The WNBA is a star-driven league that’s counting on players to be compelling on and off the court. Teams can vault themselves to prominence if they land an elite talent, and those players can propel themselves to fame beyond that if they have the personality to match.
So for all the moves the Sky made this offseason, from trading for two-time All-Star Ariel Atkins to drafting Hailey Van Lith 11th overall, their future still centers first and foremost on Angel Reese. That’s why many of the questions Van Lith and the other draft picks fielded in their first days with the organization were about playing with her.
Reese alone can’t lift the Sky from third-worst in the league last season to championship contention, but it’s her time to take charge and drive their rebuild.
With a likely monumental shakeup coming next year when nearly 80% of the league will be free agents, it’s critical that every team accurately assesses what it has. For the Sky, that means figuring out if Reese can be the centerpiece of a title team and how many other pieces are in place.
Ideally, the Sky would take a step forward this season by making the playoffs, and high-stakes games would give them a clear gauge of where their roster stands. With another stride by Reese, who is under contract through 2027, the team could swing big in free agency to add one or two other big names alongside her.
The Fever soared in the standings and ticket sales by drafting Caitlin Clark first overall last year. They had six consecutive losing seasons, including 13-27 in 2023, then jumped to 20-20 and a playoff berth as Clark won Rookie of the Year — Reese was the only other player to get a vote — and earned an All-WNBA first-team selection.
It was great for the Fever and the league, as multiple teams moved their home games against Clark to larger venues to cash in on demand for tickets. The Sky will play both of their home games against the Fever this season at the United Center, and all four matchups between Reese and Clark will be national broadcasts on ABC or CBS.
The thing about stardom and rebuilds, though, is that both are competitive. Someone is always angling to steal the spotlight, and any team’s gains have to come at another’s expense.
The Wings are a perfect example of those truths. They were four games worse than the Sky last season, but they’re betting on that changing with the arrival of No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers, a three-time All-American and national champion at UConn. She’s got the hype and talent to quickly put herself on the league’s marquee along with Clark, Reese, the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, reigning MVP A’ja Wilson of the Aces and others.
The Wings sold out of season tickets within days of winning the draft lottery last season.
All of that raises the intensity for Reese. There are many teams for the Sky to chase, and the teams that were near them in the standings are in pursuit as well.
The upside for them is that everything about Reese’s rookie season suggests she’s ready for this. She averaged 13.6 points and a league-best 13.1 rebounds per game, and her career arc is still very much on its way up. And as for the pressure, there’s never been a question about her being strong enough to handle it.
“She turns up the intensity of everybody around her, and I’m excited to be in that environment with her again where she can pull more out of me than I think I have,” said Van Lith, who was her teammate at LSU in 2023-24.
That’s what the greats do. When the Sky open training camp April 27, they’re depending on Reese to lead not just by being their best player, but by raising the game of everyone around her.
If she does that, the Sky have a chance to lay the groundwork for their resurgence. The better they do this season, the more attractive they’ll be to that game-changing free-agent class. And Reese is the biggest part of that, because even if the Sky aren’t yet ready to vie for a championship, she needs to show the rest of the league she’s the type of player who can ultimately lead them there.
