ATLANTA — The plug may have been pulled on the Sky’s season Tuesday night as their injury misfortune worsened.
After being listed as questionable Monday, rookie center Kamilla Cardoso was ruled out with a shoulder injury before tipoff against the Dream, who hold the eighth and final WNBA playoff spot. Guard Chennedy Carter, who also was ruled out because of a foot injury, was a late addition to the injury report after not being listed at all the day before.
Their absences left the Sky with just eight available players in an 86-70 loss.
“Everybody’s availability will be critical [on Thursday],” coach Teresa Weatherspoon said of the Sky’s regular-season finale on the road against the Sun. “A lot of our team is sitting on the sideline.”
She said she was unsure if Cardoso or Carter would be available.
Entering Tuesday, Cardoso, Carter and rookie forward Angel Reese, the three missing starters, had accounted for about 44 of the Sky’s 76.4 points per game in their 14 games since the Olympic break. Tasked with making up that production were guard Rachel Banham and bigs Brianna Turner and Isabelle Harrison.
Banham finished with a game-high 22 points, shooting 6-for-10 from three-point range, with guard Lindsay Allen adding 16 points. Harrison added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Turner finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
The Sky are hanging on for their playoff lives after this defeat and the Mystics’ loss to the Liberty. The only way for them to secure the eighth seed is with a win Thursday, combined with the Mystics losing to the Fever and the Dream losing to the Liberty.
Over the last 12 seasons, the Sky have missed the playoffs just twice, in 2017 and 2018 under coach Amber Stocks. As a result, they were able to draft forward Gabby Williams with the No. 4 overall pick in 2018 and forward Katie Lou Samuelson at No. 4 in 2019. They also acquired the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft via a trade with the Dream and used it to select guard Diamond DeShields. Over the next four seasons, former coach/general manager James Wade built a championship-caliber team, with those picks playing a significant role, whether as players on the roster or in trades he executed.
The Sky are in a similar position now, with Cardoso and Reese to build around and a potential lottery pick coming their way.
“I will never acknowledge [the lottery] until the last horn sounds,” Weatherspoon said.
They’ll have two picks in the 2025 draft regardless after their trade of guard Marina Mabrey to the Sun this summer. Should the Sky finish eighth and make the playoffs, they’d have the No. 5 pick in the draft, plus the Sun’s pick, which would be No. 10.
General manager Jeff Pagliocca also will have more than $1 million in cap space to work with, with just five players under contract heading into next season: Cardoso, Reese, Allen, Banham and guard Moriah Jefferson. Carter will be a restricted free agent, but whether she stays with the Sky could depend on multiple factors, including whom Pagliocca can land in free agency. If the Sky land a lottery pick, Pagliocca — who has shown an affinity for trades — could end up packaging it for the right veteran player, ideally a perimeter shooter.