WNBA: How Courtney Vandersloot can elevate Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso

The Chicago Sky officially scored big in free agency, bringing Courtney Vandersloot back to the Windy City.

The news first broke on Jan. 29, but it wasn’t made official until Saturday, Feb. 1, when the league’s free agent signing window opened. Vandersloot is coming off playing two seasons with the New York Liberty, helping them to secure their first championship in franchise history in 2024.

Vandersloot began her career in Chicago, selected No. 3 overall in the 2011 WNBA Draft out of Gonzaga. She played 12 seasons in Chicago, accomplishing an arsenal of feats. Second all-time in assists in WNBA history, she led the league in total assists for five seasons (2015, 2018-21), recording 13 or more assists on 13 occasions. Across the 2019 and 2020 seasons, when she earned back-to-back All-WNBA First Team honors, Vandersloot averaged 12.2 points and 9.4 assists per game, while shooting 46 percent from the field.

In 2021, she was a catalyst in Chicago’s improbable run to the WNBA championship. It was also in Chicago where she married then-Sky teammate and DePaul alum Allie Quigley in 2018.

On bringing Vandersloot back to the franchise, Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca said:

Courtney is a generational talent. She is a proven winner, champion, leader and among the league’s all-time great point guards. It has been very special watching Courtney build her legacy in this league and with this organization. We cannot wait for her to return home to where her career started and she ultimately belongs.

Vandersloot also expressed excitement about her return to the Sky:

Chicago is where it all started for me—it’s home, it’s family, and it’s a point guard’s dream. The city, the fans, and the culture here have helped to shape the person I am today. I’m eager to embrace this next chapter, take on the challenge of leading and learning from a really talented young team, and bring my experience back to the place that means so much to me.

Vandersloot will not just serve as an experienced veteran for the Sky and new head coach Tyler Marsh. She is the epitome of a playmaker. She can score when she needs to, but also can get the best out of her teammates by feeding them the ball in favorable positions.

In that respect, it should be a good fit for Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Reese finished last season averaging 13 rebounds per game, grabbing 446 total rebounds; she also set a new WNBA record with 26-consecutive double-doubles. Cardoso averaged nine points and seven rebounds per game.

The expectation is that both will be able to expand their game. In the case of Reese, growth demands being able to score from other spots on the floor, not just in the paint. As for Cardoso, it is about getting more entry passes and finishing them efficiently. It is the hope that a player of Vandersloot’s pedigree will be able to get the most out of these two still developing stars.

In an interview with ESPN on Friday, Vandersloot expressed enthusiasm about playing alongside Reese and Cardoso:

Having two players like that, young stars, is a point guard’s dream. It played a big role in why I wanted to go there. I think that adding them to the roster last year was huge, and I’m looking to help them expand their games. But they’re going to make me great too.

This move comes as the Sky also secured Rebecca Allen from the Connecticut Sun on Saturday, trading for the shooter in exchange for Lindsay Allen and the rights to Nikolina Milíc. They also signed unrestricted free agent Kia Nurse to a one-year deal.