Sky principal owner Michael Alter doesn’t reveal his state of mind often, but he said during a recent media appearance that he’s unhappy about the Sky missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
So what should he do about it?
One does not get the sense that Alter, the league’s longest-tenured owner, is looking to sell his beloved team. In that case, accountability is needed at every level of the organization.
That means evaluating a general manager who hasn’t protected the team’s draft capital even as a historic wave of talent enters the league; a coach who failed to maximize a roster that easily could have won 20 games; and Alter himself, who hasn’t equipped either of them with the intellectual infrastructure of the league’s top tier.
Here are three options for course correction.
1. Go the Sparks route: Fire the GM
The Sparks’ situation is similar to the Sky’s: They traded away lottery picks that became stars elsewhere without earning a playoff bid in return.
Oftentimes in professional sports, that combination means you’re out. The Sparks fired Reagan Pebley midseason, and ownership is now talking about taking a step back to go forward.
One can understand the appeal of that approach. Look at the Fever, Mystics and Wings, and you’ll notice that all they needed was a couple of losing seasons that led to top picks. Now they’re playoff-caliber teams.
The Sky could find a general manager willing to take this approach, too. But it assumes Alter is amenable to a multiyear rebuild. The fact that former Sky GM/coach James Wade also spat in the face of a draft-driven rebuild might offer a clue about Alter’s preferences.
Why keep Pagliocca: The Sky might just have an underrated young core in Rickea Jackson, Sydney Taylor and Kamilla Cardoso. If Alter is sold on them as a foundation for a contender, it makes sense to retain the man who assembled it. Pagliocca acquired Jackson in a shrewd deal and found Taylor where no one else was looking.
2. Go the Liberty route: Can the coach
When the Liberty fell short of their championship goal in 2025, they decided coach Sandy Brondello had failed to maximize their talent.
The Sky obviously weren’t contending for a title this season, but they underperformed relative to their talent. Some of that traces back to coach Tyler Marsh’s decisions, including waiting too long to put Taylor in the starting lineup and then waiting too long to make her their go-to closer.
He also took heat from veteran point guard Skylar Diggins over his late-game management, and Pagliocca implied in an interview with the Sun-Times that he wasn’t thrilled with it, either.
If the Sky part with Marsh, they would have options. Several seasoned assistants around the league are probably ready. An experienced coach of a playoff team could become available after a first-round exit. Or the Sky could mine the college ranks.
Why keep Marsh: Marsh is clearly improving his end-of-game management: the Sky are actually 5-3 in clutch games since the All-Star break. His offensive system also appears to have legs: Despite their inconsistency, the Sky spent a 10- to 12-game stretch operating as one of the league’s best offenses.
3. Stay the course — with reinforcements
This might be the least satisfying option for fans who want heads to roll. The frustration is understandable. In some ways, this season feels like a rerun of the previous two: another missed postseason, more practice-facility dysfunction and sporadic player drama.
What gets lost in the sauce, though, is how dramatically the basketball improved. Last year’s team was basically unwatchable and finished with one of the worst records in franchise history.
This year’s team was genuinely formidable, and Pagliocca and Marsh deserve credit for that. The Sky beat each of the league’s top three teams and became the kind of non-playoff opponent that playoff teams didn’t really want to face.
Now imagine another leap forward next season. Imagine a healthy Jackson alongside more mature versions of Taylor and Cardoso.
And imagine, if you can, a front office finally staffed with the kinds of roles leading franchises have had for years: an assistant general manager and analysts dedicated to crunching the numbers, so Pagliocca and Marsh aren’t doing the jobs of four or five people between them.
That part is on Alter. It would make a huge difference.
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