The Sky have jumped out to a 3-2 start, evidence that they successfully built a more talented roster.
But their roster construction included a big gamble — signing three veterans with medium- and long-term injuries. Allocating a quarter of the roster to players who might not see the floor in May, or later, was a risk.
If another player went down, it would put the team in a tough spot.
They are now feeling the squeeze after star forward Rickea Jackson suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Down to eight active players on Wednesday, they were relying on rookie development player Aicha Coulibaly, who is only 6 feet tall, to spot them minutes in the post.
So — was the gamble worth it? Any regrets on the roster construction?
Coach Tyler Marsh laughed at the idea.
“No regrets,” he said Friday after practice. “Anytime you have the opportunity to sign an Azurá [Stevens] or a [Natasha Cloud] or a DiJonai [Carrington, you take it].”
To Marsh’s point, these aren’t scrubs they’re waiting on to get healthy. It’s a future Hall of Famer in Courtney Vandersloot, an All-Defense-caliber wing in Carrington, and the 2025 Most Improved Player runner-up Stevens.
They also represent crucial long-term investments. Stevens is locked into a three-year deal; Vandersloot’s contract runs two years. The front office’s belief in this group is clear.
But the games are happening now — and ones in May count just as much as the ones in July.
For the moment, Marsh is preaching calm.
“What we know is we have enough healthy bodies to compete,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been holding it down until our players get healthy.”
Their performance backs it up. The Sky have beaten two playoff-caliber teams, and their two losses were competitive battles.
Reinforcements are coming. Stevens returned to live 5-on-5 practice Friday for the first time since sustaining a knee injury during the Unrivaled season. She was listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Lynx.
Marsh plans to ease her back into the rotation.
“I think it’ll be a seamless fit once she comes back,” he said. “Just from her ability to stretch the floor, her ability to create and maintain space. Defensively, it’s added length that we need. So it’ll be good to unlock that.”
The Sky do need Stevens. They are undersized and once again stuck near the bottom of the league in 3-pointers. Stevens averaged 4.4 3-point attempts per game last season and made 38%.
They have also shown they can successfully integrate players on the fly. When Natasha Cloud debuted against the Valkyries, the perimeter defense improved immediately, and she added leadership and scoring.
But changing the starting lineup is a delicate matter, even with talented players. Marsh will have to thread that needle three times — first with Stevens, then with Vandersloot and Carrington later this summer.
That’s a lot for a locker room to absorb. Guards Gabriela Jaquez and Jacy Sheldon, whose toughness has defined the team early, will likely sacrifice minutes and may slide into reserve roles. Meanwhile, Vandersloot and Carrington will have a shrinking window of regular-season games to find peak form before the postseason.
“Seamless” transitions for all of them might be wishful thinking.
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