each expansion team has the option to select an unrestricted free agent on the condition the player is immediately signed to the league’s new supermax salary of $1.4 million.

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The rest of the teams — including the Chicago Sky — will be allowed to protect up to five players from expansion selection. A list of protected players must be submitted to the league by Sunday.

The Sky are weighing the protection of eight eligible players. Four are 2024 and 2025 draftees still on their rookie contracts: Kamilla Cardoso, Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith and Maddy Westbeld. The Sky also can protect 2025 draftees Ajša Sivka and Aicha Coulibaly as the owners of both players’ draft rights.

Sevgi Uzun — a Turkish guard who signed with the Sky midway through the 2025 season — will also be eligible for protection as an exclusive-rights free agent because of her limited tenure in the WNBA. And the Sky also are considering the option of protecting Ariel Atkins, a ninth-year veteran guard who will be core-eligible as the top free-agent target for the Sky to retain from the 2025 roster.

Some decisions are more obvious than others. Key pieces such as Cardoso and Reese will earn immediate protection as the centerpieces of the roster. On the other hand, Coulibaly and Uzun pose the most clear choices for two of the team’s three unprotected slots.

Coulibaly did not sign a contract in 2026 after suffering a season-ending knee injury during her final run with Texas A&M. Despite the Sky front office’s enthusiasm about the lengthy guard’s potential, her lack of playing time at any professional level over the last year limits her value as a development piece. Uzun also drew enthusiasm from the Sky front office, but she was relatively limited in her 18 appearances with the team, shooting 16.7% from 3-point range while averaging a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

If the Sky follow this train of logic, they will still be left with one pressing decision: whether to leave Atkins or one of their 2026 draft picks unprotected.

Of the three, Atkins made the biggest impact on the Sky in 2025. A two-time All-Star who has long been considered one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, Atkins averaged 13.1 points and 3.6 assists in her first season with the Sky. Despite the fact the guard performed well below her career averages in 2025, Atkins remains a primary priority for the Sky in free agency as they attempt to build a more functional backcourt.

Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca also took a massive swing when he traded away the No. 3 pick in the 2026 draft to acquire Atkins from Washington, an asset the Mystics ultimately used to select All-Star guard Sonia Citron. Retention of Atkins isn’t just a matter of talent maintenance for the Sky, it also would serve as a crucial proof of concept for one of the biggest gambles of Pagliocca’s tenure with the team.

Atkins is one of the most valuable assets in the Sky’s limited arsenal, even if she opts not to return to Chicago. If the Sky choose not to protect Atkins, they also would sacrifice the option to use the guard as a sign-and-trade asset with the core mechanism. The Sky are not pursuing this option currently — their goal is to retain Atkins as a cornerstone of the 2026 roster — but the loss of this trade alternative would be a blow nonetheless.

If the Sky protect Atkins, however, they would be forced to give up one of last year’s draft picks in Van Lith, Sivka or Westbeld. Each presents her own uncertainty. Van Lith was tapped to inherit the point guard position from Courtney Vandersloot. But she struggled through her rookie season, averaging 3.5 points and 1.6 assists before immediately undergoing ankle surgery in the offseason. Sivka is a highly promising scoring threat who brings tantalizing versatility as a 6-foot-4 wing. However, she did not come to Chicago for the 2025 season and has yet to officially sign a rookie contract with the Sky (a step the team expects her to take in the upcoming weeks).

Westbeld played only limited minutes as a backup forward last year, although she earned respect from teammates and the coaching staff alike for her work ethic and physicality. The depth of the frontcourt behind Cardoso and Reese could make the forward the most logical addition to the unprotected list. And as a second-round pick, Westbeld would represent one of the smaller asset losses the Sky potentially could take in an expansion situation.

The Sky have three more days to make this determination before Sunday’s deadline, which marks only the first step in a lengthy preseason process that will include the WNBA draft (April 13) and a condensed free-agency period before training camp starts April 19.